Terence Hamilton-Temple-Blackwood, 2nd Marquess of Dufferin and Ava

Terence John Temple Hamilton-Temple-Blackwood, 2nd Marquess of Dufferin and Ava DL JP (16 March 1866 – 7 February 1918), styled Lord Terence Blackwood between 1888 and 1900 and Earl of Ava between 1900 and 1902, was a British diplomat.^[1]

The Most Honourable The Marquess of Dufferin and Ava DL JP
From Photo by John Edwards, Hyde Park Corner, 1894
Personal details
Born	Terence John Temple Hamilton-Temple-Blackwood 16 March 1866 (1866-03-16)
Died	7 February 1918(1918-02-07) (aged 51) London, England
Nationality	British
Spouse	Florence "Flora" Davis ​ ​ (m. 1893; his death 1918)​
Children	3
Parent(s)	Frederick Hamilton-Temple-Blackwood, 1st Marquess of Dufferin and Ava Hariot Rowan-Hamilton
Relatives	Basil Temple Blackwood (brother) Frederick Hamilton-Temple-Blackwood, 3rd Marquess of Dufferin and Ava (brother)
Residence(s)	Clandeboye Estate, County Down

Early life

Lord Dufferin was the second son of Frederick Hamilton-Temple-Blackwood, 1st Marquess of Dufferin and Ava and Hariot Hamilton-Temple-Blackwood, Marchioness of Dufferin and Ava.^[2][3] His father was Governor General of Canada of in the 1870s and Viceroy and Governor-General of India in the 1880s and his mother was known for leading an initiative to improve medical care for women in British India.^[4]

His paternal grandparents were Price Blackwood, 4th Baron Dufferin and Claneboye and Helen Blackwood, Baroness Dufferin and Claneboye (a granddaughter of the playwright Richard Brinsley Sheridan), members of the Ascendancy, Ireland's Anglo-Irish aristocracy. His maternal grandfather was Archibald Hamilton-Rowan of Killyleagh Castle (now Northern Ireland).

As a younger son, he was not expected to inherit the title, but on the death of his brother Archibald, Earl of Ava at the Siege of Ladysmith in the Second Boer War on 11 January 1900,^[5] he became the heir and assumed the courtesy title Earl of Ava himself before succeeding his father in 1902.^[6]

Career

From 1891 to 1918, he worked as a clerk at the Foreign Office, Second Secretary of the Diplomatic Service and a Justice of the Peace and Deputy Lieutenant for County Down.^[7]

Personal life

 

His wife, the former Flora Davis, in 1894.

Lord Dufferin married Florence "Flora" Davis,^[8] a rich American singer who was the daughter of New York banker John Hagy Davis,^[9] of 24 Washington Square, New York City,^[10][11] in 1893.^[12] Together, they were the parents of three daughters:^[13]

• Lady Doris Gwendoline Hamilton-Temple-Blackwood (1895–1984), who married Captain Cecil Bernard Gunston, MC (1885–1934) of the Coldstream Guards, son of Major Bernard Gunston, formerly of the 5th Dragoon Guards, on 19 October 1922.^[13]
• Lady Ursula Florence Hamilton-Temple-Blackwood (9 Feb 1899-13 Feb 1982), who married Arthur Swithin Newton Horne, formerly of The King's Own Royal Border Regiment and Government Secretary of the Federated Malay States (d. 1954).^[13]
• Lady Patricia Ethel Hamilton-Temple-Blackwood (1902–1983), who married Henry Russell, the former director of the Boston Opera Company and the son of musician Henry Russell, on 11 June 1926.^[13][14]

Lord Dufferin died from pneumonia on 7 February 1918 and was buried at the Dufferin ancestral seat of Clandeboye, County Down.^[15] The marquessate passed to his youngest brother, Lord Frederick Blackwood.^[16] Two years after his death his widow married again, to Richard George Penn Curzon, 4th Earl Howe, and died on 14 April 1925.^[17][18]

Descendants

Through his eldest daughter, he was the grandfather of Hermione Hamilton Gunston (b. 1923), who married Lt. Col. Sir Walter Luttrell MC, and Sonia Helen Gunston JP (b. 1926), appointed Temporary Lady of the Bedchamber to Queen Elizabeth II in 1967, and who married Thomas Fairfax, 13th Lord Fairfax of Cameron (d.1964) and had issue including Nicholas Fairfax, 14th Lord Fairfax of Cameron (b. 1956).

