{{Short description|American heiress (1878&ndash;1971)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} {{infobox officeholder | honorific_prefix = The Right Honourable | name = The Countess of Kintore | honorific_suffix = | image = File:Duchess of Manchester LCCN2014686365.jpg | caption = Helena Keith-Falconer, Countess of Kintore wearing the Manchester Tiara in 1912 | birth_name = Helena Zimmerman | birth_date = {{birth date|1878|09|25|df=yes}} | birth_place = Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S. | death_date = {{death date and age|1971|12|15|1878|09|26|df=yes}} | death_place = Keith Hall, Inverurie, Scotland | parents = Eugene Zimmerman<br />Marietta Evans | spouse = {{marriage|The 9th Duke of Manchester<br />|14 November 1900|December 1931|reason=div}}<br />{{marriage|The 10th Earl of Kintore<br />|23 November 1937|26 May 1966|reason=his death}} | children = {{Plainlist| *Lady Mary Gregory *The 10th Duke of Manchester *Lord Edward Montagu *Lady Ellen Shairp}} | relatives = The 11th Duke of Manchester (grandson)<br />The 12th Duke of Manchester (grandson) {{Infobox person |embed= yes |other_names = The Duchess of Manchester (1900–1931)}} }}

'''Helena Keith-Falconer, Countess of Kintore''', formerly '''Helena Montagu, Duchess of Manchester''' (née Zimmerman; 25 September 1878<ref>Sometimes appears 1879.</ref> – 15 December 1971), was an American heiress who twice married into the British aristocracy, firstly to the 9th Duke of Manchester and then to the 10th Earl of Kintore.

==Early life== Helena was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, on 25 September 1878. She was the only child of Eugene Zimmerman and wife Marietta (née Evans) Zimmerman, who died of peritonitis in 1882 when Helena was just four years old.<ref name="Brownlee2016"/>

Her father had been born in Vicksburg, Mississippi, where his father owned a factory. During the Civil War, his factory burned down and he enlisted in the Union Navy, serving with distinction. After the war, Eugene went into the oil business, acquiring extensive holdings which he sold to John D. Rockefeller in exchange for shares in Standard Oil where he became a substantial stockholder and gained seat on the company's board. He used his income to invest in railroads, becoming president of several lines, including the Cincinnati, Hamilton and Dayton Railway and the Ann Arbor Railroad, and incredibly wealthy.<ref name="Brownlee2016">{{cite news |last1=Brownlee |first1=Amy Knueven |title=Cincinnati's Helena Zimmerman: The "Real" Downton Abbey Heiress? |url=https://www.cincinnatimagazine.com/citywiseblog/cincinnatis-helena-zimmerman-the-real-downton-abbey-heiress/ |accessdate=6 April 2020 |work=Cincinnati Magazine |date=3 January 2016}}</ref>

Her father sent her to France, where she lived for many years, was educated and became accomplished in horsemanship and fencing.<ref name="Brownlee2016"/>

