Margaret Crewe-Milnes, Marchioness of Crewe
The Marchioness of Crewe | |
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Portrait of Margaret Crewe-Milnes, Marchioness of Crewe, by Glyn Philpot | |
| Born | Lady Margaret Etienne Hannah Primrose 1 January 1881 Epsom, Surrey, United Kingdom |
| Died | 13 March 1967 (aged 86) Westminster, London, United Kingdom |
| Other names | Peggy Crewe-Milnes, Marchioness of Crewe |
| Spouse | |
| Children | Richard Crewe-Milnes, Earl of Madeley Mary Innes-Ker, Duchess of Roxburghe |
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Margaret Etienne Hannah Crewe-Milnes, Marchioness of Crewe CI JP (1 January 1881 – 13 March 1967), styled as Countess of Crewe from 1899 until 1911, was a British heiress and socialite, and after the death in 1929 of her father, the former Prime Minister Archibald Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery, she was said to be the richest woman in England. From 1922 she spent six years in Paris after her husband was made British Ambassador to France.
During World War II she was much involved with organizations to help Free French in Britain, founding the French in Great Britain Fund in 1940. After the war, in June 1946 she was awarded the highest French order of merit, the Knight of the Legion of Honour. She and her husband bought West Horsley Place in Sussex on their return from Paris. She was also decorated with the award of Imperial Order of the Crown of India.
She was one of the first female justices of the peace in London, appointed as a magistrate in 1919 after the passing of the Sex Disqualification (Removal) Act 1919.