Clare Tennant
{{Short description|British socialite}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{infobox person
| honorific_prefix = The Honourable
| name = Clare Tennant
| image = Clare Tennant (Tatler, 1916).png
| caption = Portrait photo in The Tatler, 1916
| birth_name = Clarissa Madeline Georgiana Felicite Tennant
| birth_date = {{birth date|1896|07|13|df=yes}}
| birth_place =
| death_date = {{death date and age|1960|09|03|1896|07|13|df=yes}}
| death_place =
| burial_place = Traquair Kirkyard, Traquair, Scotland
| education =
| mother = Pamela Wyndham
| spouse = {{plainlist|
- {{marriage|Adrian Bethell
|1915|1918|reason=div}} - {{marriage|Hon. Lionel Tennyson
|27 March 1918|1928|reason=div}} - {{marriage|James M. Beck Jr.
|1928|1939|reason=div}}
}}
| children = 6
| father = Edward Tennant, 1st Baron Glenconner
| relations = {{Plainlist|
- Margot Asquith, Countess of Oxford and Asquith (paternal aunt)
- Edward Grey, 1st Viscount Grey of Fallodon (stepfather)
- Edward Tennant (brother)
- David Tennant (brother)
- Stephen Tennant (brother)
- Emma Tennant (niece)
- Stella Tennant (great-niece)
}}
}}
Clarissa Madeline Georgiana Felicite Tennant (later Bethell, Tennyson and Beck; 13 July 1896 – 3 September 1960), known as Clare Tennant, was a British socialite, prominent in early 20th century high society in London.
Early life
Clare was born on 13 July 1896. She was the only daughter of Edward Tennant, 1st Baron Glenconner, and Pamela Wyndham. Among her brothers was poet Edward, Stephen and David Tennant.{{cite web|url=http://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/person/mp66669/hon-clarissa-clare-tennant-tennyson-later-beck|title=Hon. Clarissa ('Clare') Tennant (Tennyson, later Beck)|publisher=National Portrait Gallery|access-date=22 June 2015}}
Her paternal grandparents were Emma Winsloe and Sir Charles Tennant, 1st Baronet. Her uncle was Harold Tennant, and her aunt, Margot Tennant was the wife of Prime Minister H. H. Asquith.{{cite book |last1=Fox-Davies |first1=Arthur Charles |title=Armorial Families: A Directory of Gentlemen of Coat-armour |date=1910 |publisher=T.C. & E.C. Jack |pages=1579–1580 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=M2VHAQAAMAAJ&dq=Clarissa+Madeline+Georgiana+Felicite+Tennant.&pg=PA1580 |access-date=9 May 2022 |language=en}}
In her younger years she was often seen at the Ritz Hotel in London, dining with the likes of Lady Cynthia Asquith, Osbert Sitwell, Gilbert Russell and Maud Nelke.{{Sfn|Montgomery-Massingberd|Watkin|1980|p=74}} Mary Abbott describes her as a "notorious 'bolter'",{{sfn|Abbott|2003|p=51}} while Barbara Cartland in her 1970 autobiography "We Danced All Night" called her "one of the most beautiful women I have ever seen".{{sfn|Cartland|1972|p=140}}
Personal life
File:Captain Adrian Vincent Bethell.jpg
She married three times. Her first marriage was to William Adrian Vincent Bethell, whom she married on 18 August 1915.{{cite book |title=Debrett's Peerage, Baronetage, Knightage, and Companionage |date=1916 |publisher=Kelly's Directories |page=388 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ujg4TVs_3RkC&dq=William+Adrian+Vincent+Bethell&pg=PA388 |access-date=9 May 2022 |language=en}} Before they divorced in 1918, they were the parents of one daughter:
- Diana Hermione Bethell (1916–1967), who married Richard Purcell Blow, and had issue, the author Simon Blow
On 27 March 1918, she remarried to Major Hon. Lionel Tennyson (later the 3rd Baron Tennyson), grandson of poet Alfred, Lord Tennyson and the son of Audrey and Hallam Tennyson, 2nd Baron Tennyson, Governor-General of Australia.{{Sfn|Dakers|Webb|1993|p=277}} Before their divorce in 1928, they were the parents of three sons, including the 4th and 5th Baron Tennyson:{{cite book |last1=Morris |first1=Susan |title=Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage 2019 |date=20 April 2020 |publisher=eBook Partnership |isbn=978-1-9997670-5-1 |pages=2129, 4568 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=99tHEAAAQBAJ&dq=4th+Baron+Tennyson+1991&pg=PA4568 |access-date=9 May 2022 |language=en}}
