Agnes Keyser | |
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 Agnes Keyser as a young woman,c. 1870s[1] | |
| Born | Elizabeth Agnes Keyser (1852-07-11)11 July 1852 Great Stanmore, Middlesex |
| Died | 11 May 1941(1941-05-11) (aged 88) Farringdon, Berkshire |
| Nationality | British |
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Agnes Keyser,DStJ,RRC (11 July 1852 – 11 May 1941) was a British humanitarian and longtimemistress toEdward VII, King of the United Kingdom. Keyser was the wealthy daughter of aStock Exchange member. She remained with the King until his death in 1910.
Keyser, as recorded by authorRaymond Lamont-Brown in his bookEdward VII's Last Loves: Alice Keppel and Agnes Keyser, held an emotional bond with the King that others did not, due to her being unmarried herself, and preferring a more private affair to a public one.
Agnes Keyser (pronouncedKeeser),[2] was born Elizabeth Agnes Keyser on 11 July 1852 atGreat Stanmore inMiddlesex, to Charles and Margaret Keyser. Her father was a partner in a stock exchange firm Ricardo and Keyser.[2][3] Her ancestors were Jewish and arrived in Britain from Central Europe in the eighteenth century, and her ancestral country house wasCross Oak,Berkhamsted,Hertfordshire. Agnes was baptised as Christian.[2] She had one brother, Charles Edward, and two sisters, the older Frances (Fanny) and the younger Marion.[4] Her childhood home was Warren House, between the then two small towns ofStanmore andBushey in Hertfordshire. While her brother went toEton, the Keyser sisters, as was tradition at the time, were educated at home. Marion married early and little knowledge remains of her. However, Fanny and Agnes were close and when Fanny took to London's elite social life, Agnes Keyser followed. A large part of their father's fortune went to the two sisters and to give them a base in London he even bought them a large house in Chester Place, Hyde Park Square.[2]
The two sisters enjoyed the social scene in London, and their father subsequently bought them 17Grosvenor Crescent, Hyde Park Corner, where they entertained guests and built up a friendship circle of "the best people".[2] On 27 February 1898 both sisters attended dinner at the home ofAlice Keppel and her husbandGeorge, and were introduced to the 56-year-oldPrince of Wales. It was the start of a long friendship, which was to shortly see the effects of theSecond Boer War. To support efforts in the war, many people came together to contribute, and on this background the Keyser sisters agreed to offer their Belgravia mansion to care for wounded officers, at the suggestion of the Prince of Wales.[2]
At the suggestion of the Prince, Keyser became Sister Agnes, and the house at Grosvenor Crescent, with its initial 12 beds, greeted the first wounded officers in February 1900. In its early years it was known as Sister Agnes's Hospital.[2][5]
During theFirst World War the hospital used 9Grosvenor Gardens to nurse British officers, including the novelistStuart Cloete.[6] The hospital becameKing Edward VII's Hospital for Officers and laterKing Edward VII's Hospital Sister Agnes.[7]
On 26 February 1901, Agnes was created a Dame of Grace of theVenerable Order of St. John.[8]
On 9 August 1901, Agnes and her sister were both awarded theRRC: Agnes for her hospital's work, and Fanny for direct nursing service in South Africa.[8]
She died atBuckland House, Faringdon, Berkshire (laterOxfordshire) on 11 May 1941,[3] aged 88.
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