Portrait of Caroline Lambart, née Crawley, Countess of Cavan
Artist: Philip Alexius de László (British, 1869-1937)
Date: 1912
Medium: Oil on canvas
Collection: Private collection
Description
Caroline Inez Crawley was born on 6 February 1870, the eldest daughter of George Baden Crawley and his wife Eliza Inez Hulbert. On 1 August 1893 she married Frederick Rudolf Lambart (1865-1946) eldest son of Frederick Edward Gould Lambart, 9th Earl of Cavan, and his wife, Mary Sneade Olive. Her husband succeeded his father on 14 July 1900. During the Boer War the Countess went out to join her husband and rode out to see some of the battlefields with him. She was very supportive, especially after the First World War, when he considered resigning from the army as new appointments were slow to come, despite his impeccable record. Lady Cavan told him to be patient, which advice would prove to be wise, considering Lord Cavan’s subsequent achievements. However, by then, Lady Cavan already suffered from ill health, and did not witness the full flowering of her husband’s career. She died childless on 15 June 1920, aged fifty, and was buried at Ayot St Lawrence.