Arms

Coat of arms of Terence Hamilton-Temple-Blackwood, 2nd Marquess of Dufferin and Ava

Coronet A Coronet of an Marquess Crest 1st: On a Cap of Maintenance Gules turned up Ermine a Crescent Argent (Blackwood); 2nd, On a Ducal Coronet Or a Martlet Gold (Temple); 3rd, a Demi-Antelope affrontée Ermine attired and unguled Or holding between his hoofs a Heart Gules (Hamilton, Earl of Clanbrassill) Escutcheon Quarterly, 1st and 4th, Azure a Fess Or in chief a Crescent Argent between two Mullets of the second and in base a Mascle of the third (Blackwood); 2nd, quarterly, 1st and 4th, Or an Eagle displayed Sable, 2nd and 3rd, Argent two Bars Sable each charged with three Martlets Or (Temple); 3rd, Gules three Cinquefoils pierced Ermine on a Chief Or a Lion passant of the field (Hamilton, Earl of Clanbrassill) Supporters Dexter: a Lion Gules armed and langued Azure gorged with a Tressure flory-counterflory Or; Sinister: an Heraldic Tiger Ermine gorged with a like Tressure Gules; each supporter supporting a Flag Staff proper therefrom flowing a Banner Or charged with a Peacock in his Pride also proper Motto Per Vias Rectas (By straight ways)

References

1. Hammond, Peter W., ed. (1998). The Complete Peerage or a History of the House of Lords and All its Members From the Earliest Times, Volume XIV. Gloucestershire, U.K.: Addenda & Corrigenda | Stroud | Sutton Publishing. p. 281.
2. Black, Charles Edward Drummond (1903). The Marquess of Dufferin and Ava: Diplomatist, Viceroy, Statesman. Hutchinson. p. 392.
3. "A Biography of Dufferin" (PDF). The New York Times. 11 April 1903.
4. Forbes, Geraldine Hancock (1943). Women in Colonial India: Essays on Politics, Medicine, and Historiography. New Delhi: Chronicle Books. ISBN 8180280179. OCLC 60396009.
5. The Current Encyclopedia: A Monthly Record of Human Progress. Hearst's International. 1902. p. 1124.
6. "LORD DUFFERIN IS DEAD; Famous Diplomat's Last Days Were Clouded by Misfortune. He Never Wholly Recovered from the Shock of His Eldest Son's Death--The New Marquis Married Miss Flora Davis of This City" (PDF). The New York Times. 13 February 1902.
7. Archives, The National. "Blackwood, Terence John Temple Hamilton-Temple- (1866-1918) 2nd Marquess of Dufferin and Ava". discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk. The Discovery Service. Retrieved 8 November 2017.
8. Chambliss, William H. (1895). Chambliss Diary: Or, Society as it Really is. Chambliss. p. 16.
9. "LADY DUFFERIN IN CONCERT; Will Make Her Debut as a Public Singer in London on Dec. 15" (PDF). The New York Times. 4 December 1910.
10. "TO BE LADY BLACKWOOD.; EARL DUFFERIN'S SECOND SON TO WED MISS FLORA DAVIS OF NEW-YORK" (PDF). The New York Times. 19 November 1892.
11. MacColl, Gail; Wallace, Carol (2012). To Marry an English Lord. Workman Publishing. p. 379. ISBN 9780761171959.
12. "THE BLACKWOOD-DAVIS WEDDING.; The Religious Ceremony Celebrated Yesterday in Paris" (PDF). The New York Times. 17 October 1893.
13. "Dufferin and Ava, Marquess of (UK, 1888 - 1988)". cracroftspeerage.co.uk. Heraldic Media Limited. Retrieved 8 November 2017.
14. "LADY PATRICIA IS WED TO HENRY RUSSELL; Actress, Daughter of Countess Howe, Becomes Bride of Opera Impresario in Paris" (PDF). The New York Times. 12 June 1926.
15. "MARQUIS OF DUFFERIN DIES. Diplomat's Widow Was Formerly Miss Florence Davis of New York" (PDF). The New York Times. 8 February 1918.
16. "Obituary: Maureen, Marchioness of Dufferin and Ava". The Independent. 23 May 1998. Archived from the original on 11 August 2022.
17. "Florence (née Davis), Marchioness of Dufferin and Ava (later Countess Howe) - Person - National Portrait Gallery". npg.org.uk. Retrieved 8 November 2017.
18. "LADY HOWE DIES' IN ENGLISH HOME; Former Flora H. Davis of New York a Victim of Heart Disease Following Influenza" (PDF). The New York Times. 15 April 1925.

External links

• Photograph of the 2nd Marquess of Dufferin and Ava photogravure by Walker & Boutall and by Gunn & Stuart

Peerage of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Frederick Hamilton Temple-Blackwood	Marquess of Dufferin and Ava 1902–1918	Succeeded by Frederick Hamilton Temple-Blackwood