Belinda, Baroness Montagu of Beaulieu 1932-2022

 Belinda, Baroness Montagu of Beaulieu, who died 15 December, 2022, aged 90, was the former chatelaine of Palace House, at Beaulieu, Hampshire, the first wife of the 3rd Baron Montagu of Beaulieu.

Beaulieu Abbey houses Lady Montagu of Beaulieu's wall hangings which depict the abbey's history. She was the patron of the New Forest Association and was commissioned in 1979 to work on The New Forest Embroidery, in commemoration of the 900th anniversary of the creation of the New Forest.

Palace House, Beaulieu was a Cistercian abbey in Hampshire, England. It was founded in 1203–1204 by King John and (uniquely in Britain) populated by 30 monks sent from the abbey of Cîteaux in France, the mother house of the Cistercian order. The Medieval Latin name of the monastery was Bellus Locus Regis ("The beautiful place of the king"') or monasterium Belli loci Regis. Other spellings of the English name which occur historically are Bewley (16th century) and Beaulie (17th century).

Lady Montagu was born Elizabeth Belinda Crossley, 11 January, 1932, the only daughter of Capt the Hon John de Bathe Crossley (1893-1935), scion of the Barons Somerleyton, and his second wife the former Sybelle Winifred Louisa Pixley Drummond (1898-1963), scion of the Earls of Perth, 1st daughter of Capt Cyril Augustus Drummond (1873-1945), of Cadland, co. Hampshire.

In 1935, her father's older brother, Francis Savile Crossley, succeeded her grandfather as the Baron Somerleyton. Her first cousin, Savile William Francis Crossley, was the 3rd Baron Somerleyton from 1959 until his death in 2012.

Belinda Crossley married 11 April, 1959 (div 1974), as his first wife Edward Douglas-Scott-Montagu, 3rd Baron Montagu of Beaulieu (1926-2015), the flamboyant peer, founder of the National Motor Museum at Beaulieu, son of the 2nd Baron (1866-1929), and his second wife, the former (Alice) Pearl Crake (1895-1996).

Belinda Lady Montagu leaves issue, Ralph Douglas-Scott-Montagu, the 4th Baron Montagu of Beaulieu (born 13 March, 1961), and a daughter, the Hon Mary Rachel (born 16 Nov, 1964).

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