by Scott Mehl © Unofficial Royalty 2018
Susannah, Duchess of Roxburghe, painted by Henry Wyndham Phillips. source: Royal Collection Trust RCIN 403853. The painting was presented by The Duchess to Queen Victoria on her birthday, May 24, 1868. It hangs in the Queen’s Lift Corridor at Osborne House.
Susanna Innes-Ker, Duchess of Roxburghe was a Lady of the Bedchamber to Queen Victoria from 1865 until her death thirty years later. Ladies of the Bedchamber were always wives of peers. Only one Lady of the Bedchamber was in waiting at a time. She was always ready to attend to the Queen. The Lady-in-Waiting attended all State occasions and presided over the Household table when the Mistress of the Robes was not in residence. A Lady of the Bedchamber had two to three waits a year from twelve to thirty days at a time.
Born Susanna Stephania Dalbiac in Heningford, Yorkshire on August 28, 1814, she was the only child of Sir James Dalbiac and Susanna Dalton.
The year after Susanna’s birth, her father purchased Moulton Hall, a manor house in Moulton, near Richmond, North Yorkshire. The previous owner was Sir Ralph Milbanke, 6th Baronet, who sold it to pay the dowry for the marriage of his daughter, Anne, to Lord Byron. The Dalbiac family lived at Moulton Hall for the next 21 years.
James Henry Robert Innes-Ker, 6th Duke of Roxburghe. by Thomas Richard Williams, albumen carte-de-visite, 1860s. source: National Portrait Gallery, NPG Ax77158
On December 29, 1836, at the age of 21, Susanna married James Innes-Ker, 6th Duke of Roxburghe. He was the son of James Innes-Ker, 5th Duke of Roxburghe and Harriet Charlewood. Just like his predecessor, Susanna’s father sold Moulton Hall to pay the dowry for his daughter’s marriage. Susanna and James had four children:
- Lady Susan Innes-Ker (1837) – married Sir George Grant-Suttie of Balgone, 5th Baronet, had issue
- James Innes-Ker, 7th Duke of Roxburghe (1839) – married Anne Spencer-Churchill, had issue
- Lady Charlotte Innes-Ker (1841) – married George Russell, had issue
- Lord Charles Innes-Ker (1842) – married Blanche Williams, had issue
Susanna Stephania Innes-Ker (née Dalbiac), Duchess of Roxburghe. by Camille Silvy, albumen print, 26 June 1861. source: National Portrait Gallery, NPG Ax54617
Susanna became a friend of Queen Victoria – who described her in her journals as “a dear and valued friend” – and in 1861 many believed that she would be appointed Mistress of the Robes. While this did not happen, four years later on January 13, 1865, she was appointed Lady of the Bedchamber to The Queen, replacing the Dowager Countess of Mount-Edgecumbe who had resigned. Susanna would serve until her own death in 1895. When William Gladstone became Prime Minister for the third time, no one would accept the position of Mistress of the Robes due to Gladstone’s policy of Home Rule in Ireland. So during his brief tenure – from February to July 1886, Susanna served as Acting Mistress of the Robes, taking on the duties without accepting the formal title.
Princess Louis of Hesse (Princess Alice) and the Duchess of Roxburge, Floors Castle, 1865. source: Royal Collection Trust RCIN 2901313
In August 1867, The Duchess and her husband hosted Queen Victoria and several of her children at Floors Castle in Roxburghshire, the seat of the Dukes of Roxburghe. The Queen spent three days at Floors, on her way to Balmoral for her summer holiday.
Bowden Kirk
Having survived her husband by sixteen years, The Dowager Duchess of Roxburghe died on May 7, 1895 at her home in Hereford Gardens, London. She is buried in the Innes-Ker family crypt at the Bowden Kirk, in Bowden, Roxburghshire.
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Recommended Book – Serving Queen Victoria: Life in the Royal Household by Kate Hubbard