Herbert, Elizabeth Catherine, Countess of Carnarvon (1856 -1929)

Elizabeth Catherine Howard, or “Elsie” as she was affectionately known, was the daughter of Henry Howard, MP, of Greystoke Castle, and Charlotte Caroline Georgiana Long. She became the second wife of her cousin Henry Howard Molyneux Herbert, 4th Earl of Carnarvon, who had lost his first wife Lady Evelyn Stanhope from the effects of childbirth in 1875. She had two sons with Lord Carnarvon: Aubrey (1880-1923), and Mervyn (1882-1929). She also acted as step-mother to George, Lord Porchester (who subsequently became the 5th Earl of Carnarvon) and with whom she had a difficult relationship. During the Great War, Elsie devoted her energies in Egypt to organizing hospitals, tending the wounded and helping with their recuperation. She performed great service, and was granted permission to visit all ships entering Alexandria in Egypt from Gallipoli. After the war she spent considerable time in Albania as a benefactor, devoting her work to her elder son Aubrey who died in 1923, just months after the death of George Herbert 5th Earl of Carnarvon. She also had a villa in Altachiara, Porto Fino, Italy, overlooking the Mediterranean, where she spent her twilight years. She died there in 1929.