Dowager Viscountess Monckton of Brenchley, nee Bower dei Conti della Catena, (1929-2022).
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It is with great sadness that we announce the death of our founder Patron, Marianna, Viscountess Monckton of Brenchley, who died peacefully at home on 5 July 2022 at the age of 93.
Lady Monckton was a passionate and dedicated supporter of Heart of Kent Hospice, and we are forever grateful for her time, energy, friendship, and wise counsel, given over so many years.
Lady Monckton was initially invited to join the Hospice Appeal in 1987 to help raise the funds to build the hospice. Over the years and decades, she has been extremely generous, not only in the amount of time and support she has given to the Hospice, its patients, colleagues, and volunteers but also in the money she has raised through hosting events, introducing us to her friends and from charitable trusts.
Shortly before our Hospice building was opened Lady Monckton was asked to be our Patron and she has been so ever since.
Rachel Street, Chief Executive of Heart of Kent Hospice, recounted: “Lady Monckton was a woman driven by duty and loyalty to the causes she supported. She was immensely funny and engaging, full of passion and compassion. She was utterly dedicated to the Hospice and cared deeply that it prospered.”
Every Christmas Day without fail Lady Monckton would come into the Hospice and give out homemade mince pies, and throughout the year she would often pop into the Hospice, have lunch in the café, and wander around visiting patients and listening to their stories.
There are so many happy memories and outstanding events from her time as our Patron. From planning our official opening in 1992 in which she was successful in inviting Her Royal Highness the Princess of Wales to visit and officially open the Hospice, to attending the annual Lady Monckton Awards to pay tribute to our colleagues and volunteers for their long service and loyalty to the Hospice.
“She was known for her devilish sense of humour and, often at the end of the Lady Monckton Awards, instead of giving a speech, she was as likely to read out a whimsical or ridiculous poem sending everyone present into fits of laughter,” Rachel remembered.
Spending time in Lady Monckton’s company was endlessly fascinating. She had a remarkable and interesting life with many tales to tell. Some of them went back to her husband’s father, Sir Walter Monckton, who was an adviser to Churchill and friend and legal adviser to Edward VIII.
Rachel continued: “For me and the Chief Executives of Heart of Kent Hospice before me, we will be eternally grateful for Lady Monckton’s wise counsel. She was very caring and supportive of the Chief Executives and the Chairs and was extremely well respected. She used to attend our Board meetings and was always direct and considered in her opinions.”
Jim Barker-McCardle, former Chair of the Trustees also paid tribute to Lady Monckton: “Lady Monckton was a plain-speaking woman with a warm heart, who cared deeply for the Hospice. We are so grateful for her patronage, which has helped raise the profile of the Hospice and raise the funds to provide compassionate care to all those with a terminal illness who need it. She will be very much missed by everyone at Heart of Kent Hospice and our thoughts are with her family at this sad time.”
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Richard R
Her death notice is in the Telegraph & Times of 8 July 2022
dpth...@gmail.com
She married 1950 Gilbert Walter Riversdale Monckton, 2nd Viscount Monckton of Brenchley.
colinp
She was a tireless local activist and a frequent writer of pithy letters to the Telegraph
Marianna Monckton of Brenchley, who has died aged 93, was a director of Allied Newspapers in Malta, High Sheriff of Kent from 1981 to 1982 and a passionate fundraiser for good causes in the county; these included the Heart of Kent Hospice in Aylesford, where in October 1992 she arranged for Diana, Princess of Wales, to carry out the official opening....
Her own story was fascinating, with colourful tales, some of which went back to Sir Walter Monckton, her father-in-law, who had been an adviser to Winston Churchill and a friend and legal adviser to Edward VIII at the time of the abdication.....
Marianna Laetitia Bower was born in Andover, Hampshire, on June 25 1929, one of eight children (seven daughters and one son) of Commander Robert Bower RN, who served as Member of Parliament for Cleveland from 1931 to 1945, and his wife Henrietta (née Strickland).
Brought up in Putney, she was educated at the Sacred Heart Convent School in Hammersmith. During the war she was evacuated to Sizergh Castle near Kendal, Cumbria, her maternal grandparents’ home; her grandfather, Lord Strickland, 6th Count della Catena in Malta, had been prime minister of Malta at the same time as being MP for Lancaster before being raised to the peerage in 1928....
In 1947 she moved to Malta to work in the office of her aunt, Mabel Strickland, who had founded the Times of Malta newspaper and in the 1950s formed the country’s Progressive Constitutionalist Party. The presence of the Mediterranean fleet in the Grand Harbour of Valletta ensured a constant stream of invitations and parties....
She married Major (later Major-General) Gilbert Monckton MC on December 30 1950 at St Mary’s Catholic church in Cadogan Street, Chelsea. Military life meant regular moves with her husband’s career, which included a spell as director of Army public relations, until his final posting as Chief of Staff, British Army of the Rhine.
He succeeded as 2nd Viscount Monckton of Brenchley in 1965, the title having been created in 1957 for his father, Sir Walter Monckton, a lawyer, Conservative politician and former minister of defence....
Marianna Monckton was a Dame of Honour and Devotion of the Order of Malta. Her husband died in 2006 and thereafter she made an annual pilgrimage to Walsingham on the anniversary of his birth.
She is survived by their daughter, Rosamond, and their four sons Christopher (the 3rd Viscount Monckton of Brenchley), Timothy, Jonathan and Anthony.
Marianna Monckton of Brenchley, born June 25 1929, died July 5 2022
