May Goelet Innes-Kerr, Duchess of Roxburghe

(6 October 1878 – 26 April 1937)

(Mary “May” Innes-Ker, Duchess of Roxburghe, was born Mary Goelet on 6 October 1878 in New York City, the daughter of Ogden Goelet, a wealthy New York landlord, and Mary Wilson Goelet. She had one sibling, her younger brother Robert, who later built Glenmere Mansion. Through her parents she was connected to some of the most prominent families of the Gilded Age.

Ogden Goelet

On her mother’s side she was related to Richard Thornton Wilson Jr. and Grace Vanderbilt. On her father’s side she was the niece of Robert Goelet and cousin to Robert Walton Goelet, and a granddaughter of Robert Goelet Sr., co-founder of the Chemical Bank of New York.

As a young woman she was often mentioned in society reports. In 1897 she was rumored to be engaged to William Montagu, 9th Duke of Manchester, though he later married Helena Zimmerman. Another engagement rumor in 1898 linked her to Viscount Crichton, heir to the 4th Earl Erne, but that too came to nothing.

Henry John Innes-Ker, 8th Duke of Roxburghe

On 10 November 1903 she married Henry John Innes-Ker, 8th Duke of Roxburghe, son of the 7th Duke of Roxburghe and Lady Anne Spencer-Churchill, a daughter of the 7th Duke of Marlborough. This marriage linked her to the Churchill family and made her a cousin of Sir Winston Churchill and of Consuelo Vanderbilt, who married the 9th Duke of Marlborough. At the time of her marriage she was considered the wealthiest American heiress, her dowry estimated at twenty million dollars. She was one of the celebrated “Dollar Princesses” of the era, American heiresses who married into the British nobility, and her fortune was exceeded only by Consuelo Vanderbilt.

The Duke and Duchess made their home at Floors Castle in Scotland. She redecorated the ancient residence with her own collection, including a series of 17th century Gobelins tapestries. She was received at court and became a guest of both King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra, and later of King George V and Queen Mary at Windsor Castle.

Floors Castle

After ten years of marriage she gave birth to their only child, George Innes-Ker, who was born 7 September 1913 and who later succeeded as 9th Duke of Roxburghe. In 1929 she inherited three million dollars on the death of her mother, together with the important Goelet art collection.

Mary, Duchess of Roxburghe, died in London on 26 April 1937 at the age of 58. She was entombed at Kelso Abbey, Kelso, Scotland.