| Biography | In 1897, after the death of his first wife, Mount Stephen re-married Georgiana (known as Gian) Tufnell (18641933), daughter of Captain Robert George Tufnell R.N., of Uffington and Jessy Curtis, grand-daughter of Sir William Curtis, 1st Bt. Gian was a niece of George Glyn, 2nd Baron Wolverton and she had been Lady-in-Waiting to Princess Mary Adelaide, Duchess of Teck, a frequent guest at Brocket Hall, and the mother of Queen Mary. Through this connection, Gian was a lifelong friend and confidant of Queen Mary and she and Lord Mount Stephen regularly entertained her and her husband, George V, at Brocket. The Duchess of Teck was said to have been strongly in favour of Gian and Mount Stephen's marriage.
Gian Mount Stephen was said to have preferred the life at Brocket Hall to the social life that surrounded their city residence on Carlton House Terrace. She was said to have been exceedingly popular around Hatfield, and her many benefactions endeared her to hundreds.[12] Lady Mount Stephen was created a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1919 for her work with Queen Mary's Needlework Guild, the same year her stepdaughter, Alice, was also awarded the same honour. Mount Stephen left no natural heirs by his second wife either, and as such his titles died with him. |