Nina Ogilvie-Grant-Studley-Herbert, 12th Countess of Seafield

Nina Caroline Ogilvie-Grant, 12th Countess of Seafield (17 April 1906 – 30 September 1969) was a Scottish peeress and landowner.

Early life

Nina Seafield was born on 17 April 1906 in Nice, Provence, France. She was the only child of James Ogilvie-Grant, 11th Earl of Seafield and the New Zealand heiress Mary Elizabeth Nina Townend (1876–1962). One of the family seats was Castle Grant, Morayshire. She was a friend of Nancy Mitford and especially close with Mark Ogilvie-Grant, a cousin who at one point considered marrying her.

Her paternal grandparents were Francis William Ogilvie-Grant, 10th Earl of Seafield and the former Anne Trevor Corry Evans. Her maternal grandparents were Dr. Joseph Henry Townend and Harriet ( Cox) Townend, of Christchurch.

Peerage Her father was killed in action on 12 November 1915 in France during World War I and Nina succeeded, suo jure, to the earldom of Seafield in the Peerage of Scotland. Her uncle, Trevor Ogilvie-Grant, succeeded to the barony of Strathspey in the Peerage of the United Kingdom, and as Chief of the Clan Grant. son of John Tatchell Studley and Beatrice de Chair. who married firstly her brother-in-law James Henry Harcourt Illingworth in 1964. They divorced in 1970 and she married secondly Sir William Gordon-Cumming, 6th Baronet in 1972. They were divorced in 1976 and she married thirdly Hugh Richard Sykes in 1976. They too divorced and she married finally David John Nicholson in 1989.

A month after her divorce, her engagement to Armar E. Archbold was announced. Archbold, heir to a Standard Oil fortune, however, died before they were wed.

Reputed wealth The Countess of Seafield was allegedly the second richest woman in Britain after Queen Elizabeth II. At the time of her death, she was said to have earned $250,000 a year and owned "300 square miles in the shires of Banff, Moray and Inverness."