Lady Mary Faith Montagu

Lady Mary Faith Culme-Seymour, Lady Culme-Seymour (née Montagu, previously Nesbitt; 1 November 1911 – 16 February 1983) was a British aristocrat and letter writer. The daughter of the 9th Earl of Sandwich and American heiress Alberta Sturges, she grew up at the family's ancestral seat, Hinchingbrooke House in Huntingdon. When her brother, Victor Montagu, 10th Earl of Sandwich, sold the family home in 1955, Lady Faith took her close friend, the novelist E. M. Forster, to see it one last time. Her last tour of the home with Forster was an emotional one, and she documented the experience in her diary and in letters. She and Forster, who initially offered her advice on short story writing, remained friends until his death.

Through her second marriage, to Sir Michael Culme-Seymour, 5th Baronet, Lady Faith was the châtelaine of Rockingham Castle in Northamptonshire, where she oversaw the renovation and redecoration of the house.

Early life and family Mary Faith Montagu was born on 1 November 1911 to George Montagu, a Conservative politician and former Member of Parliament, and his American wife, the heiress Alberta Sturges.

Adult life At the beginning of World War II, Lady Faith fell in love with an American airman. The family lived in California. They had two children together: Micael Culme-Seymour and Francis Michael Culme-Seymour. As châtelaine of Rockingham Castle, Lady Faith oversaw renovations and redecorating the rooms, closing the old kitchen, and creating a private flat for the family within the castle. Throughout her life they communicated often, sending over seventy letters to each other. Their friendship began when she wrote to him for a critique on a short story she was working on. He often came to stay with the family at Rockingham during Christmas. Her brother, who became the 10th Earl of Sandwich, inherited Hinchingbrooke House, which had been used as a hospital during World War II. She wrote in a letter about her brother's decision to sell the family home in 1955, and after it was boarded up, took Forster there to see it, as had spent some of his youth there with her father. In her letter and diary, she writes about the heartbreak of the family losing their ancestral home.

She died on 16 February 1983.