QUEENSBERRY, Sibyl, Marchioness of (1845-1935)

[hamish...@gmail.com]

I have recently discovered that Lord Alfred "Bosie" Douglas - the poet and lover of Oscar Wilde is buried in Crawley, West Sussex - where I live... and have passed the Church so many times and never knew!  Tomorrow (20th March) is the anniversary of his death.  He is buried at the RC Friary Church of St Francis & St Anthony in the middle of town by the bus station.  He died in Lancing in 1945 aged 74 but was buried alongside his mother (Sybil, Marchioness of Queensberry who died aged 91 in Hove in 1935) in Crawley.  Apparently he was living in Hove (where his wife and mother also lived - but not together) in his last years in very reduced circumstances and supposedly only 2 people attended his funeral - one of which was the actor Sir Donald Sinden, who had befriended him.

I understand why he is buried there - with his mother, but I cant find the connection between Sybil and the town. Obviously in 1935, it wasn't the great concrete busy place it is today (long before New Town status and Gatwick Airport etc).  She divorced the infamous, adulterous and violent 9th Marquess in 1887 and was received into the Catholic Church in 1922.  I've checked as many census records etc that I can, but just cant find out any definitive answer why she ended up in Crawley. 

Personally I think she was perhaps visiting friends nearby (some of the landed gentry were mostly Catholic) or because of the scandals of her son and Oscar Wilde and the fact that she was divorced etc.. perhaps it was the only place that would allow her burial or it was just a quiet place away from everywhere etc?  All ideas - but if anyone out there knows, I would be very grateful.  I'm sure with SO many knowledgeable experts here, I might get the answer I'm looking for.

[William Cross]

"Lady Sibyl  Queensberry  died at  13, St Anns Court, Nigell-avenue, Hove on 31 October, 1935. According to H Montgomery  Hyde  in  his biography of Bosie this was  from cancer  “after a lengthy and painful illness” . Hyde continues “ She had become a Catholic like her son and was fortified by the rites of the Church at the end. “ The Times of 5 November 1935 refers to a requiem Mass the day before  at the church of St Mary Magdalen, Brighton. “ Father Collins and Father Dockery officiated.” . Burial took place earlier at the Franciscan monastery, Crawley.  Again, according to Hyde “ Bosie was shattered by the event, as his letters at the time reveal   “ The pain of losing my darling mother has been simply unbearable but I feel better now that she is buried in the Franciscan Friary at Crawley. After the burial Father Walstan, who performed the final rites, said to me “ We have just buried a little saint”. Lady Sibyl   was the 2^nd daughter of Alfred Montgomery by his wife Hon. Fanny Charlotte Wyndham, 1^st daughter of George Wyndham. 1^st Baron Leconfield.   A portrait of Sibyl can be seen at  Petworth House.

 

My interest is as the biographer of Evan Morgan, Viscount Tredegar ( 1893-1949), he was a friend of Bosie for several decades and  who with others attempted  ( unsuccessfully) to get Douglas  a Civil List pension. Bosie’s letters to Evan that chart this and the last period of Douglas'  life are in the British Library.  Both H Montgomery  Hyde and Evan Morgan attended Bosie’s funeral at  Crawley  on Friday 23 March 1945, as indeed did the actor, Donald Sinden.  The Times lists the other attendees as “  Lady Edith Fox-Pitt (sister), the Marquess and Marchioness of Queensberry, Lord Cecil Douglas, Lady Jane  Douglas, Lord Leconfield, Lady Bagot, Mr T R B Somerset -Perkins, Mrs F D’Avilla, Father F Corley, Mr Adrian Earle, Mr and Mrs D W Colman, Miss Grosvenor, Mr J B Paddon, Mr Hugh McGoverne and other friends.”  Mr Harold Child was unavoidably prevented from attending.”

 

H Montgomery Hyde describes Bosie as a poet “ of much more than ordinary merit.”

 

The Douglas grave at Crawley is in fact in the cemetery adjoining the Friary.  Out of regard  for  Bosie the grave is visited and tended by a friend of mine and fresh flowers laid in  his memory and in  whose words ( recorded today) mark the  “Anniversary of the death of Wilde's 'mad, bad' & 'red rose leaf lipped boy' Bosie Douglas. His grave is neglected though a rose bush thrives.”   William Cross, FSA Scot.

[hamish...@gmail.com]

Thanks for the additional info... 

I actually attended the grave today personally and laid some flowers.  Pic attached.

[William Cross]

That was a very kind and thoughtful act.,,and thank you so much  for raising the question about Bosie's mother. Blessings. W

[hamish...@gmail.com]

Thank you... as a gay man, Ive always been aware of the Oscar Wilde & Lord Alfred Douglas - so Ive felt guilty that Lord Alfred has been buried somewhere I have walked past for many years and was unaware that he was laid to rest there.  I couldn't understand what the connection was... BUT NOW I KNOW....

Ive been looking into the family records on Census Records and Probate Records etc... and I'm pleased to say Ive found out the connection.  Sibyl's mother - The Hon. Fanny Charlotte Montgomery (1820-1893), wife of Alfred Montgomery and daughter of George Wyndham, 1st Lord Leconfield) lived at "The Den, Crawley", and in the 1861 Census, Fanny is shown living on a farm in the Parish of Ifield (which is now part of the town of Crawley), and she has various RC priests living with her - one of which was officiating at St Francis' Church - where Sibyl & Bosie are buried. 

Once again, thank you for your help... it was your mention of her mother that started my grey matter going into overdrive.