The Countess of Rothes

The Countess of Rothes, who, as reported in last week’s Directory, was saved, was on her way to the States to meet her husband, who is a son of Mrs. Leslie Leslie, of Paignton, Devon. Before marriage Lady Rothes was Miss Edwardes, only child of Mr. Thomas Dyer Edwardes, owner of Prinknash Park, Gloucestershire. Prinknash Park is not only the name of a seat, but also the name of a parish - a parish with but three houses in it. Miss Edwardes married the Earl of Rothes twelve years ago. The couple have two sons. Lord Leslie, the elder, entered upon his eleventh year a month or two ago. The younger son is not yet three. The family has frequently had no male head. In a space of a little over two centuries the peerage of Rothes has been held by ladies on five occasions. The two immediate predecessors of the present Earl were Countesses in their own right. Lord Rothes, when a lad of sixteen, succeeded his grandmother, who had followed her niece a few years earlier. The present Earl’s father died thirty years ago, before his mother’s accession. Curiously, his grandmother had also held the title as fourteenth Countess.