==Personal life== thumb|right|Her first husband, the 9th Duke of Manchester, 1900 While attending a costume ball at a Brittany coast resort in Dinard, France, the twenty-one year old Helena met William Angus Drogo Montagu, 9th Duke of Manchester, who was then twenty-three. He was the only son of the late 8th Duke of Manchester and his wife, the Cuban American heiress Consuelo Yznaga.<ref name="1876Wedding">{{cite news |title=Lord Mandeville's Wedding.; a Brilliant Affair at Grace Church-- Lord Mandeville, of England, and Miss Yznaga, of the City, Joined in Wedlock--the Ceremony, the Guests, and the Presents. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1876/05/23/archives/lord-mandevilles-wedding-a-brilliant-affair-at-grace-church-lord.html |accessdate=7 April 2020 |work=The New York Times |date=23 May 1876}}</ref> On 14 November 1900, they married at Marylebone Church in London without her father or his mother present. Reportedly, the Duke's mother did not believe reports of the marriage and "envinced extreme displeasure at the idea of her son marrying Miss Zimmerman."<ref name="1900Wedding">{{cite news|title=DUKE OF MANCHESTER WEDS MISS ZIMMERMAN; Married to Daughter of Cincinnati Railway Man Nov. 14. RELATIVES NOT NOTIFIED Dowager Duchess Did Not Credit Report Until Examination of Register of London Church Convinced Her It Was True. |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1900/11/20/102504867.pdf |accessdate=13 April 2017|work=The New York Times|date=20 November 1900}}</ref> In 1903, her father bought them Kylemore Castle in Connemara, Ireland.<ref name="1903Castle">{{cite news |title=MANCHESTER BUYS A CASTLE.; The Duke Pays $315,000 for the Beautiful Kylemore Estate in Connemara. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1903/09/22/archives/manchester-buys-a-castle-the-duke-pays-315000-for-the-beautiful.html |accessdate=7 April 2020 |work=The New York Times |date=22 September 1903}}</ref> In addition, the Manchesters owned a house in London, a country estate known as Kimbolton Castle and Tandragee Castle in Northern Ireland. In 1906, he was a Privy Councillor and from 1906 to 1907, he was a Captain of the Yeomen of the Guard. From their marriage, she was the mother of four, including: * Lady Mary Alice Montagu (1901–1962), who married Fendall Littlepage Gregory of Cuernavaca in 1949. * Alexander Montagu, 10th Duke of Manchester (1902–1977), who married an Australian, Nell Vere Stead in 1927. After her death in 1966, he married the American Elizabeth (née Fullerton) Coleman Crocker (1913–2007) in 1969.<ref name="1969Wedding">{{cite news |title=Mrs. Crocker Is Wed To Duke of Manchester |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1969/02/11/archives/mrs-crocker-is-wed-to-duke-of-manchester.html |accessdate=7 April 2020 |work=The New York Times |date=11 February 1969}}</ref> * Lord Edward Eugene Fernando Montagu (1906–1954), who married Norah Macfarlane Potter, a daughter of Albert Edward Potter, in 1929. They divorced in 1937 and he remarried to Dorothy Vera Peters in 1937. They divorced in 1947 and he married Martha Bowen the same year. After her death in 1951, he married Baroness Cora Kellie in 1952. His fifth marriage was to Roberta Herold Joughlin in 1953. * Lady Ellen Millicent Louise Montagu (1908–1948), who married Herman Martin Hofer, second son of John Jacob Hofer of Zürich, in 1936.<ref name="1936Wedding">{{cite news |title=ELLEN MONTAGU FAIRFIELD BRIDE; Younger Daughter of Duke of Manchester Wed to Martin Hofer in Connecticut, HER MOTHER AN AMERICAN Duchess Is the Former Helena Zimmerman -- Ceremony Is Performed by Judge |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1936/06/18/archives/ellelq-montaij-fairfield-bride-younger-daughter-of-duke-of.html |accessdate=7 April 2020 |work=The New York Times |date=18 June 1936}}</ref> They divorced in 1944 and she married Maj. John Norman Shairp, son of Col. Alexander Shairp, in 1945.

