{{Short description|American heiress and horse racer (1883–1972)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} {{Infobox officeholder | honorific_prefix = The Right Honourable | name = The Countess of Granard | honorific_suffix = | image = Countess Granard.jpg | image_size = | caption = ''Countess Beatrice, {{Circa|1910}}'' | birth_name = Jane Beatrice Mills | birth_date = {{Birth date|1883|7|19}} | birth_place = Newport, Rhode Island, U.S. | death_date = {{Death date and age|1972|1|30|1883|7|19}} | death_place = Paris, France | occupation = Heiress, racehorse owner/breeder | spouse = {{marriage|Bernard, Earl of Granard<br />|14 January 1909|10 September 1948|reason=his death}} | children = 4, including Arthur, Earl of Granard | parents = Ogden Mills<br />Ruth Livingston Mills | relatives = Gladys Mills Phipps (sister)<br />Ogden L. Mills (brother)<br />Jean Templeton Ward (cousin) }}
'''Jane Beatrice Forbes, Countess of Granard''' (née '''Mills'''; July 19, 1883 – January 30, 1972) was an American-born heiress, social leader, and thoroughbred horse racer.<ref name=obit/>
==Early life== She was born on 19 July 1883 in Newport, Rhode Island to some of the most prominent and wealthy American families. She was the daughter of the American financier Ogden Mills and Ruth (née Livingston) Mills (1855–1920).<ref name="RLMObit1920">{{cite news|title=MRS. OGDEN MILLS DIES IN PARIS HOME; New York Social Leader Who Was Noted for Her Aristocratic Gatherings.HUSBAND AT HER BEDSIDE Mother of Countess Granard, Mrs.H.C. Phipps and Ex-Senator O.L. Mills Was Ruth Livingston.|url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1920/10/14/102902372.pdf |access-date=25 February 2017|work=The New York Times|date=14 October 1920}}</ref> She was a twin to Gladys Mills (who married Henry Carnegie Phipps) and sister of Ogden Livingston Mills, the United States Secretary of the Treasury who married Margaret Styuvesant Rutherfurd (daughter of Anne Harriman and Lewis Morris Rutherfurd Jr.<ref>{{cite news|last1=World|first1=Times Wide|title=MRS. VANDERBILT DIES IN HOSPITAL; Widow of W. K. and Daughter of Late Oliver Harriman Noted for War Work and Charities|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1940/04/21/archives/mrs-vanderbilt-dies-in-hospital-widow-of-w-k-and-daughter-of-late.html|access-date=7 May 2017|work=The New York Times|date=21 April 1940}}</ref>)
Her maternal grandparents were Maturin Livingston Jr. and Ruth (née Baylies) Livingston a descendant of Thomas Baylies.<ref name="RLMObit1920"/> Her aunt, Elizabeth Livingston Cavendish-Bentinck,<ref name="ELCBObit1943">{{cite news|title=MRS. CAVENDISH-BENTINCK {{!}} Former Elizabeth Livingston, a Member of Noted N.Y. Family|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1943/11/07/archives/mrs-cavendish_bentincki-former-elizabeth-livingston-ai-member-of.html|access-date=24 February 2017|work=The New York Times|date=7 November 1943|page=56}}</ref> was married to William George Cavendish-Bentinck, a Member of Parliament for Penryn and Falmouth and descendant of the Dukes of Portland.<ref name="NYTObit1909">{{cite news|title=G. CAVENDISH-BENTINCK DEAD {{!}} Wife Was Elizabeth Livingston, Sister of Mrs. Ogden Mills.|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1909/08/23/archives/i-g-cavendishbentinck-dead-wife-was-elizabeth-livingston-sister-of.html|access-date=24 February 2017|work=The New York Times|date=23 August 1909}}</ref> Her paternal grandparents were Jane Templeton Cunningham and Darius Ogden Mills,<ref>{{cite news |title=D. Ogden Mills Dies Suddenly. Financier and Philanthropist. Father of Mrs. Whitelaw Reid Fortune Estimated at $60,000,000 Mr. Reid to Attend Funeral |url=https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/courant/access/763488932.html?dids=763488932:763488932&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:AI&type=historic&date=Jan+05%2C+1910&author=&pub=Hartford+Courant&desc=D.+OGDEN+MILLS+DIES+SUDDENLY&pqatl=google |quote=Darius Ogden Mills, the financier and philanthropist and father of Mrs. Whitelaw Reid, wife of the United States ambassador to Great Britain, died of heart disease at his winter home near this city last night, aged 84 years. Mrs. Reid, who came to California with her ... |newspaper=Hartford Courant |date=January 5, 1910 |access-date=2011-05-10 |archive-date=7 November 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121107202345/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/courant/access/763488932.html?dids=763488932:763488932&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:AI&type=historic&date=Jan+05%2C+1910&author=&pub=Hartford+Courant&desc=D.