Countess of Cavan nee Lady Hester Joan Byng Country Life Magazine Portrait August 3 1929

Countess of Cavan nee Lady Hester Joan Byng Country Life Magazine Portrait, Frontispiece, August 3 1929. LXVI No. 1698

The featured frontispiece this week is a portrait of The Countess of Cavan, D.B.E., a prominent figure in British society.

• Identity: Lady Hester Joan Byng, Countess of Cavan, the younger daughter of Francis Byng, 5th Earl of Strafford, and Emily Georgina Kerr.
• First Marriage: In 1913, she married the Hon. Andrew Mulholland, who was tragically killed in action in 1914 during the First World War.
• Second Marriage: She married Field Marshal Frederick Rudolph Lambart, 10th Earl of Cavan, on November 27, 1922.
• Honours: She was appointed a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (D.B.E.) in 1927 for her public and charitable services.
• Family: She had two daughters with the Earl of Cavan:
  • Lady Elizabeth Mary Lambart (1924–2016): A close childhood friend of Queen Elizabeth II and one of her bridesmaids at the 1947 royal wedding.
  • Lady Joanna Lambart (1929–2011).
• Social Context: Her life reflects the continuity of aristocratic service and resilience through the upheavals of the early 20th century.

This is an authentic original page from Country Life magazine, part of the iconic series often affectionately referred to as the “Girls in Pearls” portraits — elegant society images that captured a distinctive era of British publishing and portraiture.

Size: Approximately 13.75 x 9 inches (35 x 23 cm)

Condition: Very good for its age. As with all vintage magazine pages, light signs of handling or minor age-related blemishes may be present. Please review the large photo carefully for full condition details.

This original Country Life Magazine frontispiece portrait forms part of The Old Map Shop’s curated archive of society portraits published between 1897 and 2026.