The Duke's family, long prominent in British society and politics had little wealth left despite a $1,000,000 trust left for him by his mother (which she inherited from her brother, the banker Fernando Yznaga).<ref name="1902Estate">{{cite news |title=FERNANDO YZNAGA ESTATE; Its Value Over $1,000,000 More Than Estimated. His Net Personal Property Found by the Appraisers to Have Been $2,298,898 -- Dowager Duchess of Manchester Sole Beneficiary. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1902/12/17/archives/fernando-yznaga-estate-its-value-over-1000000-more-than-estimated.html |accessdate=6 April 2020 |work=The New York Times |date=17 December 1902}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=YZNAGA FORTUNE TAXED.; Estate of Late Duchess of Manchester Must Pay $300,000 Legacy Duty.|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1912/02/13/archives/yznaga-fortune-taxed-estate-of-late-duchess-of-manchester-must-pay.html|accessdate=14 April 2017|work=The New York Times|date=13 February 1912}}</ref> This was compounded by the Duke's profligate gambling and spending on other women.<ref name="Brownlee2016"/> In 1920, because of the Duke's gambling debts, they were forced to sell Kylemore Castle to Benedictine nuns who established a monastery on the grounds. Helena's father gave her a fixed allowance, and was careful to set up his will so the Duke received nothing.<ref name="Brownlee2016"/> Her father died in Cincinnati in December 1914 leaving an estate valued at $10,000,000 in trust.<ref name="EZObit1914">{{cite news |last1=Times |first1=Special to The New York |title=EUGENE ZIMMERMAN DROPS DEAD AT CLUB; Financier Had Just Been Laughing Over Woman's Suit for Breach of Promise. FORTUNE FROM RAILROADS Father of Duchess of Manchester Ventured Outdoors Against Advice of His Physician. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1914/12/21/archives/eugene-zimmerman-drops-dead-at-club-financier-had-just-been.html |accessdate=7 April 2020 |work=The New York Times |date=21 December 1914}}</ref> By 1918, sixty-six petitions of bankruptcy had been filed against the Duke in the English courts.<ref name="1931Suit"/>

After rumors in 1908,<ref name="EZObit1914"/> and separation proceedings in 1915, 1921, and 1925 (when it was announced an estrangement had existed since 1914),<ref name="1925Demands">{{cite news |title=DEMANDS TRIAL IN FRANCE.; Duke of Manchester Insists on Divorce Suit Hearing There. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1925/08/15/archives/demands-trial-in-france-duke-of-manchester-insists-on-divorce-suit.html |accessdate=7 April 2020 |work=The New York Times |date=15 August 1925}}</ref> they were eventually divorced in December 1931 after the Duke absconded to Cuba in November to apply for a divorce there.<ref name="1931Suit">{{cite news |last1=TIMES |first1=Wireless to THE NEW YORK |title=DUKE TO BRING SUIT FOR DIVORCE IN CUBA; Duke of Manchester Hopes for Decree Before That Granted to Wife Becomes Final. DUCHESS AMERICAN-BORN Daughter of Eugene Zimmerman, Cincinnati Multi-Millionaire, in Runaway Marriage In 1901. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1931/11/20/archives/duke-to-bring-suit-for-divorce-in-cuba-duke-of-manchester-hopes-for.html |accessdate=7 April 2020 |work=The New York Times |date=20 November 1931}}</ref> He remarried almost immediately to another American, the former actress Kathleen Dawes of Connecticut.<ref name="1931Divorce">{{cite news |last1=TIMES |first1=Wireless to THE NEW YORK |title=DUKE OF MANCHESTER DIVORCE IS NOW FINAL; London Decree Made Absolute-- Duke Reported Planning to Marry Actress Here. |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1931/12/08/98085362.pdf |accessdate=2 March 2020 |work=The New York Times |date=8 December 1931}}</ref> The Duke died in Seaford, Sussex in February 1947.<ref name="DukeObit1947">{{cite news |title=W. MONTAGU, DUKE OF MANCHESTER, 69; Former Husband of Cincinnati Rail Heiress Dies --Had Been Actor and Reporter Here |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1947/02/10/archives/w-montago-duke-of-manchester-69-former-husband-of-cincinnati-rail.html |accessdate=7 April 2020 |work=The New York Times |date=10 February 1947}}</ref>

