Lady Marion Chesham

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Marion Caher Donoghue, Lady Chesham (1903-1973), was a prominent figure in Tanzanian politics during the 1950s and 1960s before her retirement in 1972.^[1]

Marion Donoghue was born in Philadelphia. She was the daughter of Daniel Charles Donoghue.^[2]

Lady Marion Chesham was married three times. Her first marriage was to Brook Edwards, with whom she had a daughter named Mary.^[3] Following her divorce from Edwards, Marion married Theobald Walter Somerset Henry Butler, 8th Earl of Carrick and became the Countess of Carrick. This union also ended in divorce.^[4] In October 1938, she married John Compton Cavendish, 4th Baron Chesham. From this point onward, her title was Lady Chesham.^[3]

Lady Marion Chesham served with the Auxiliary Territorial Service and the American Red Cross during the Second World War.^[3] Following the death of Lord Chesham in 1952, she became a prominent spokesperson for the Capricorn Africa Society - a pressure group based in the British colonies in southern and eastern Africa, which included members from a range of cultural backgrounds.^[1] She was a member of the Tanganyika Legislative Council between 1958 and 1962. She then went on to become a member of the Tanzanian National Assembly until the union of Tanganyika with Zanzibar in 1964.^[4]

Lady Marion Chesham retired in 1972 and died in Guildford, England in 1973.^[1]