Lady Elizabeth St Aubyn
(1834-1910)
1 November 1860

Volume 2, page 69, sitting number 1576.

Born Elizabeth Clementina Townshend in or about 1834, in 1855 her father, Rear-Admiral John Townshend, succeeded his cousin, becoming 4th Marquess Townshend. The following year Lady Elizabeth Townshend married John St Aubyn (1829-1908), who succeeded his father as 2nd Baronet in 1872. When her husband was raised to the peerage in 1887 and became 1st Baron St Levan, Lady St Aubyn became Baroness St Levan.

Dowager Lady St Levan died at her residence in Hertford Street, London, on 19 November 1910 at the age of 76.

According to her obituary in The Times (19 November 1910), 'The Dowager Lady St Levan was held in high esteem in Cornwall, where she was well known for her long residence at St Michael’s Mount and the Mansion of Trevethoe. Her husband represented West Cornwall in Parliament from 1858 to 1885, and later the St Ives Division, this naturally adding to her interest in the county. She had a family of six sons and seven daughters, and there was great rejoicing in the neighbourhood when the youngest of these, a boy, was born at St Michael’s Mount, the first St Aubyn for many generations who had been born there. In 1891-3 Lord St Levan was Mayor of Devonport, of which town he was lord of the manor, and was much helped by his wife, who shared his interest in philanthropy and in Church work.

'On July 15, 1906, Lord and Lady St Levan celebrated their golden wedding in London. They attended service at St George’s, Hanover Square, where their marriage took place, and four of the bridesmaids were also present. The gifts presented to them were taken to St Michael’s Mount and there displayed to some 1,500 guests, including all the Cornish tenantry, who were entertained. The commemoration which perhaps gave Lord and Lady St Levan most satisfaction was the restoration of the peal of six bells in the chapel tower of the Mount, which was the gift of their children.

'The late Lady St Levan was a delightful hostess, and the visitors whom she entertained at St Michael’s Mount included many persons of distinction. King Edward and Queen Alexandra (then Prince and Princess of Wales) were entertained there in 1865, and in later years the Duchess of Edinburgh and Princess Frederica of Hanover among others paid visits to the Castle.

'Her surviving children are the present Lord St Aubyn, the Hon Edward St Aubyn, the Hon Mrs Otway Cuffe, the Hon Mrs Sydney Ponsonby, the Hon Mrs Alcock, the Hon Mrs Hugh Amherst, the Hon Piers St Aubyn, the Hon Mme Ernest Mallet, and the Hon Lionel St Aubyn.'