In 1895, Almina Wombwell, illegimate daughter of Alfred de
Rothschild, married the 5th Earl of Carnarvon, and became the
Countess of Carnaravon and mistress of Highclere Castle. HIghclere Castle is
the setting for the popular PBS television series, Downton Abbey. The current
Countess of Carnarvon has used diaries, letters and photographs from its
archives to recount the story of Lady Almina and the Earl.
When the couple married, the Earl’s fortunes were in decline.
Almina, on the other hand, despite being of dubious heritage, had the
Rothschild fortune at her disposal. She re-decorated the castle, and updated it
through the years with indoor plumbing, and electricity. In the meantime, the
Earl was deeply involved with Howard Carter, who was an eminent Egyptologist.
With the advent of World War I, Lady Almina found her calling in nursing. She
converted Highclere Castle into a hospital for wounded officers, and later
moved that hospital to a larger facility in London. But HIghclere Castle
remained the home base for the Carnarvons.
Shortly before his death in 1923, Howard Carter and Lord
Carnarvon discovered the tomb of King Tutahkhamun. After his death, his son became the 6th
Earl of Carnarvon, and the castle passed to him. But largely because of the
efforts (and money) of Lady Almina, it did not suffer the fate of many English
country estates. It remains in the Carvarvon family, a living monument to Lady
Almina.
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