To Marry an English Lord
Page 34
PORTLAND PLACE.
Below Regent’s Park. No. 3: home of Grace Bruce Carr, Baroness Newborough after her marriage in 1900. No. 8: home of Maude Lorillard Baring until she moved to Bryanston Square.
PORTMAN SQUARE.
No. 8: home of Alberta Sturges, future Countess of Sandwich. No. 15: H.R.H.’s daughter Princess Louise and her husband, the Duke of Fife. No. 30: Mrs. George Keppel. No. 45: Consuelo, Duchess of Manchester.
PRINCE’S GATE.
No. 14: occupied by J. Pierpont Morgan. No. 16: Lord and Lady Cheylesmore, who, deigning to exist outside Maytair, were credited by the Tatler for “a worthy keeping up of old traditions.” No. 42: Charles Bonynge and his daughter and son-in-law, the Viscount and Viscountess Deerhurst.
RICHMOND TERRACE, WHITEHALL.
No. 4: for years the town address of Elizabeth Cavendish-Bentinck, one of the premier social godmothers and an Old New York girl to boot.
ST: JAMES’S SQUARE.
No. 4: the town residence of Nancy Astor. The Randolph Churchills, in their early married life, lived in nearby St. James’s Street; next door was Sir Stafford Northeote, whose son married American Edith Livingston Fish. Clubs. 28: Boodles. 37: White’s. 69: Carlton. 74: Conservative.
SLOANE STREET.
No. 122: home of American heiress Rosalind Secor, Lady Chetwynd. Down the street, at Holy Trinity, Florence Garner married Sir William Gordon-Cumming.
* * *
In 1919 American social climber Mrs. William Leeds was looking forward to the big dinner she’d planned at the Ritz for Prince Christopher of Greece when Minnie Paget, who had been her social guide, died suddenly on the day of the party. Not wanting to disturb all her arrangements, Mrs. Leeds simply didn’t announce the death and gave the dinner regardless. Five months later, Minnie’s wardrobe was sold by auction in London; her famous Cleopatra costume, made by Worth, went for a little more than £9.
* * *
BIBLIOGRAPHY/SELECTED READING
FICTION
ATHEKION, GERTRUDE. American Wives and English Husbands. Service & Paton, 1898.
——. Tower of Ivory. John Murray, 1910.
HARRISON, CONSTANCY CARY. Anglomaniacs. Casscll, 1890.
JAMES, HENRY. The Ambassadors. Penguin, 1973.
——. The American. Penguin, 1981.
——. The Europeans. Penguin, 1964.
——. The Golden Bowl. Oxford, 1983.
——. A London Life. Scribner’s, 1907.
——. The Portrait of a Lady. Penguin, 1984.
——. The Reverberator. Grove Press, 1885.
——. Washington Square. Signet, 1964.
——. The Wings of the Dove. Penguin, 1982. Short Stories: “A Bundle of Letters,” “Crapy Cornelia,” “Daisy Miller,” “An International Episode,” “Lady Barbarina,” “Lord Beaupré,” “Miss Gunton of Poughkeepsie,” “Mrs. Medwin,” “Pandora,” “The Pension Beaurepas,” “Point of View,” “The Siege of London.”
RAE, WILLIAM FRASER. An American Duchess. R. Bentley & Son, 1891.
——. Miss Bayle’s Romance. H. Holt & Co., 1887.
SACKVILI.E-WEST, VITA. The Edwardians. Avon, 1983.
SHERWOOD, MARY E. A Transplanted Rose. Harper & Bros., 1882.
TROLLOPE, ANTHONY. The Duke’s Children. Oxford, 1954.
——. The Way We Live Now. Oxford, 1982.
WHARTON, EDITH. The Age of Innocence. Scribner’s, 1970.
——. The Buccaneers. Appleton-Century, 1938.
——. The Custom of the Country. Seribner’s, 1913.
——. The House of Mirth, Bantam, 1984.
Short Stories: “Autres Temps,” “Madame de Treymes.”
NONFICTION
ALSOP, SUSAN MARY. Lady Sackville. Avon, 1978.
AMORY, CLEVELAND. Who Killed Society? Harper & Row, 1960.
ANDREWS, ALLEN. The Splendid Pauper. Harrap, 1968.
