Violet Crawley

## The Right HonourableThe Dowager Countess of Grantham

 Isobel Grey (cousin-in-law/closest friend)
 Mr. Matthew Crawley (third cousin twice removed-in-law/grandson-in-law) †
 Mr. Tom Branson (grandson-in-law)
 Mr. Henry Talbot (former grandson-in-law)
 Herbert Pelham, Marquess of Hexham (grandson-in-law)
 Josephine Crawley, Countess of Grantham (granddaughter-in-law)
 Miss Sybbie Branson (great-granddaughter)
 Mr. George Crawley (great-grandson)
 Miss Marigold Pelham (great-granddaughter)
 Miss Caroline Talbot (great-granddaughter)
 Peter Pelham, Earl of Brancaster (great-grandson)
 Lord Theodore Pelham (great-grandson)
 Arthur Crawley, Viscount Downton (great-grandson)
 Lord Benedict Crawley (great-grandson)
Lord Christopher Crawley (great-grandson)
 Lady Diana Crawley (great-granddaughter)
 Lord Edmund Crawley (great-grandson)
 Susan MacClare, Marchioness of Flintshire (niece)
 Hugh MacClare, Marquess of Flintshire (nephew-in-law)
 James MacClare, Earl of Newtonmore (grandnephew)
 Annabelle née MacClare (grandniece)
 Rose Aldridge, Lady Sinderby (grandniece)
 Atticus Aldridge, Lord Sinderby (grandnephew-in-law)
 Hon. Victoria Rachel Cora Aldridge (great-grandniece)
 Hon. Hugh Daniel Atticus Aldridge (grandnephew)
 Hon. Robert Alexander David Aldridge (grandnephew)

Violet, Countess of Grantham (circa 1880s)

## Coat of Arms

Arms of the Rt. Hon. Countess of Grantham (1862-1900)

Arms of the Rt. Hon. Dowager Countess of Grantham (1900-1928)

**Violet Crawley**, **Dowager Countess of Grantham** (b. 20 May, 1842 - d. 29 August, 1928), was the former matriarch of the Crawley Family. She is the mother of the late Robert Crawley, the 7th Earl of Grantham, and Lady Rosamund Painswick.

## Biography

* Early Life
* Marriage and Children
* Other Relationships

Born on the 20th of May 1842, Violet was the daughter of a Baronet and had at least one sister, the mother of her niece and goddaughter, Susan MacClare, Marchioness of Flintshire, and one aunt. While she was born into the aristocracy, her family was relatively impoverished and she brought almost no money with her upon marriage.

At some point as a young woman in the 1850s and 1860s, Violet wore *"the bustle, the crinoline, and the leg of mutton sleeve"*.

When she married Patrick, Earl of Grantham in 1862, she brought her upper class blood but little money into her marriage. Violet then gave birth to two children: a daughter, Rosamund in 1863, and a son and heir, Robert in 1865.

Not following in their mother's footsteps, her children married into money and love rather than nobility. The Countess was against both of her children's marriages, especially with Robert's engagement and marriage to the American heiress Cora Levinson in 1890. She did, however, reap the benefits of her daughter-in-law's fortune.

She met Xavier, Marquis de Montmirail sometime before 1865, when she visited the French Riviera without her husband. The two then stayed in the Marquis' summer villa, *La Villa de Colombes* for a week before she returned back to England. While the Marquis fell in love with the young Violet, the latter didn't return his affections.

When Violet visited Russia, where she then met Prince Igor Kuragin, at the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg in 1874. Violet later reveals to Isobel they fell madly in love and attempted to elope. They planned to leave on his yacht, but were intercepted by Kuragin's wife, who had discovered their romance. She pulled Violet out and sent her back to her own husband.
## Appearance and Personality

Throughout her lifetime, Violet was very beautiful inside and out, a trait also inherited by her descendants. She had bright red hair, and equally bright blue eyes—inherited by Rosamund and Robert, respectively. And while Rosamund looks like her husband, Robert bears an uncanny resemblance to her than of her husband.

Violet is an aristocrat in every sense of the word. She has always been proud and superior. She holds considerable influence over all proceedings at Downton. Even if she wasn't running the estate anymore, she has always had a say in what goes on at it, and refuses to back down.

As sharp-tongued (and often bitingly funny) as she can be, though, Violet cares deeply about her family and would do anything for them—her grandchildren in particular. She has been always proud of her four grandchildren—despite being obviously favorable to her eldest and youngest grandchildren. While Mary has always been her greatest pride, Alex was her greatest joy. Not only because the latter was the future of Downton, but he was also one of her closest confidants until the very end.

## Present Family

She is the grandmother of Robert and Cora's four children: Mary, Edith, Sybil, and Alexander. Her only grandson is the current holder of the Earldom of Grantham.

Through her grandchildren, she has eleven great-grandchildren: Mary's children, son George, and daughter Caroline; Sybil's daughter Sybbie; Edith's children, daughter Marigold, and sons Peter and Theodore; and Alex's children, sons Arthur, Benedict, Christopher, Edmund, and daughter Diana.

## Name Etymology

* **Violet** is female name of Latin origin, meaning *"purple"*.
	+ She shares the name with her granddaughter Edith, her great-grandchildren Caroline and Edmund (who bears the related name, "Ione"), and her distant relative Violet Branson.

* **Anne** is a unisex name of Hebrew, French, and English origin, meaning *"grace"*.
	+ She shares the name with her daughter Rosamund, and her great-granddaughter Marigold.