Georgina Elizabeth Ward, Countess of Dudley (née Moncreiffe; 9 August 1846 – 2 February 1929) was a British noblewoman and noted beauty of the Victorian era.
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Early life and family
Georgina was born in Dunbarney, Perthshire, Scotland – "the third of a series of [eight] sisters all famous for their good looks" – to Sir Thomas Moncreiffe, 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.
Marriage
In the summer of 1865, the engagement was announced between the 18-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: