Sir Stafford Howard & Catharine Meriel Stepney

Sir Edward Stafford Howard was born at Greystoke Castle, Cumberland, on 28 November 1851, the second son of Henry Howard, and the great nephew of the 12th Duke of Norfolk. Sir Edward was descended from the 3rd Duke of Buckingham who started building Thornbury Castle in 1511. The Castle was never completed because Henry VIII thought it was too big and during 1521 the Duke was beheaded by Henry VIII and his vast estates, including Thornbury, were confiscated. In 1535 Henry VIII stayed at Thornbury Castle with Anne Boleyn and as a Princess his elder daughter Mary Tudor lived there. When Mary Tudor became Queen Mary I (1553-58) she returned the Castle to the descendants of the late Duke.

In 1876 Sir Edward Stafford Howard married Lady Rachell, daughter of the second Earl of Cawdor, and the same year he entered Parliament as Liberal MP for East Cumberland. Sir Edward continued to represent his constituency until 1885 when he was elected to Thornbury Division of Gloucester.

In April 1886 Sir Edward was appointed under Secretary of State for India in Mr Gladstone’s government but lost his seat at the General Election. He continued in the office of Senior Commissioner of HM Woods and Forests and was responsible for the upkeep of the exteriors of all the Royal palaces and homes.

Sir Edward was said to be a ‘thorough-going and most enthusiastic temperance advocate’ who made a ‘close study of the licensing question’. In 1896 he was defeated and his Parliamentry career was over.

In 1900 Sir Edward Stafford Howard was created CB. His first wife Lady Rachell Stafford Howard died in 1906, and three years later he was created KCB.

Catharine Meriel Stepney 1846-1952

Catharine Meriel Stepney was born at 5 St George’s Place, Hyde Park, London in 1876, the only child of Emile Algernon Arthur Keppel and Margaret Leicester Cowell Stepney.

Catharine Meriel Cowell Stepney, only daughter of the late Sir Arthur and Lady Margaret Cowell Stepney inherited her father’s estate when he died in America in 1909 after many years of separation from his family. During the prolonged absences of the Stepney family their Llanelli estates and properties were managed by Agents who continued until Lady Catharine was able to undertake the responsibility herself.

Lady Catharine became Sir Edward Stafford Howard’s second wife when they married at Llanelli Parish Church on 21 September 1911. The wedding ceremony was attended by many wealthy and distinguished guests from West Wales and England, who packed into the ancient Church dedicated to Saint Elli. The Bride walked from Llanelly House, the ancient seat of the Stepneys, to the even more ancient Parish Church, where the service was conducted in Welsh. A luncheon was also held at the Drill Hall for the tenant farmers of the Stepney Estate.

After their marriage, they lived at Cilymaenllwyd, and Sir Edward was actively involved in the town’s civic and social life. To celebrate their first wedding anniversary, Sir Edward and Lady Stafford Howard presented the townspeople with Parc Howard, formerly Bryncaerau Castle, which they had purchased from Lt J F H Buckley in 1911.

Lady Howard serves as Mayor

In 1913 Sir Edward Stafford Howard was appointed the first Charter Mayor and was re-elected in 1914 and 1915. When Sir Edward died in 1916, Lady Howard was asked to serve as Mayor for the remainder of the term.

Following the death of her husband, Lady Catharine persuaded her mother to live with her at Cilymaenllwyd, Pwll. They both took an active interest in the social, religious and political affairs of the town, were very much involved in the general welfare of the community and were generous supporters of charitable activities in the town, so much so that Lady Catharine was known as ‘Lady Bountiful’.

Family name changed

Following her husband’s death Lady Catharine decided to change her name to perpetuate the Stepney family name and became known as Lady Catharine Meriel Howard Stepney.

The only time she stayed away from Llanelli was before her father died and when she was bringing up her children. During the time her children were growing up, Lady Catharine spent her time between Thornbury in Gloucestershire, Woodend at Ascot in Berkshire, and Cilymaenllwyd, Pwll, Llanelli.

Lady Catharine held many public offices including:

Membership of the Carmarthenshire Insurance Committee after it was formed in 1912;

President of the Young Women’s Christian Association YWCA.

She was elected to the Magistrate’s Bench, and for her work with the Red Cross during the Great War, she was awarded the MBE.

Always a teetotaller and staunch Liberal Lady Catharine served on the County Council from 1917 until 1946 when ill health forced her to retire from public life.

District Commissioner for Girl Guides

She served as District Commissioner for the Girl Guides Association and received the Medal of Merit from the Boy Scout Movement.

The Duke of Kent invested her as Sister of the Venerable Order of the Hospital of St John of Jerusalem and from 1928 Lady Catherine became a member of the Catholic Church.

To celebrate the 21st Anniversary of Llanelli’s Incorporation as a Borough, in 1934, the Freedom of the Borough was conferred on Lady Howard Stepney, who was accompanied by her son, Mr Stafford Howard Stepney, and her son-in-law Mr Patrick Wyndham Murray Threipland.

Lady Stepney receiving the Freedom of the Borough in 1934

By 1936 Lady Catharine began to withdraw from public life and during 1937 she divided her estates and interests between her two children, Marged and Stafford.

Her daughter Marged, affectionately known as ‘Marged Fach’ started a model farm at Cilymaenllwyd. She married twice but neither marriage was a success and were both dissolved.

In 1946 Lady Catharine withdrew from public life completely because of ill health and she decided to sell Llanelly House, the former home of Sir Thomas Stepney 5th Baronet and his family.

In June 1952 Lady Catherine Meriel Howard Stepney MBE, JP, whose ancestry could be traced back to Rhodri Mawr, died at her residence Cilymaenllwyd, Pwll. Her daughter Marged died in 1953.

Following their deaths, the Stepney Estate was managed by an Agent, Mr Boots, on behalf of the last member of the family to own the Stepney interests, Mr Mark Murray-Threipland, grandson of Sir Edward and Lady Catharine Howard Stepney.

Notes

Census details indicate that The Dell would have been managed by Agents during the absences of the Stepney family from Llanelli.

Lady Catharine Meriel Howard Stepney died 1952.

Alan Francis Welch was Marged's second husband; both her marriages were dissolved and she died in 1953.

Thornbury Castle, one of the homes of Lady Catharine