# Agnes Keyser > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Agnes_Keyser > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Agnes_Keyser.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agnes_Keyser > Source revision: 1354696481 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|Wealthy English humanitarian and mistress of King Edward VII (1852–1941)}} {{Use British English|date=September 2014}} {{Use dmy dates|date=August 2021}} {{Infobox person | name = Agnes Keyser | image = Agnes Keyser.png | image_size = | caption = Agnes Keyser as a young woman, {{circa|1870s}}Hough, 1998, pp. 115–129 | birth_name = Elizabeth Agnes Keyser | birth_date = {{birth date|1852|7|11|df=y}} | birth_place = Great Stanmore, Middlesex | death_date = {{death date and age|1941|5|11|1852|7|11|df=y}} | death_place = Farringdon, Berkshire | death_cause = | education = | alma_mater = | occupation = | title = | term = | predecessor = | successor = | known_for = * Mistress to [Edward VII](/source/Edward_VII) * Sister to [King Edward VII's Hospital Sister Agnes](/source/King_Edward_VII's_Hospital_Sister_Agnes) | boards = | spouse = | children = | parents = | relatives = [Charles Edward Keyser](/source/Charles_Edward_Keyser) (brother) | website = }} '''Agnes Keyser''', [DStJ](/source/DStJ), [RRC](/source/Royal_Red_Cross) (11 July 1852 – 11 May 1941) was a British humanitarian and longtime [mistress](/source/English_and_British_royal_mistress) to [Edward VII, King of the United Kingdom](/source/Edward_VII). Keyser was the wealthy daughter of a [Stock Exchange](/source/Stock_Exchange) member. She remained with the King until his death in 1910. Keyser, as recorded by author [Raymond Lamont-Brown](/source/Raymond_Lamont-Brown) in his book ''Edward VII's Last Loves: Alice Keppel and Agnes Keyser'', held an emotional bond with the King that others did not, due to her being unmarried herself, and preferring a more private affair to a public one. ==Early life and education== Agnes Keyser (pronounced ''Keeser''),Hough, 1998, pp. 5–17. was born Elizabeth Agnes Keyser on 11 July 1852 at [Great Stanmore](/source/Great_Stanmore) in [Middlesex](/source/Middlesex), to Charles and Margaret Keyser. Her father was a partner in a stock exchange firm Ricardo and Keyser. Her ancestors were Jewish and arrived in Britain from Central Europe in the eighteenth century, and her ancestral country house was [Cross Oak](/source/Cross_Oak), [Berkhamsted](/source/Berkhamsted), [Hertfordshire](/source/Hertfordshire). Agnes was baptised as Christian. She had one brother, [Charles Edward Keyser](/source/Charles_Edward_Keyser), and two sisters, the older Frances (Fanny) and the younger Marion.Lamont-Brown, 2011, p.1 Her childhood home was Warren House, between the then two small towns of [Stanmore](/source/Stanmore) and [Bushey](/source/Bushey) in Hertfordshire. While her brother went to [Eton](/source/Eton_College), the Keyser sisters, as was tradition at the time, were educated at home. Marion married early and little knowledge remains of her. However, Fanny and Agnes were close and when Fanny took to London's elite social life, Agnes Keyser followed. A large part of their father's fortune went to the two sisters and to give them a base in London he even bought them a large house in Chester Place, Hyde Park Square. ==Early years in London== thumb|No.17 Grosvenor Crescent, the Keyser home and first King Edward VII's Hospital for Officers The two sisters enjoyed the social scene in London, and their father subsequently bought them 17 [Grosvenor Crescent](/source/Grosvenor_Crescent), Hyde Park Corner, where they entertained guests and built up a friendship circle of "the best people". On 27 February 1898 both sisters attended dinner at the home of [Alice Keppel](/source/Alice_Keppel) and her husband [George](/source/George_Keppel_(British_Army_officer%2C_born_1865)), and were introduced to the 56-year-old [Prince of Wales](/source/Edward_VII). It was the