Lindy Hamilton-Temple-Blackwood, Marchioness of Dufferin and Ava
Serena Belinda Rosemary Hamilton-Temple-Blackwood | |
|---|---|
| Born | Serena Belinda Rosemary Guinness 25 March 1941 Prestwick, Scotland |
| Died | 26 October 2020 (aged 79) Belfast City Hospital, Northern Ireland |
| Other names | Lindy Guinness |
| Occupation(s) | Artist, conservation advocate, entrepreneur |
| Known for | Art exhibitions; conservation efforts on Clandeboye estate; founder of Ava Gallery and Clandeboye Estate Yoghurt |
Serena Belinda Rosemary Hamilton-Temple-Blackwood, Marchioness of Dufferin and Ava (born Guinness; 25 March 1941 – 26 October 2020), commonly referred to as Lindy Guinness, was a British artist, conservation advocate, and entrepreneur. She was wed to the fifth Marquess of Dufferin and Ava from 1964 until his passing in 1988.
Early life and artistic career
Guinness entered the world in Prestwick, Scotland, as the daughter of financier Loel Guinness and Lady Isabel Manners, herself the daughter of the 9th Duke of Rutland. Her siblings included an elder brother, William Loel Guinness, and a half-brother named Patrick Benjamin "Tara" Guinness. Following her parents' separation when she was nine years old, her father remarried Mexican socialite Gloria Rubio, while her mother became the wife of Sir Robert Throckmorton.
Her upbringing took place at Belvoir Castle, the ancestral home of the Rutland family, with seasonal stays in Palm Beach, Florida, where she associated with prominent cultural personalities such as Truman Capote. From an early age, she demonstrated a strong passion for art, receiving instruction from Oskar Kokoschka, Duncan Grant, and Sir William Coldstream. Under Grant’s mentorship for ten years starting at age 17 at Charleston Farmhouse—linked to the Bloomsbury Group—she developed her skills further. Her formal education included studies at the Byam Shaw School of Art, Chelsea School of Art, and Slade School of Fine Art. Exhibiting under the name Lindy Guinness, she presented more than twenty exhibitions throughout London, Dublin, Paris, and New York, exploring artistic expressions ranging from realism to abstract and Cubist styles.
Marriage
On 21 October 1964, she married Sheridan Hamilton-Temple-Blackwood, 5th and final Marquess of Dufferin and Ava, who was her fourth cousin, in a ceremony held at Westminster Abbey. The event attracted around 2,000 attendees including Princess Margaret, while Arthur Gore, then Viscount Sudley, acted as best man. Lindy’s bridal attire was designed by John Cavanagh, complemented by the Dufferin and Ava shamrock tiara.
Sheridan was an avid art collector who operated a gallery in London. Their residence in Holland Park became a social center for London’s "aristo-bohemian" crowd during the 1960s and 1970s. Described as "flamboyant and essentially homosexual," he succumbed to an AIDS-related disease in 1988.
In his testament, he left her ownership of the expansive 2,000-acre Clandeboye estate located in Bangor, County Down, Northern Ireland. Despite initial reservations about relocating amid the Troubles, she dedicated herself to conservation efforts aimed at fostering community cohesion. She facilitated the establishment of Northern Ireland’s inaugural branch of BTCV (later known as The Conservation Volunteers). The estate became home to a substantial herd of heifers, and in 2009 she introduced Clandeboye Estate Yoghurt—Northern Ireland’s sole yoghurt manufacturer.
Additionally, she founded the Ava Gallery and ensured the estate’s financial independence through various enterprises such as a golf course and a wedding reception venue.
She passed away on 26 October 2020 at Belfast City Hospital after a brief illness at the age of 79.