- Harold Christopher Tennyson (1919–1991), the 4th Baron Tennyson who died unmarried
- Mark Aubrey Tennyson (1920–2006), the 5th Baron Tennyson who married Deline Celeste Budler but died without issue
- Lionel Tennyson (1925–1925), who died in infancy
In 1928, she married James Montgomery Beck Jr., son of James M. Beck, a Republican U.S. Representative from Pennsylvania who served as U.S. Solicitor General under Presidents Warren G. Harding and Calvin Coolidge.{{cite news |last1=TIMES |first1=Special to THE NEW YORK |title=JAMES M. BECK, 74, NEW DEAL FOE, DIES; One of Foremost Authorities on the Constitution Stricken Suddenly in Capital. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1936/04/13/archives/james-m-beck-74-new-deal-foe-dies-one-of-foremost-authorities-on.html+M.+Beck&scp=9&st=p |access-date=27 April 2022 |work=The New York Times |date=13 April 1936}}{{cite news |last1=TIMES |first1=Special to THE NEW YORK |title=WIDOW GETS BECK ESTATE; Value in Excess of $200,000 -- Will Is Probated at Philadelphia. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1936/05/05/archives/widow-gets-beck-estate-value-in-excess-of-200000-will-is-probated.html |access-date=27 April 2022 |work=The New York Times |date=5 May 1936}} Before their separation in 1936 and divorce in 1939,{{cite news |title=James M. Beck Gets Divorce |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1939/11/08/archives/james-m-beck-gets-divorce.html |access-date=27 April 2022 |work=The New York Times |date=8 November 1939}} they became the parents of twins:{{cite news |title=JAMES M. BECK DIES; A SOCIETY FIGURE, 80 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1972/12/06/archives/james-m-beck-diesi-a-soqsr-fijur-soi.html |access-date=27 April 2022 |work=The New York Times |date=6 December 1972}}
- James Montgomery Beck III (1929–2006), who adopted Rev. David Lawson-Beck{{cite web |title=Our Present Community |url=http://www.lindenepiscopal.org/about-1 |website=The Episcopal Church of St. John the Baptist in Linden, NJ |access-date=27 April 2022}}{{cite web |last1=Jersey |first1=Central |title=OBITUARIES, Aug. 15, 2006 – Central Jersey Archives |url=https://archive.centraljersey.com/2006/08/15/obituaries-aug-15-2006/ |website=centraljersey.com/2006/08/15/obituaries-aug-15-2006/ |access-date=27 April 2022}}
- Virginia Clare Beck (1929–2008){{cite news |title=PARTY WILL HONOR MISS VIRGINIA BECK; Parents Will Give a Reception for Debutante Tomorrow -- Sue Kendall Bows |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1948/11/25/archives/party-will-honor-miss-virginia-beck-parents-will-give-a-reception.html |access-date=27 April 2022 |work=The New York Times |date=25 November 1948}}
She died on 3 September 1960 aged 64 and is buried at the Traquair Kirkyard in Traquair, Scotland.Ancestry.com. Global, Find A Grave Index for Burials at Sea and other Select Burial Locations, 1300s-Current [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012.
References
{{reflist}}
=Sources=
- {{cite book|last=Abbott|first=Mary|title=Family Affairs: A History of the Family in 20th Century England|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HhjUpBr5TqEC&pg=PA51|date=January 2003|publisher=Psychology Press|isbn=978-0-415-14587-9}}
- {{cite book |last1=Cartland |first1=Barbara |title=We Danced All Night |date=1972 |publisher=Pyramid Books |isbn=0-515-02749-9}}
- {{cite book|last1=Dakers|first1=Caroline|last2=Webb|first2=Philip|title=Clouds: The Biography of a Country House|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gbTd5_RuzisC&pg=PA277|year=1993|publisher=Yale University Press|isbn=978-0-300-05776-8}}
- {{cite book|last1=Montgomery-Massingberd|first1=Hugh|last2=Watkin|first2=David|title=The London Ritz: a social and architectural history|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_xBUAAAAMAAJ|year=1980|publisher=Aurum|isbn=978-0-906053-01-0}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tennant, Clare}}