ASTOR, MICHAEL. Tribal Feeling. John Murray, 1963.
ATHERTON, GERTRUDE. Adventures of a Novelist. Jonathan Cape, 1932.
——. Can Women Be Gentlemen? Houghton Mifflin, 1938.
BAKER, PAUL. Richard Morris Hunt. M.I.T., 1980.
BALSAN, CONSUELO VANDERBIIT. The Glitter and the Gold. Harper & Bros., 1952.
Bancroft’s Americans’ Guide to London. Bancroft, 1901-06.
BARRETT, RICHMOND. Good Old Summer Days. Appleton-Century, 1941.
BARROW, ANDREW. Gossip. Pan Books, 1978.
BATTISCOMBE, GEORGINA. Life of Queen Alexandra. Constable, 1969.
BEEBE, LUCIUS. The Big Spenders. Doubleday, 1966.
BEERBOHM, MAX. Things Old and New. Heinemann, 1923.
BERLIN, ELLIN. Silver Platter. Doubleday, 1957.
BLUNDEN, MARGARET. The Countess of Warwick. Cassell, 1967.
BOURGET, PAUL. Outre-Mer. Scribner’s, 1895.
BRANDON, RUTH. The Dollar Princesses. Alfred A. Knopf, 1980.
BRIDGE, JAMES HOWARD (pseud. Harold Brydges). Uncle Sam at Home. H. Holt &Co., 1888.
BROWN, MARY MACDONALD. Amazing New York. Andrew Melrose, 1913.
BROUGH, JAMES. Consuelo. Coward, McCann & Geoghegan, 1979.
CABLE, MARY. American Manners & Morals. American Heritage, 1969.
——. Top Drawer. Atheneum, 1984.
CAMPBELL, CHARLES SUTTER. Anglo-American Understanding, 1898-1903. Johns Hopkins Press, 1957.
Catalog of Memorial Exhibition of the Works of John Singer Sargent. Museum of Fine Arts (Boston), 1925.
CHURCHILL, ALLEN. The Splendor Seekers. Grossett & Dunlap, 1947.
CHURCHILL, PEREGRINE, and JULIAN MITCHELL. Jennie. St. Martin’s, 1974.
CHURCHILL, LADY RANDOLPH. Small Talks on Big Subjects. Pearson, 1916.
CHURCHILL, RANDOLPH. Fifteen Famous English Homes. Verschoyle, 1954.
CHURCHILL, WINSTON. My Early Life. Scribner’s, 1930.
CLEWS, HENRY. Twenty-Eight Years in Wall Street. Sampson Low, Markson, Searle and Rivington, 1888.
COLLIER, PRICE. England and the English. Scribner’s, 1914.
COOPER, NICHOLAS. The Opulent Eye. Architectural Press, 1976.
CORELLI, MARIE, with Lady Jeune, Flora Annie Steel, and Susan, Countess of Malmesbury. The Modern Marriage Market. Hutchinson, 1898.
CORNWALLIS-WEST, GEORGE. Edwardian Heydays. Putnam’s, 1930.
COWLES, VIRGINIA. The Astors. Alfred A. Knopf, 1979.
——. Edward VII and His Circle. Hamish Hamilton, 1956.
CROWNINSHIELD, FRANK.“The House of Vanderbilt.” Vogue, Nov. 15, 1941.
DEMARLY, DIANA. History of Haute Couture. Holmes & Meier, 1980.
DOWNES, WILLIAM HOWE. John S. Sargent. Butterworth, 1926.
DUMAURIER, GEORGE. Society Pictures. Bradbury, Agnew, 1891.
EDEL, LEON.“Henry James, Edith Wharton, and Newport.” Redwood Library & Athenaeum (Newport), 1966.
——. The Life of Henry James. Penguin, 1977.
ELIOT, ELIZABETH. Heiresses & Coronets. McDowell, Obolensky, 1959.
ELLIOTT, MAUD HOWE. This Was My Newport. Mythology, 1944.
——. Three Generations. Little, Brown, 1923.
ESCOTT, THOMAS HAY SWEET King Edward & His Court. Unwin, 1903.
——. Society in London. Chatto & Windus, 1885.
ENSOR, R.C.K. England: 1870-1914. Oxford, 1946.