start of a long friendship, which was to shortly see the effects of the [Second Boer War](/source/Second_Boer_War). To support efforts in the war, many people came together to contribute, and on this background the Keyser sisters agreed to offer their Belgravia mansion to care for wounded officers, at the suggestion of the Prince of Wales. ==King Edward VII's Hospital for Officers== {{main|King Edward VII's Hospital for Officers}} thumb|Agnes Keyser as "Sister Agnes" At the suggestion of the Prince, Keyser became Sister Agnes, and the house at Grosvenor Crescent, with its initial 12 beds, greeted the first wounded officers in February 1900. In its early years it was known as Sister Agnes's Hospital. During the [First World War](/source/First_World_War) the hospital used 9 [Grosvenor Gardens](/source/Grosvenor_Gardens%2C_London) to nurse British officers, including future Prime Minister a Captain [Harold Macmillan](/source/Harold_Macmillan), the novelist [Stuart Cloete](/source/Stuart_Cloete).See 'A Victorian Son:' an autobiography, 1897-1922, published 1972, The hospital became [King Edward VII's Hospital for Officers](/source/King_Edward_VII's_Hospital_for_Officers) and later [King Edward VII's Hospital Sister Agnes](/source/King_Edward_VII's_Hospital_Sister_Agnes).{{Cite web |url=http://www.charity-commission.gov.uk/Showcharity/RegisterOfCharities/CharityWithPartB.aspx?RegisteredCharityNumber=208944&SubsidiaryNumber=0 |title=Charity Commission - 208944 - KING EDWARD VII'S HOSPITAL SISTER AGNES |access-date=8 June 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110113113251/http://www.charity-commission.gov.uk/Showcharity/RegisterOfCharities/CharityWithPartB.aspx?RegisteredCharityNumber=208944&SubsidiaryNumber=0 |archive-date=13 January 2011 |url-status=dead }} ==Honours== On 26 February 1901, Agnes was created a Dame of Grace of the [Venerable Order of St. John](/source/Venerable_Order_of_St._John).Raymond Lamont Brown ''Alice Keppel and Agnes Keyser: Edward VII's Last Loves'' (2001) On 9 August 1901, Agnes and her sister were both awarded the [RRC](/source/Royal_Red_Cross): Agnes for her hospital's work, and Fanny for direct nursing service in South Africa. ==Death== She died at [Buckland House](/source/Buckland_House), Faringdon, Berkshire (later [Oxfordshire](/source/Oxfordshire)) on 11 May 1941, aged 88. ==References== {{commons category}} {{Cite newspaper The Times |title=Hospital For Service Officers - New Premises Opened by Queen Mary |department=Reviews |date=16 October 1948 |pages=6 |issue=51204 }} {{Cite newspaper The Times |title=Miss Agnes Keyser - King Edward VII Hospital for Officer |department=Obituaries |date=13 May 1941 |pages=7 |issue=48924 }} ==Bibliography== *[Hough, Richard](/source/Richard_Hough) (1998). [https://archive.org/details/sisteragneshisto0000houg/page/138/mode/2up?q=Agnes ''Sister Agnes: The History of King Edward VII's Hospital for Officers 1899-1999'']. London: John Murray. {{ISBN|0-7195-5561-2}} *{{Cite book|last=Lamont-Brown|first=Raymond|url=https://archive.org/details/edwardviislastlo00lamo/page/n3/mode/2up?q=Agnes |title=Alice Keppel and Agnes Keyser: Edward VII's Last Loves|date=2011|publisher=History Press|isbn=978-0-7524-7394-9|language=en}} {{Edward VII}} {{Authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Keyser, Agnes}} Category:1852 births Category:1941 deaths Category:People from Stanmore Category:Philanthropists from London Category:British women philanthropists Category:Mistresses of Edward VII Category:Women of the Victorian era Category:Members of the Royal Red Cross Category:Dames of Grace of the Order of St John Category:English people of Jewish descent Category:King Edward VII's Hospital --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Agnes Keyser](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agnes_Keyser) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agnes_Keyser?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.