User:Maypm/Lady Rachel Dudley

Lady Rachel Dudley was the wife of William Humble Ward 2nd Earl of Dudley who owned Witley Court from 1885 until 1920. The Earl was also the Governor General of Australia between 1908 and 1911 and before that was the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (1902-1905).

Early Life

Lady Rachel Dudley was born Rachel Anne Gurney in 1868. She was the second daughter of Charles Henry Gurney and Alice Prinsep. Her elder sister was Laura Gurney who was later to become Lady Laura Troubridge. These two girls spent a great deal of their time with their maternal grandparents the Prinseps who rented Little Holland House in London. Laura describes this early part of their lives as follows.

“Little Holland House was a kind of earthly Paradise with its dim rooms full of artistic and beautiful objects. A painted ceiling, blue with silver or gold stars lingers in my memory. In the summer croquet was played on the lawn and Tennyson, Browning, G. F. Watts, The painter, Dickie Doyle and many others flit across the scene; and there were strawberries and cream and my grandmother moving about and pressing refreshments on everybody".