Augusta was brought up in Paris after her father died and later served as lady-in-waiting to Queen Victoria. She met and married Arthur P. Stanley, Dean of Westminster at the home of Mary Elizabeth Mohl in Paris.Her father, Lord Elgin, was a British nobleman, diplomat, and collector, known primarily for the controversial procurement of marble sculptures (known as the Elgin Marbles) from the Parthenon and other structures on the Acropolis of Athens.