+OGDEN+MILLS+DIES+SUDDENLY&pqatl=google |url-status=dead }}</ref> a highly successful banker and investor worth over $36 million at his death.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/chicagotribune/access/383147091.html?dids=383147091:383147091&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:AI&type=historic&date=Apr+18%2C+1914&author=&pub=Chicago+Tribune&desc=ESTATE+OF+MILLS+WORTH+%2436%2C227%2C391&pqatl=google|title=ESTATE OF MILLS WORTH $36,227,391|work=Chicago Daily Tribune|date=Apr 18, 1914|access-date=27 July 2018|archive-date=22 October 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121022223430/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/chicagotribune/access/383147091.html?dids=383147091:383147091&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:AI&type=historic&date=Apr+18,+1914&author=&pub=Chicago+Tribune&desc=ESTATE+OF+MILLS+WORTH+$36,227,391&pqatl=google|url-status=dead}}</ref> Her aunt, Elisabeth Mills, was married to Whitelaw Reid, the U.S. Ambassador to Great Britain.<ref name="NYTObit1912">{{cite news|last1=Times|first1=Marconi Transatlantic Wireless Telegraph To The New York|title=WHITELAW REID DIES IN LONDON; Editor and Diplomat Passes Away at Dorchester House After Brief Illness.|url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9D0CE2DB103CE633A25755C1A9649D946396D6CF&legacy=true|access-date=24 April 2017|work=The New York Times|date=16 December 1912}}</ref> Through her aunt, she was the first cousin of Jean Templeton Reid,<ref name="LadyWardObit1962">{{cite news|title=LADY WARD DEAD; AIDED CHARITIES; Daughter of Whitelaw Reid Was 78--Wed in Palace|url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9E03E6DB163EE03BBC4B53DFB3668389679EDE&legacy=true|access-date=24 April 2017|work=The New York Times|date=3 May 1962}}</ref> who married Sir John Hubert Ward, son of the Earl of Dudley.<ref>{{cite news|title=AMBASSADOR REID'S DAUGHTER ENGAGED; Formally Announced by Her Parents She Will Wed the Hon. John Hubert Ward. EARL OF DUDLEY'S BROTHER Equerry in Waiting to King, Racing Man, Sportsman, and Six Feet High -- Wedding This Summer. Bingham Accused of Contempt.|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1908/04/30/archives/ambassador-reids-daughter-engaged-formally-announced-by-her-parents.html|access-date=24 April 2017|work=The New York Times|date=30 April 1908}}</ref>
==Thoroughbred racing== Beatrice Mills was raised around horses at her family's Livingston Mansion in Staatsburg, New York. Her father owned Thoroughbred racehorses in the United States and in France in partnership with Edward, Earl of Derby. Beatrice's sister Gladys and her brother Ogden would establish Wheatley Stable that would become one of the preeminent Thoroughbred racing and breeding operations in the United States.
Beatrice's husband, Bernard, was Master of the Horse whose duties for King George V included overseer of the Royal Stables and Stud.<ref>{{cite book |last=Hesilrige |first=Arthur G. M. |date=1921| title=Debrett's Peerage and Titles of courtesy| url=https://archive.org/details/debrettspeeraget00unse/page/416 | location=London, UK |publisher=Dean & Son|page=416}}</ref> On January 29, 1929, Beatrice's father died. As part of her inheritance she received his stable of Thoroughbreds in France. That year, she led all owners in purses earned.
In 1933, her horse, Cappiello, won the Prix Lupin and the prestigious Grand Prix de Paris at Longchamp Racecourse in Paris.<ref name="GrandPrix1933">{{cite news |title=$50,000 GRAND PRIX TAKEN BY CAPPIELLO; Lady Granard's Horse Triumphs at Longchamps -- Lebrun Is Among Spectators. |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1933/06/26/105148803.pdf |access-date=27 July 2018 |work=The New York Times |date=June 26, 1933 |language=en}}</ref> Among her other racing successes, Lady Granard's horses won the Prix Jacques le Marois in 1937 and 1967. In 1964 her horse Pourparler won the British Classic, the 1,000 Guineas Stakes.