FIELD, LESLIE. The Queen’s Jewels. Harry N. Abrams, 1987.
FIELDING, DAPHNE. Duchess of Jermyn Street. Eyre & Spottiswode, 1964.
——. Emerald and Nancy. Eyre & Spottiswode, 1968.
FISKE, STEPHEN. Offhand Portraits of Eminent New Yorkers. Lockwood & Sons, 1884.
FLOWER, SYBILLA JANE, comp. Debrett’s Stately Homes of England. Holt, Rinehart & Winston, 1982.
FRIEDMAN, BERNARD HARPER. Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney. Doubleday, 1978.
GERNSHEIM, ALISON. Victorian & Edwardian Fashion: A Photographic Survey. Dover, 1981.
GREEN, DAVID. The Churchills of Blenheim. Constable, 1984.
GRISWOLD, FRANK GRAY. Aftertho
ughts. Harper & Bros., 1936.
HARRISON, CONSTANCE CARY. Our Best Society. Century, 1899.
HARRISON, ROSINA. Rose: My Life in Service. Viking, 1975.
HARTZELL, A.E., comp. Titled Americans. Street & Smith, 1890.
HIBBERT, CHRISTOPHER. Edward VII: A Portrait. Penguin, 1976.
HILLS, PATRICIA. John Singer Sargent. Whitney Museum, 1987.
HUGHES, ALICE. My Father and I. Butterworth, 1923.
JAMES, HENRY. Portraits of Places. James R, Osgood, 1884.
JAMES, ROBERT RHODES. Lord Randolph Churchill. A.S. Barnes, 1960.
JOSEPHSON, MATTHEW. The Bobber Barons. Harcourt, Brace, 1934.
“JUVENAL.” An Englishman in New York. Stephen Swift, 1911.
LAMBERT, ANGELA. Unquiet Souls. Harper & Row, 1984.
LANG, THEO. The Darling Daisy Affair. Atheneum, 1966.
LANGHORNE, ELIZABETH. Nancy Astor and Her Friends. Praeger, 1974.
LEGGETT, FRANCES. Late & Soon. Houghton Mifflin, 1968.
LEHR, ELIZABETH DREXEL. King Lehr & the Gilded Age. Lippincott, 1935.
——. Turn of the World. Lippincott, 1937.
LESLIE, ANITA. Lady Randolph Churchill. Scribner’s, 1969.
——. The Marlborough House Set. Doubleday, 1973.
——. The Remarkable Mr. Jerome. Henry Holt, 1954.
LESLIE, SEYMOUR. The Jerome Connection. John Murray, 1964.
LESLIE, SHANE. Studies in Sublime Failure. Ernest Benn, 1932.
LEWIS, R.W.B. Edith Wharton. Harper & Row, 1975.
LONGFORD, ELIZABETH. Louisa, Lady in Waiting. Mayflower, 1981.
——. Victoria R.I. Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1964.
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MAGNUS, PHILIP. Life of Edward VII. Dutton, .1964.
MANCHESTER, WILLIAM ANGUS DROGO MONTAGU, 9th Duke. My Candid Reflections. Grayson & Grayson, 1932.
MARTIN, FREDERICK TOWNSEND. Passing of the Idle Rich. Doubleday Page, 1911.
——. Things I Remember. John Lane, 1913.
MARTIN, RALPH G. Jennie: The Life of Lady Randolph Churchill. Vol. I: The Romantic Years. Signet, 1969. Vol. 2: The Dramatic Liars. Prentice-Hall, 1971.
MITFORD, NANCY. Noblesse Oblige. Futura, 1980.
MOONEY, MICHAEL. Evelyn Nesbit & Stanford White. Morrow, 1976.
MORRIS, LLOYD R. Incredible New York. Random House, 1951.
MURPHY, SOPHIA. The Duchess of Devonshire’s Ball. Sidgwick & Jackson, 1984.
NAPIER, ELMA. Youth Is a Blunder. Jonathan Cape, 1948.
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——. Nancy: The Life of Nancy Astor. Harper & Row, 1972.
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——. Discretions. Scribner’s, 1931.
——. Life’s Ebb & Flow. Hutchinson, 1929.
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INDEX
A | B | C | D | E
F | G | H | I | J
K | L | M | N | O
P | Q | R | S | T
V | W | Y | Z
(Page numbers in italics refer to illustrations. Page numbers in boldface refer to entries for individual heiresses in register.)
