T. E.'s Famous Cousins

Last Updated 22 FEB. 2008

Robert Gilbert Vansittart, Baron Vansittart (1881-1957), diplomat, is well known among Lawrencians. He was T. E.'s second cousin. The Baron's grandfather was Robert Vansittart of Driffield (1811-72), whose sister was Martha Louisa Vansittart (1812-89) and T. E.'s paternal grandmother. T. E. is mentioned in the Baron's autobiography[*] which was published in 1958.

Major General Orde Charles Wingate, "Lawrence of Judea" (1903-1944), is often referred to as T. E.'s distant cousin. According to his biography [**] (cf. T. E. NOTES, April 1993), he could claim kinship with T. E. and the Chapman family through his mother. The Dictionary of National Biography states that Orde's mother, Mary Ethel Stanley, daughter of Captain Orde Browne, of the Royal Horse Artillery, came from a Gloucestershire family. How were the Brownes related to the Chapmans? Unfortunately, other than the aforementioned, I have found no reference book which traces their relationship and hope that some reader will be more successful.

Other outstanding cousins were (Robert) Anthony Eden, the Conservative Prime Minister from 1955 to 1957, and Bertrand Arthur William Russell, the British philosopher who won a Nobel Prize for Literature in 1949. They were related to T. E. through Caroline Eden (1780/81-1851), the mother of Martha Louisa Vansittart. Caroline's father, William Eden, Baron Auckland (1744-1814), had a brother named Robert, 1st Baronet (1742-89), whose descendent was Anthony Eden, 1st Earl of Avon (1897-1977). He was a fourth cousin of T.E. and his second wife a niece of Winston Churchill.

Caroline Eden's mother, Eleanor Elliot (1758-1818) was a sister of Gilbert Elliot, 1st Earl of Minto (1751-1814), whose granddaughter, Frances Anna Maria Elliot-Murray-Kynynmound (1815-98), was married to John Russell, the 1st Earl Russell (1792-1878). Bertrand, their grandson, was the 3rd Earl Russell (1872-1970) and another of T. E.'s fourth cousins. Incidentary, Bertrand was a friend of both E. M. Forster and D. H. Lawrence.

by YAGITANI Ryôko
First published on T. E. NOTES, May 1995; revised FEB. 2008

Notes
* Mist Procession (Hutchinson & Co., London 1958) [O'Brien F1083]
** Orde Wingate (Collins, London 1959) by Christopher Sykes [O'Brien F1014]

BOTTOM

Here are a genealogical tree which shows T. E.'s distinguished background.

= This colour means marriage connection.

Click here to jump to T. E.

Robert EDEN 3rd Baronet c.1718-55		Gilbert ELLIOT 3rd Baronet, 1722-77 Treasurer of Navy
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Robert Eden 1st Baronet 1742-89	William Eden 1st Baron Auckland 1744-1814 Undersecretary of State	Eleanor Elliot 1758-1818	Gilbert ELLIOT-MURRAY-KYNNYMOND 1st Earl of Minto, 1751-1814 Governor General of India
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Frederick Eden 2nd Baronet 1766-1809	Caroline Eden 1780/81-1851	Arthur VANSITTART of Shottesbrooke 1775-1829	Thomas CHAPMAN 2nd Baronet 1756-1837	Gilbert Elliot 2nd Earl of Minto 1782-1859 First Lord Admiralty
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William Eden 6th & 4th Baronet 1803-73	Robert Vansittart of Driffield 1811-72	Martha Louisa Vansittart 1812-89	William Chapman of South Hill 1811-89	Frances Anna Maria Elliot-Murray-Kynynmound 1815-98
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William Eden 7th & 5th Baronet 1849-1915	Robert Vansittart of Roxley 1851-1938	Thomas Robert Tighe Chapman (LAWRENCE) 7th Baronet 1846-1919		John RUSSELL, Viscount Amberley 1842-76
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(Robert) Anthony Eden 1st Earl of Avon 1897-1977 Conservative Prime Minister	Robert Vansittart, Baron Vansittart 1881-1957 Diplomatist	Thomas Edward Lawrence (SHAW) 1888-1935 Lawrence of Arabia		Bertrand Russell 3rd Earl Russell 1872-1970 Philosopher & Social Reformer

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