Raymond Asquith - Family

Family

Raymond Asquith was married on 25 July 1907 to the former Katharine Frances Horner (1885–1976), younger daughter of Sir John Francis Fortescue Horner, of Mells, Somerset, descended from 'Little Jack Horner' of nursery song fame. Her mother Lady Horner (d. 1940) was the former Frances Jane Graham, elder daughter of William Graham, MP, a wealthy merchant, passionate art collector, and Liberal MP for Glasgow 1865–1874. She was a notable hostess and patron of the arts, especially the Pre-Raphaelites and John Singer Sargent. The Horners had four children – Cicely (b. 1883), Katharine (b. 1885), Mark (who died in his teens), and Edward (b. 1888).

Asquith and his wife had three children:

• Lady Helen Frances Asquith (1908–2000), who died unmarried
• Lady Perdita Rose Mary Asquith (1910–1996) who married the 4th Baron Hylton (d 1967)
• Julian Edward George Asquith, 2nd Earl of Oxford and Asquith (1916–2011), nicknamed Trim, who was born a few months before his father's death in action. The young baby was reputedly named "Trim" for the Roman gourmand Trimalchio, after his father saw his newborn son for the first time upon his initial return from war.

Raymond Asquith died nearly a decade before his father was raised to the House of Lords in 1925 as Earl of Oxford and Asquith. Katharine inherited Mells when her younger but only surviving brother Edward Horner (1888–1917) also died in the war. He was buried in France, but his memorial at Mells was designed by his mother's friend Edwin Lutyens, who was a patron of Monsignor Ronald Knox. She converted to Roman Catholicism as a widow, and became a friend of Siegfried Sassoon who also converted to Catholicism following her example. She also remained in touch with Evelyn Waugh, another convert. All her three children were raised Roman Catholic.