Partner Katherine Beaven

Queer Places:
21 Wilton Crescent, London, England
St. Michael Churchyard Lowther, Eden District, Cumbria, England

Verena Maud Lowther (April 6, 1865 - December 25, 1938) married Major Victor Albert Francis Charles Spencer, 1st Viscount Churchill. Katherine Beaven remarried in 1916 to Major Victor Alexander (Peter) Spencer, later 2nd Viscount Churchill, Verena Maud Lowther's son. Peter was bisexual and theirs was a marriage of convenience, made under pressure from Peter's mother. When Lady Verena wished to divorce Lord Churchill, King Edward forbade it, to avoid a scandal among his social circle. Instead she disappeared in 1909 taking their son, aged 19, and two daughters, aged 13 and 8, with her. Later she began a lesbian relationship with Katherine Beaven. Lord Churchill placed an anonymous advertisement seeking information about his family's whereabouts, but the scandal soon became public.

Her estranged husband began spreading this scandal in society. By 1916 Verena was desperate for a way to stop the gossip. She hit upon the idea of coercing her bisexual son to marry Katherine, 19 years older than Peter, to which he agreed, enabling Verena and Katherine to live together without scandal. After the war, Peter remained in a military post in Paris and his mother suggested the three live together for her convenience. Peter refused and she cut him off, never speaking to him again. In 1927 the 1st Viscount Churchill obtained a divorce on the grounds of desertion.

Lady Verena Maud Lowther was born on April 6, 1865, at 21 Wilton Crescent, London, England. She was the daughter of Henry Lowther, 3rd Earl of Lonsdale and Emily Susan Caulfeild. She married Major Victor Albert Francis Charles Spencer, 1st Viscount Churchill, son of Francis George Spencer, 2nd Baron Churchill of Whichwood and Lady Jane Conyngham, on 1 January 1887 at Cottesmore, Rutland, England. She and Major Victor Albert Francis Charles Spencer, 1st Viscount Churchill were divorced in 1927 at Scotland.

She was appointed Lady, Royal Order of Victoria and Albert (V.A.)

Children of Lady Verena Maud Lowther and Major Victor Albert Francis Charles Spencer, 1st Viscount Churchill:

Verena Maud Lowther died on 25 December 1938 at age 73.


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