Georgina Ward, Countess of Dudley

The Right Honourable Georgina, Countess of Dudley RRC DStJ
The Countess of Dudley in the 1880s
Personal details
Born	Georgina Elizabeth Moncreiffe 9 August 1846 Dunbarney, Perthshire, Scotland
Died	2 February 1929(1929-02-02) (aged 82) Pembroke Lodge, Richmond Park, London
Spouse(s)	William Ward, 1st Earl of Dudley (m. 1865; d. 1885)
Children	seven, including William Ward, 2nd Earl of Dudley John Hubert Ward
Awards	Royal Red Cross Dame of the Order of Saint John

Georgina Elizabeth Ward, Countess of Dudley RRC DStJ (9 August 1846 – 2 February 1929) was a Scottish noblewoman and a noted beauty of the Victorian era.

Georgina was born in Dunbarney, Perthshire, Scotland – "the third of a series of sisters all famous for their good looks" – to Sir Thomas Moncreiffe of that Ilk, 7th Baronet, and Lady Louisa Hay-Drummond, daughter of Thomas Hay-Drummond, 11th Earl of Kinnoull. Her sister Harriet became Lady Mordaunt; another sister, Louisa, married John Stewart-Murray, 7th Duke of Atholl.

In the summer of 1865, the engagement was announced between the 17-year-old Georgina and the 48-year-old William Ward, 1st Earl of Dudley, a wealthy land and mine owner. The earl had been widowed since November 1851 as his first wife, Selina Constance (née de Burgh), died six months into their marriage. Georgina and the earl married on 21 November 1865 in London, and Dudley was proud to show off his beautiful new wife across Europe:

Over the course of their marriage, Georgina and Dudley had one daughter and six sons. Dudley spoiled his wife with the finest clothes and jewels, but gave her no say in the running of their magnificent homes at Witley Court and Dudley House.

The theft of Lady Dudley's jewels on 12 December 1874 at Paddington Station was a famous crime in Victorian England. The jewels worth perhaps £25,000 were never recovered.

In 1879, the earl suffered a stroke, on the same day they had been preparing for a large party with a poetry reading by actress Sarah Bernhardt. The countess at once took charge of both the management of the family estates and his health. She dutifully nursed him and stayed by his side, with the exception of when business required her elsewhere. She was only rarely seen at social engagements without him.