The most notable horse bred and raced by her siblings Wheatley Stable in the United States was Bold Ruler, a U.S. Racing Hall of Fame inductee and an eight-time Leading sire in North America. Gladys and Ogden bred Bold Ruler to the Champion racing mare, Misty Morn. The result of the mating was Bold Lad, a colt born in 1962 that earned American Champion Two-Year-Old Colt honors. Bold Ruler sired a second colt in 1964 by a different mare that was given the same Bold Lad name. Bold Lad II was bred by Lady Granard and raced in England and Ireland where it too won Champion Two-Year-Old Colt honors.<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/1966/06/15/archives/a-new-bold-lad-scores-at-ascot-irishtrained-2yearold-takes-coventry.html Bold Lad II profile], nytimes.com; accessed 26 March 2016.</ref>
==Personal life== On 14 January 1909, she married Bernard, Earl of Granard.<ref name="1908Engagement">{{cite news |title=REPORT MISS MILLS ENGAGED. Announcement of Intention to Wed Lord Granard Not Confirmed Here. |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1908/12/14/104815751.pdf |access-date=27 July 2018 |work=The New York Times |date=December 14, 1908}}</ref> With her marriage, Beatrice Mills would be known as Countess and/or Lady Granard. Her husband's wealth was limited and she provided the funds to finish restoring the family's historic Castleforbes in Newtownforbes, County Longford, Ireland. Their principal residence was at Forbes House, Halkin Street, SW1 in London, plus a residence at 73 Rue de Varenne, Paris, France, she would inherit from her father. Together, Beatrice and Bernard were the parents of four children:
* Lady Moira Mary Forbes (1910–1994); married Count Rossi of Switzerland.<ref name="LadyMoira1934">{{cite news |title=LADY MOIRA FORBES IS WED IN IRELAND; Niece of Ogden L. Mills Bride of Comte Louis de Brantes in Brilliant Ceremonies. COUNTRYSIDE CELEBRATES Schools Are Closed as Ancient Irish and French Houses Are United by Church and State. |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1934/12/21/118514042.pdf |access-date=27 July 2018 |work=The New York Times |date=December 21, 1934 |language=en}}</ref> * Lady Eileen Beatrice Forbes (1912–1993); married John Crichton-Stuart, 5th Marquess of Bute.<ref>{{cite web|title=John Crichton-Stuart (1907–1956), 5th Marquess of Bute|url=https://artuk.org/discover/artworks/john-crichton-stuart-19071956-5th-marquess-of-bute-158943|publisher=BBC Your Paintings}}</ref> * Arthur Patrick Hastings Forbes, 9th Earl of Granard (1915–1992); married Princess Marie-Madeleine Eugénie de Faucigny-Lucinge.<ref name="EarlObit1992">{{cite news |title=Sir Arthur Forbes, Earl of Granard, 77 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1992/11/21/obituaries/sir-arthur-forbes-earl-of-granard-77.html |access-date=27 July 2018 |work=The New York Times |date=November 21, 1992 |language=en}}</ref> * Hon. John Forbes (1920–1982); whose son later became the 10th Earl of Granard.{{Citation needed|date=November 2021}}
A widow for more than twenty-three years, Lady Granard died at her Paris residence on 30 January 1972.<ref name=obit>{{cite news|title=Lady Granard, Daughter Of Ogden Mills, Dies at 88|url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1972/02/03/79464270.pdf|newspaper=The New York Times|date=3 February 1972|access-date=18 December 2013}}</ref> She was buried at St. Paul's, Newtown Forbes, County Longford, Ireland.<ref>{{cite web|title=Newtown Forbes|url=http://historicgraves.com/graveyard/newtown-forbes/ld-spnf|website=Historic Graves|date=16 June 2016 |access-date=25 May 2018}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist|30em}}
==External links== * {{find a Grave|182732763|Beatrice Templeton ''Mills'' Forbes}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Granard, Beatrice Mills Forbes, Countess of}} Category:1883 births Category:1972 deaths Category:Livingston family Category:American emigrants to the United Kingdom Category:American socialites Category:Irish countesses by marriage Category:British racehorse owners and breeders Category:British expatriates in France Category:People from Newport, Rhode Island Category:People from Staatsburg, New York Category:Social leaders Category:Wives of knights Category:American twins