Lucy Noël Martha Countess of Rothes

[João Carlos Pereira Martins]

Thanks, Randy.I appreciate your information. I can imagine the Countess shinning Sunday's night with her 300-year-old necklace, throwing envy to modest woman.

 

[Trevor Powell]

Hello Randy, quite interesting is your information on the countess's pearl necklace. Would you know the wherabouts of it today-if it still exists?

 

[João Carlos Pereira Martins]

This may not be the best thread to put this question but I'm interested in the Countess's personality.How was her relation with other people? Was she the typical delicate "flower" of high society or did she have a strong personality? I suppose that in this age young ladies were mostly creatures of porcelain beauty.

Thanks,João

 

[Randy Bryan Bigham]

Hi, Joao and Trevor:

I should clarify that the necklace Noelle Rothes wore was composed of 300 year old pearls —— I’m sure it had been restrung!

As to whether the necklace is still in existence. I have no idea. I’m sure it is somewhere; I’m just not sure if it’s still in her family’s possession. When interviewing the late Ian Rothes, the countess’ grandson, some time ago, he didn’t mention it. I only found out about it recently while researching. It was a widely syndicated news item in 1918.

Regarding the countess’ personality. You’ll be able to read more about that in the article I submitted here to ET. It was handed in a while ago, and will be available sometime in the near future. But first, let me say that women of the upper classes were increasingly active and not just ornamental figures by 1912. Noelle was no exception, being much involved in charities and public welfare work.

Noelle was reserved, soft-spoken and charming, but also very determined in her personal and political views and outlook, which were fairly conservative. Noelle was actually bourgeois in her attitude, maybe even a bit pious, as family and church were extremely important to her. The countess made a career of good works —— a real-life "Lady Bountiful." She was motivational in her manner, bringing her quiet spirit of encouragement to her work with the needy — from the poor in her village (Leslie Township) to the soldiers and refugees she nursed during WWI.

Noelle and her husband were popular members of "high society," yet they didn’t indulge in the amoral, decadent lifestyle of other Edwardian aristocrats, being more domestic in their interests and tastes than was fashionable at the time. Noelle wasn’t a suffragette, though she was obviously a progressive woman in her own way. She rarely spoke in public at the political meetings she helped organize, and was not a "celebrity" in the modern sense (until the Titanic came along!).

Randy

 

[João Carlos Pereira Martins]

Thanks very much Randy. I imagine the Countess as a delicate and generous person but at the same time she was pretty sensible about politics and the way the world worked at that age.

Best regards, João

 

[Trevor Powell]

Hello Randy, Thank you for that bit of information. I am looking forward to your upcoming research article on the countess. If it's anything like the Helen Candee article or Dorothy Gibson publication, it will be nothing short of spectacular.

 

[João Carlos Pereira Martins]

Well, I know the Countess was travelling to Vancouver to join her husband, but why? did they move from London to Canada? Where were their sons at that time? I would be very pleased if anyone could find the answer.

Regards, João

 

[Randy Bryan Bigham]

Thanks, Trevor, for the compliment. The article is in our esteemed editor’s trusty hands now. It was a bit more involved than intended but I’m hoping that’s a good thing.

Joao, I appreciate your interest in Noelle Rothes. Your questions were my questions when I started my research. I think you will find most of the answers you’re looking in the article when it is published here (probably some time next month).

Of course, no one can exhaust every angle of a story, so there are things I probably missed. Still, the piece should put the countess’ life in some perspective for those who want to know more about her. She was really fun to write about. I half-expected a sort of jaded lady who, apart from her Titanic heroism, led a rarefied, pampered existence. Not so. She was a truly inspiring person.

 

[João Carlos Pereira Martins]

Thanks, Randy. I'll be very attentive to the arrival of your article in ET.

Regards, João

 

[Vitezslav Ivicic]

She could be there with her cousin Gladys, drinking coffee or afternoon tea.

 

[Grant Woollacott]

dose anyone know if her sons malcolm and john had children? are any of them still living? are they british or U.S. residents?

 

[Randy Bryan Bigham]

Grant, you might want to peruse the archives here a little more thoroughly before you start a new thread asking a question that would be easily answered by reading a bit.

 

[Grant Woollacott]

randy, i read through her biography and there was nothing there regarding any grandchildren. but i think she did have grandchildren i just can't find anynames.

[Moderator's Note: This message and the two immediately above it, originally a separate thread in this subtopic, have been moved to this pre-existing thread addressing the same subject. MAB]

 

[Vitezslav Ivicic]

When I watched the film last time, in english, I was little bit surprise with the movie Countess' behaviour, because she is portrayed there like a narrow "lady".
Did you noticed her expression, when Jack kisses her hand in the first class dining saloon? Or the tea scenes when Margaret Brown arrives or when they are chatting about Rose's wedding? And the way how she asks a steward what's going on?
I know that in that movie are lot of mistakes, but how was she really like? A narrow edwardian lady or a strong and brave woman, who took a tiller of lifeboat No. 8?

Thank you
Regards Vitezslav

 

[Vitezslav Ivicic]

Veroniko, u te fotky byva napsane, ze je na ni clun cislo 8, ve kterem se pozdeji zachranila Hrabenka Rothesova (jak ji bylo receno vyse). Tu fotku ti ale muzu poslat, jestli chces.

Veronica, it is written in this photo that the ship number 8 is on it, in which Count Rothes later saved herself (as mentioned above). But I can send you that photo if you want.

Zdravi Vita