Almina, Lady Carnarvon Wife of 5th Earl of Carnarv

Almina Countess of Carnarvon :   Tales from the Cabbage Patch 

Despite the passage of more than  80 years,  the important legacy of Lord Carnarvon and Howard Carter’s 14 year obsession in the Valley of the Kings which led to the immense discovery of the Tomb of Tutankhaman continues to attract close attention.  But the many dozens of books on the quest itself, those on the treasures exploited,  and the curse surrounding  the curious death of Lord Carnarvon and others have nearly exhausted the subject more than any other adventure tale.

Carnarvon’s widow Almina, Countess of Carnarvon, has never been subject to  an extensive appraisal except  for the odd minor write up and the coverage of  her enforced part in the 5^th  Earl’s  long escapades in Egypt.  Having spent 3 months of intensive enquiry and  reading absolutely everything written about the 5^th Earl  ( at least in the public domain )  the scanty portraits of  Almina barely scratch the surface of this most  remarkable woman who lived to the grand age of 92. 

Additional help is now wanted by the writer/ researcher, Will Cross, of Newport, South Wales, UK to appraise Almina’s triumphs and disasters, aside from her role in the Tutankhamen epic.  Will Cross already has a sizable body of unpublished material on Almina. But he  requests  further stories,  personal / other anecdotes,  in fact any information whatsoever,  as well as letters, newspaper items, photographs etc for inclusion in a biography of Almina, Lady Carnarvon, 1877-1969, working title “Tales from the Cabbage Patch”. 

Lady Carnarvon was born Almina Victoria Marie Alexandra Wombwell ) ( although she was the illegitimate daughter of  Baron Alfred de Rothschild,  a member of the great Jewish banking family.

Almina’s mother was Marie Boyer,  a woman of French descent, who married Frederick Wombwell a brother of Sir George Wombwell of Newburgh Park, Yorkshire. There was one son, a half-brother to Lady Carnarvon,  Frederick Charles Wombwell,  who died in 1912, aged only 42.  When Marie and Wombwell were estranged Alfred de Rothschild became her lover and father to Marie’s second child. 

Almina’s life was especially fulfilled in War  time  ( First and Second World Wars ) by the creation of hospitals for wounded soldiers and airmen and later by her generous patronage and huge personal input and sacrifice into the nursing homes that bore her name.   

A separate project is being undertaken with a writing colleague Monty Dart on a scandal that rocked the establishment, also 80 odd years ago .  Will Cross and Monty Dart are  seeking any material whatsoever on the infamous legal case of Dennistoun v Dennistoun from 1925.   This case features  Almina, Countess of Carnarvon as the wife of the defendant in the case, Lt  Colonel Ian Onslow Dennistoun, whom Almina married in December 1923, barely 8 months after the 5^th Earl’s death.     Colonel Dennistoun was sued by her first wife Dorothy Muriel Dennistoun ( formerly Dorothy Webster )  for a relatively small amount of money.  However the case became a mud slinging affair lasting 17 days in the High Court, in London and resulted in many good names in British Society being  tarnished.  The King himself, George V,  was disturbed by the day by day disclosures. 

Anything  known about the Colonel and Dorothy Dennistoun (  she was later the wife of Colonel Nicholas Woevodsky ) is therefore also sought.   Colonel Dennistoun died in 1938. Dorothy Dennistoun died in 1980. She and Colonel Woevodsky spent many years in Spain where they created some beautiful botanical gardens that remain a lasting legacy on the coastline of the Costa Brava.