===Second marriage=== On 23<ref>Sometimes appears 29.</ref> November 1937, The Duchess of Manchester remarried to Arthur Keith-Falconer, 10th Earl of Kintore.<ref name="1937Wedding">{{cite news |title=MANCHESTER EX-WIFE MARRIED TO KINTORE; Duchess, Cincinnati Heiress, Secretly Wed to Scottish Earl in Edinburgh |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1937/11/25/archives/manchester-exwife-married-to-kintore-duchess-cincinnati-heiress.html |accessdate=6 April 2020 |work=The New York Times |date=25 November 1937}}</ref> Lord Kintore, the second son of Algernon Keith-Falconer, 9th Earl of Kintore (the Governor of South Australia in the 1890s)<ref name="1930Obit">{{cite news |last1=TIMES |first1=Wireless to THE NEW YORK |title=EARL OF KINTORE DIES IN 78TH YEAR; Governor and Commander-in-Chief of South Australia for Several Years. TENTH TO HOLD THE TITLE Served as Government Whip in the House of Lords at London and as Deputy Speaker. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1930/03/04/archives/earl-of-kintore-dies-in-78th-year-governor-and-commanderinchief-of.html |accessdate=6 April 2020 |work=The New York Times |date=4 March 1930}}</ref> and the former Lady Sydney Montagu (second daughter of George Montagu, 6th Duke of Manchester), fought in the Boer War between 1900 and 1902 with the Cameron Highlanders with the Scots Guard during World War I.<ref name="AGKFnpg">{{cite web |title=Arthur George Keith-Falconer, 11th Earl of Kintore |url=https://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/person/mp75375/arthur-george-keith-falconer-11th-earl-of-kintore |website=www.npg.org.uk |publisher=National Portrait Gallery, London |accessdate=6 April 2020 |language=en}}</ref>

Lord Kintore died in London on 26 May 1966.<ref name="1966ObitDayton">{{cite news |title=EARL OF KINTORE DIES |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/48154262/earl-of-kintore-dies/ |accessdate=6 April 2020 |work=Dayton Daily News |date=28 May 1966 |pages=5}}</ref> As they had no children together, her husband's older sister, Lady Ethel Sydney Keith-Falconer (the wife of John Baird, 1st Viscount Stonehaven) became the ''suo jure'' 11th Countess of Kintore. The Dowager Countess of Kintore died at Keith Hall in Inverurie on 15 December 1971 and was buried alongside her second husband at the Keith Hall Burial Ground in Inverurie.<ref name="1971Obit">{{cite news |title=Helena, Countess of Kintore, 95; Former Duchess of Manchester |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1971/12/16/archives/helena-counfess-of-kintore-95-former-duchess-of-manchester.html |accessdate=6 April 2020 |work=The New York Times |date=16 December 1971}}</ref>

===Descendants=== Through her eldest son, she was a grandmother of Sidney Montagu, 11th Duke of Manchester (1929–1985), who married twice but died without issue, and Angus Montagu, 12th Duke of Manchester (1938–2002), who married four times and had three children. Through her second son, she was a grandmother of Roderick Edward Drogo Montagu.<ref name="1971Obit"/>

==Gallery== <gallery mode=packed heights="225px"> File:Eugene Zimmerman LCCN2014703481.jpg|Her father, Eugene Zimmerman, 1910. File:Kylemore Abbey - general view.jpg|Kylemore Castle in Connemara, Ireland. File:Kimbolton Castle 01.jpg|Kimbolton Castle, Huntingdonshire, the principal seat of the Dukes of Manchester. File:Tandragee Castle.jpg|Tandragee Castle in Tandragee, County Armagh, in Ulster. File:Keith Hall 1909.jpg|Keith Hall in Inverurie, Aberdeenshire, Scotland. File:Bundesarchiv Bild 102-10021, Herzogin von Manchester mit ihrer Tochter.jpg|The Duchess and one of her daughters, 1930. File:11th Duke of Manchester Allan Warren.jpg|Her grandson, The 11th Duke of Manchester, by Allan Warren, 1981 </gallery>

==References== {{reflist|30em}}

==External links== *{{find a Grave|198080877|Helena Zimmerman Keith-Falconer}} *[https://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/person/mp135427/helena-nee-zimmerman-duchess-of-manchester-later-countess-of-kintore Helena (née Zimmerman), Duchess of Manchester (later Countess of Kintore)] at National Portrait Gallery, London *[https://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/person/mp75375/arthur-george-keith-falconer-11th-earl-of-kintore Arthur George Keith-Falconer, 10th Earl of Kintore] at National Portrait Gallery, London

{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kintore, Helena Keith-Falconer, Countess Of}} Category:1878 births Category:1971 deaths Category:American expatriates in the United Kingdom Category:People from Cincinnati Manchester Helena Category:Scottish countesses by marriage