A
Abercorn, Duke of, 127
Academy of Music, New York City, 9, 12, 62
ball for Prince of Wales at, 3, 3
demise of, 62, 63
Acheson, Archibald, Viscount, see Gosford, Archibald Acheson, 5th Earl of
Adair, Cornelia (née Wadsworth; formerly Mrs. Montgomery Ritchie), 123, 167, 186, 271, 279, 309, 354, 354, 356, 362
Adair, John, 123, 309, 354
Adam, Robert, 110, 195
Adultery:
as grounds for divorce, 311, 312
see also Extramarital affairs; Mistresses
After-dinner calls, 8
Afternoon dresses, 233, 233
Afternoon tea, romantic liaisons at, 255–58
Age of Innocence, The (Wharton), 33
Agricultural depression (1870s), 105–6, 125, 158
Albemarle Street, London, 360
Albert, Prince Consort of England, 16, 17, 268, 319
death of, 15–16, 84
son reared to be exemplar of modern monarch by, 20–21
Albert Edward, Prince of Wales, see Edward VII, King of England
Albert Gate, London, 364
Aldford Street, London, 360
Alexander of Teck, Prince and Princess, 307
Alexandra, Queen Consort of England (formerly Princess of Wales), 16, 17, 17, 24, 25, 38, 72, 217, 247, 250, 269, 290, 294, 319
coronation of, 276–81, 279, 281
country houses visited by, 284, 288, 289
deafness of, 251, 274
husband’s amorous intrigues and, 251, 254
staff of, 289
tiara worn well by, 293
weddings attended by, 306–7
“Alexandra limp,” 83
Altiora Peto (Oliphant), 238
Altyre, Morayshire, redecorated in Louis style, 229–30
Alva, 156
menu for luncheon on board, 147
America:
emptiness of social life in, 264–65
English alliance with, 270–74
heiress-hunting Englishmen in, 123–37
as imperial republic, 318
public role unacceptable for women in, 200–201, 202
American Aristocrats, 138–79, 270, 302
bourgeois values of, 234–35, 246
Consuelo Vanderbilt as exemplar of, 148–76
European aristocratic life emulated by, 141
European travels of, 139–41
marriage settlements of, 166–67
Newport season of, 141–47
opulent homes o
f, 139, 142–43, 172–73, 172, 173
rigid etiquette enforced by, 143–46
upbringing of, 148–49
weddings of, 169–79, 169, 170, 176, 178, 179
American Beauty Rose, 99
American Duchess, An (Rae), 238
American Girl in London, An (Cotes), 238
American heiresses:
appeal of, 98–99
brothers who married, 332
Continental titles sought by, 163
cousins who married, 343
deification of, 66–67
demand vs. command as forte of, 198–99
divorces of, 311–12, 315–16
English girls no competition for, 94, 98–101
Englishmen’s journeys in search of, 123–37
father-son duos who married, 347
finally titled by kingly act, 275
James’s portrayals of, 96–97
London accommodations of, 102
mother-daughter duos, 308, 309
New, 302–10
number of matches for, in 1895, 165
points in campaign of, 102–3
press coverage sought by, 103
register of, 323–57
as salvation of Marlborough House Set, 95
second marriages to, 350
sister acts, 308–9
as stock figures of fictional romance, 238
taken under wing by Prince of Wales, 82–88
see also American Aristocrats; Buccaneers; Self-Made Girls; specific topics and heiresses
American heiresses, married, 183–259
allowed into husbands’ lives, 200–208
brought to husbands’ ancestral homes, 183–86, 184, 185
as châtelaines, 218–31, 247
country houses redone by, 226–31
disillusionment of, 240–45
divorces of, 311–12, 315–16
and domestic importance of English husbands, 199–200
dominance established by, 220–25
English country houses found uncomfortable by, 189–90
English system of childrearing and, 212–17
extramarital affairs of, 250–59
good works of, 246–47
husbands’ former hostesses displaced by, 220–21
husbands unsolicitous toward, 196
hygenic concerns of, 227
ill-prepared for running of households, 197–99
in-law troubles of, 183, 194–96, 221
introduced to “the County,” 186–89
invalidism as option for, 243–45