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Anne Catherine Tredick Mommand (née Wendell, previously known as the Countess of Carnarvon and Mrs Geoffrey Grenfell; November 25, 1900 – 1977) was an American heiress who married into the British aristocracy.

Early life

Catherine was born on November 25, 1900. She was the eldest daughter of Marian (née Fendall) Wendell (d. 1949) and Jacob Wendell III (d. 1911), of New York and Sandridgebury, Sandridge, Hertfordshire. Her younger sister, Philippa Fendall Wendell, was the wife of Randolph Stewart, 12th Earl of Galloway. Her brothers were Jacob Wendell (who married Eileen V. Carr) and Reginald L. Wendell.

Her father, a Harvard graduate and Broadway actor, died of pneumonia shortly before he was to appear in the leading role in What the Doctor Ordered at the Astor Theatre. Her maternal grandfather was Union soldier, Philip Richard Fendall III, and her great-grandparents were Elizabeth Mary (née Young) Fendall and Philip Richard Fendall II, the District Attorney of the District of Columbia. Her paternal grandfather was Jacob Wendell of Jacob Wendell Co.

Personal life

On 17 July 1922, Catherine was married to Lord Porchester at St Margaret's, Westminster. He was the son and heir of George Herbert, 5th Earl of Carnarvon and Almina Herbert, Countess of Carnarvon and upon his father's death on 5 April 1923, Henry became the 6th Earl of Carnarvon and Catherine became Countess of Carnarvon. Before their divorce in 1936, they were the parents of two children:

• Henry George Reginald Molyneux Herbert, 7th Earl of Carnarvon (1924–2001), who married Jean Margaret Wallop, daughter of Hon. Oliver Malcolm Wallop, in 1956.
• Lady Anne Penelope Marian Herbert (1925–1990), who married her second cousin, Capt. Reinier Gerrit Anton van der Woude, son of R.A.G van der Woude and Mary Wendell (daughter of Harvard professor Barrett Wendell) in 1945.

After their divorce, Lady Carnarvon married, as his second wife, Lt.-Cdr. Geoffrey Seymour Grenfell (1898–1940) in 1938. Geoffrey was a son of Riversdale Francis John Grenfell (son of Charles Seymour Grenfell) and Cecil Blanche (née Lubbock) Grenfell. Grenfell died in action during World War II just two years after their marriage.

Ten years after his death, she married Don Stuart Momand (d. 1977) in 1950, who had previously been married to Virginia Ten Eyck Rice (a daughter of William Lowe Rice).

Catherine Mommand died in 1977.

Descendants

Through her son Henry, she was a grandmother of George Herbert, 8th Earl of Carnarvon, Henry "Harry" Herbert, and Lady Carolyn Herbert.

Through her daughter Penelope, she was a grandmother of Michael Gerrit van der Woude, David Anthony van der Woude, and Penelope Catherine Mary van der Woude.

References

1. "£7,150 ESTATE Equal Shares for Three". The Daily Telegraph. 31 January 1950. p. 16. Retrieved 10 May 2022.
2. "A DAY'S WEDDINGS.; Wendell -- Fendall". The New York Times. 17 April 1895. Retrieved 10 May 2022.
3. TIMES, Special Cable to THE NEW YORK (12 July 1924). "Philippa Wendell Will Also Wed an Earl; Elder Sister Is Wife of Earl of Carnarvon". The New York Times. Retrieved 10 May 2022.
4. ^ "TO WED LORD PORCHESTER.; Engagement of Miss Catherine Wendell of New York Announced". The New York Times. 1 June 1922. Retrieved 10 May 2022.
5. ^ "COUNTESS CARNARVON NOW HAS A DAUGHTER; Second Child Is Born to Former Catherine Wendell, Wife of Lord Potchester". The New York Times. 5 March 1925. Retrieved 10 May 2022.
6. "ASTOR'S PLAY POSTPONED.; Jacob Wendell, Jr., Cast in Principal Role, Stricken with Pneumonia". The New York Times. 20 April 1911. Retrieved 10 May 2022.
7. "JACOB WENDELL, JR., IS DEAD.; Actor and Harvard Graduate Dies of Pneumonia -- Acted in "The Blue Bird."". The New York Times. 23 April 1911. Retrieved 10 May 2022.
8. Times, Special to The New York (16 March 1901). "JACOB WENDELL'S WILL.; Most of the Estate Left to His Widow -- Bequests for Harvard College and Other Institutions". The New York Times. Retrieved 10 May 2022.
9. Herbert 1976, p. 116.
10. Times, the New York Times Company special Cable To the New York (7 December 1926). "COUNTESS CARNARVON ILL.; Former Catherine Wendell of New York Has Appendicitis Operation". The New York Times. Retrieved 10 May 2022.
11. "LORD CARNARVON DIVORCED; Former Catherine Wendell of New York Wins Decree in Britain". The New York Times. 23 April 1936. Retrieved 10 May 2022.
12. "EARL OF CARNARVON SUED FOR DIVORCE; Former Catherine Wendell of New York Files Action in London Court. COUPLE WEDDED 13 YEARS Viscountess Lymington, Former Mary L. Post, Also Seeks a Decree in British Capital". The New York Times. 5 January 1936. Retrieved 10 May 2022.
13. Times, The New York (8 January 1956). "Jean M. Wallop Wed at St. James'; Escorted by Father at Her Marriage to Lord Porchester". The New York Times. Retrieved 10 May 2022.
14. "LADY HERBERT WED TO BRITISH SOLDIER; Penelope, Daughter of Earl of Carnarvon, Bride in England of Gerrit van der Woude". The New York Times. 22 April 1945. Retrieved 10 May 2022.
15. "LADY CARNARVON MARRIED; Former Catharine Wendell Wed to Geoffrey Grenfell". The New York Times. 22 September 1938. Retrieved 10 May 2022.
16. "WEDDING THIS MONTH FOR LADY CARNARVON; Former Wife of Earl, Born Here, Fiancee of Geoffrey Grenfell". The New York Times. 18 September 1938. Retrieved 10 May 2022.
17. "County Town Echoes". Bucks Examiner. 21 March 1941. p. 6. Retrieved 10 May 2022.
18. "£37,443 WILL Estate of Lt.-Cmdr. G. S. Grenfell". Cheltenham Chronicle and Gloucestershire Graphic. 18 October 1941. p. 6. Retrieved 10 May 2022.
19. ^ Mosley, Charles, ed. (2003). Burke's Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage, vol 1 (107th ed.). London. p. 699. ISBN 0971196621.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
20. "MISS VIRGINIA RICE MARRIED IN PARIS; New York Girl's Wedding to Don Stuart Momand a Surprise to Friends Here. WED IN AMERICAN CHURCH They Will Live in London, Where Bridegroom, Son of Mrs. A.L. Momand of New York, is in Business". The New York Times. 14 July 1921. Retrieved 10 May 2022.

Bibliography

• Herbert, Henry (1976). No Regrets: Memoirs of the Earl of Carnarvon. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson. ISBN 0297772465.

• 1900 births
• 1977 deaths
• Lee family of Virginia
• Fendall family
• Herbert family
• British countesses
• People from Highclere
• American emigrants to the United Kingdom