Lady

Kathleen Pelham Burn

Countess of Drogheda, CBE CMG
Born1887
Died18 March 1966(1966-03-18) (aged 78–79)
Other namesLady Kathleen Moore
Spouses
​
​
(m. 1909; div. 1922)​
    Guillermo de Landa y Escandon
    ​
    ​
    (m. 1922; div. 1929)​
    ChildrenCharles Moore, 11th Earl of Drogheda
    Lady Patricia Doreen Moore

    Kathleen Pelham Burn Moore, Countess of Drogheda CBE CMG (1887 – 18 March 1966) was a British socialite, aviator, and sportswoman. She was one of the "bright young things".

    Biography

    Pelham Burn was interested in various pursuits. Turtle Bunbury describes her as "an enigmatic cigarette-smoking 20th century lady famous for dabbling in the occult".[1]

    Born to a wealthy family (her mother's side from mining, her father's Scottish landowners), she had the ability to "pursue her manifold interests with great vigour" from her youth.[2] She was particularly interested in flying;[1][2] she became one of the first women to fly as a passenger in a plane.[2] She later became known as "the Flying Countess" for her many passenger journeys and then for flying in aircraft exhibitions across the UK and Ireland to raise money for the Royal Air Force during World War II.[3] She had also worked for aviation charities during World War I, and was a guest at Edward Maitland's pre-flight celebrations of the R34 successfully attempting the first return Atlantic crossing.[4]

    Her other interests included driving fashionable cars around London and playing tennis at All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club (Wimbledon), being one of its first members.[2] She competed in The Championships, Wimbledon once, in 1914, though she went out in the second round.[5] She was patron and president of the London Ladies' Motor Club,[6] frequently played golf,[2] and was a lover of contemporary art, but not music or literature.[2]

    Bunbury notes that she held séances that were social events attended by celebrities of the day, including Jacob Epstein, Augustus John, and Wyndham Lewis.[1]

    In 1919 she was appointed Companion, Order of St. Michael and St. George.[7] She was also a Commander of the Order of the British Empire.[8][9]

    Personal life

    Pelham Burn in 1909

    Pelham Burn's first husband was the Anglo-Irish civil servant Henry Ponsonby Moore, 10th Earl of Drogheda. They wed on 3 March 1909 and divorced in 1922; Pelham Burn filed for divorce in 1921 on account of Henry's unfaithfulness. The marriage gave two children: Charles (born 1910) and Patricia (born 1912), whom Pelham Burn was granted custody of in the divorce.[8] The couple had been married in "a grand ceremony in St. Giles's Cathedral, Edinburgh" and lived in London at 40 Wilton Crescent;[2] they also owned Moore Abbey.[10] Charles later said that his parents seemed to live separate lives and their divorce was not surprising.[2]

    On 31 August 1922, Pelham Burn married Guillermo "Billy" de Landa y Escandon, a Mexican playboy and son of former Mexico City Governor Guillermo Landa y Escandón. They divorced in 1929.[1][8]

    She is accounted by her son as being bisexual, as he wrote: "All her life she was attracted by men and women [...] she knew intimately Donald Campbell, Alan Cobham, Kaye Don, Jim Mollison, Amy Johnson, and plenty of others besides."[2] She may have also had an affair with Wyndham Lewis during her first marriage,[1][2] whom she also commissioned for art against her husband's wishes.[2]

    References

    1. 1 2 3 4 5 "Turtle Bunbury – Award-winning travel writer, historian and author based in Ireland". turtlebunbury.com. Retrieved 3 March 2020.
    2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Cork, Richard Graham (1985). Art Beyond the Gallery in Early 20th Century England. Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-03236-9.
    3. ↑ "A Flying Countess Who has Done Excellent Work on Behalf of R.A.F.". Tatler. 18 December 1918. p. 11. Retrieved 12 April 2020.
    4. ↑ Rosie, George (10 December 2012). The Flight of the Titan: The Story of the R34. Birlinn. ISBN 978-0-85790-561-1.
    5. ↑ "The Championships 1914: Ladies' All-Comers' Singles" (PDF). The Championships, Wimbledon. Retrieved 12 April 2020.
    6. ↑ "Team of Women Motor-Cyclists". Liverpool Post and Mercury. 26 July 1934. p. 7.
    7. ↑ "Kathleen Pelham Burn". thepeerage.com. n.d. Retrieved 3 March 2020.
    8. 1 2 3 "Drogheda, Earl of (I, 1661)". cracroftspeerage.co.uk. Retrieved 3 March 2020.
    9. ↑ Walford, Edward (January 1860). The county families of the United Kingdom; or, Royal manual of the titled and untitled aristocracy of England, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland. Dalcassian Publishing Company. Retrieved 3 March 2020.
    10. ↑ "20th Century". askaboutireland.ie. Retrieved 3 March 2020.
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