Isobel Gathorne-Hardy

Lady Isobel Constance Mary Gathorne-Hardy (; September 2, 1875 – December 30, 1963) was a British courtier, best known for helping to popularize ice hockey in the early days of the sport in Canada. The daughter of Lord Stanley of Preston, former Governor General of Canada, and Lady Constance Villiers, she was one of the earliest European women known to have played the sport. Today, she is celebrated as an early pioneer of women's ice hockey and the championship trophy of the Premier Hockey Federation (PHF) is called the Isobel Cup in her honor. Personal life Lady Isobel Stanley was the second-youngest of ten children born to Frederick Stanley, 16th Earl of Derby and Constance Villiers. Two of her siblings died before Isobel was born: Geoffrey, Arthur's twin, died on 16 March 1871 and her elder sister, Katherine Mary, died young in October of the same year. Isobel Stanley grew up in an active environment with her seven brothers. In 1897, she married General Sir (John) Francis Gathorne-Hardy, a younger son of John Gathorne-Hardy, 2nd Earl of Cranbrook and Cicely Ridgway. She retained her title upon marriage as the daughter of an earl and took on the family name of her husband, being styled Lady Gathorne-Hardy. They had one child, a daughter named Elizabeth Constance Mary Gathorne-Hardy (1904–1953). Lady Gathorne-Hardy served in the Royal Household as a Woman of the Bedchamber to Queen Mary during 1914 to 1920. In 1945, King George VI appointed her Dame Commander of the Royal Victorian Order for her service to the royal family.