Edith Catherine Gould

Edith, Lady MacNeal
Born
Edith Catherine Gould

(1901-08-03)August 3, 1901
Cold Spring Harbor, New York, US
DiedSeptember 10, 1937(1937-09-10) (aged 36)
East Hampton, New York, US
EducationMiss Spence's School
Spouses
​
​
(m. 1920; div. 1932)​
​
(m. 1932)​
ChildrenStuyvesant Wainwright II
Caroline DePeyster Wainwright
Carroll L. Wainwright Jr.
Parent(s)George Jay Gould I
Edith Kingdon
RelativesJay Gould (grandfather)

Edith Catherine MacNeal (née Gould, formerly Wainwright) (August 3, 1901 – September 10, 1937) was an American heiress and writer.

Early life

Portrait of Miss Edith Gould, by Artúr Lajos Halmi, c. 1914

Edith was born aboard her father's yacht, Sybarite, on August 3, 1901, while it was anchored off Cold Spring Harbor and was flying the British flag. She was one of seven children born to millionaire George Jay Gould I (1864–1923) and actress Edith Kingdon Gould (1864–1921).[1][2] Among her siblings were Kingdon Gould Sr., Jay Gould II, Marjorie Gwynne Gould (wife of Anthony Joseph Drexel III), Helen Vivien Gould (wife of John Beresford, 5th Baron Decies), George Jay Gould II, and Gloria Gould (wife of Henry A. Bishop II and Wallace McFarlane Barker).[3]

Her father was the eldest son of the former Helen Day Miller and Jay Gould, a leading American railroad developer and speculator who has been referred to as one of the ruthless robber barons of the Gilded Age, whose success at business made him one of the richest men of his era.[4] Her aunt, Anna Gould, was married to two European aristocrats, Boni de Castellane (the elder son and heir apparent of the Marquis of Castellane) and Hélie de Talleyrand-Périgord, Duke of Sagan (Boni's cousin).

She attended Miss Spence's School in Manhattan.[5]

Career

In 1925, Edith wrote her autobiography, "in which she told at length how it felt to be the granddaughter of a millionaire. She told the 'inner secrets' of the Gould family as she knew them when a child."[5]

Personal life

Carroll Livingston Wainwright and Edith Gould Wainwright, on the porch of their summer home at Ventnor, New Jersey, 1923

On May 27, 1920,[6] 18 year-old Gould obtained a marriage license a few hours after graduating from Miss Spence's and married artist Carroll Livingston Wainwright, a son of Stuyvesant Wainwright[7][8] and Caroline Smith (née Snowden) Wainwright.[2] He was a nephew of four star General Jonathan Mayhew Wainwright, who was the hero of Bataan and commander of the U.S. forces in the Philippines during World War II.[9] Through his brother, Loudon, he was the uncle of Loudon Wainwright Jr., and the grand-uncle of Loudon Wainwright III, the singer and songwriter, himself the father of Rufus Wainwright, Martha Wainwright, and Lucy Wainwright Roche.[10] Before their divorce in 1932,[11] they were the parents of three children:

  • Stuyvesant Wainwright II (1921–2010), who represented New York's 1st District in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1953 to 1961.[9]
  • Caroline DePeyster Wainwright (1924–1969), who married Edward T. Shean, an investment banker, in 1945. They divorced in 1963.[12]
  • Carroll Livingston Wainwright Jr. (1925–2016),[13] who married Nina Walker in 1948.[14][10]

In 1927, the family moved to East Hampton, New York where they built an imposing house called "Gulf Crest," that was valued at $350,000 in 1937.[5]

In February 1931, her husband was committed to the Bloomingdale Hospital at White Plains by his brothers. In their suit, they claimed he had been subject to hallucinations since 1916, when he had pneumonia and an appendicitis operation. They claimed he had suffered breakdowns in 1916, 1923 and 1929 because of overwork and the strenuous demands of society.[15] Three months later,[16] he was released and shortly thereafter in January 1932, Edith obtained a divorce from Wainwright in Reno, Nevada. There was no property settlement.[15] Immediately after their divorce, she married widower Sir Hector MacNeal, the Scottish shipowner.[17]

Lady MacNeal died in East Hampton on September 10, 1937.[5] Her first husband died there in 1967.[17]

References

  1. ^ Times, Special To The New York (May 29, 1920). "WAINWRIGHTS WED IN SECRET FOR 'THRIFT'; 'Avoided Needless Expense,' Says Art Student, with His Bride, Edith Gould, at Atlantic City". The New York Times. Retrieved August 8, 2017.
  2. ^ a b "MRS. CARL F. WOLFF". The New York Times. March 14, 1960. Retrieved August 8, 2017.
  3. ^ "The Goulds Are Going". Time. March 23, 1925. Archived from the original on December 2, 2008. Retrieved August 21, 2007. Of the seven older children by his first marriage — Kingdon, Jay, George Jay Jr., Marjorie, Vivien, Edith, Gloria — three eloped, one married an English nobleman, and one the daughter of a Hawaiian princess.
  4. ^ Maury Klein (1997). The Life and Legend of Jay Gould. JHU Press. p. 393. ISBN 9780801857713.
  5. ^ a b c d TIMES, Special to THE NEW YORK (September 12, 1937). "LADY M'NEAL DIES; WAS EDITH GOULD; Granddaughter of Financier, 36, Succumbs at Estate in East Hampton; WIFE OF BRITISH KNIGHT; Wrote Autobiography Telling of Family Life as a Child-- liece of Duchess". The New York Times. Retrieved September 27, 2021.
  6. ^ Times, Special To The New York (May 27, 1920). "MISS EDITH GOULD A RUNAWAY BRIDE AFTER MOTOR TRIP; Daughter of George Gould Marries Carroll L. Wainwright at Elkton, Md. | BRIDE 18, BRIDEGROOM 21 | Engagement Had Been Kept Secret from Both Families. the Parents Say. | YOUNG MAN AN ART STUDENT | Member of an Old New York Family and Grandson of Bishop Wainwright". The New York Times. Retrieved August 8, 2017.
  7. ^ "S. WAINWRIGHT DIES; NOTED YACHTSMAN; Was Descendant of Governor Peter Stuyvesant and Bishop Wainwright. NAVAL OFFICER IN THE WAR Raced Yachts for Several Decades-- Representative J. Mayhew Wainwright a Brother". The New York Times. November 4, 1930. Retrieved August 8, 2017.
  8. ^ "Wills of G. Henry Mahlstedt and Stuyvesant Wainwright Also Filed in Court. Mahlstedt Left All to Widow. Wainwright's Secretary Gets $15,000". The New York Times. November 22, 1930. Retrieved August 8, 2017.
  9. ^ a b "WAINWRIGHT, STUYVESANT II". The New York Times. March 14, 2010. Retrieved August 8, 2017.
  10. ^ a b Fox, Margalit (October 1, 2016). "Carroll Wainwright Jr., 'Silk-Stockinged Stowaway,' Dies at 90". The New York Times. Retrieved August 8, 2017.
  11. ^ "Divorced & Remarried". Time. February 8, 1932. Mrs. Edith Gould Wainwright, 30, daughter of the late George Jay Gould I; from Carroll Livingston Wainwright I, 33, Manhattan socialite who was committed by his brothers to Bloomingdale Hospital last year, was later adjudged to be "mentally competent"; in Reno. Grounds: mental cruelty. Mrs. Wainwright immediately married Sir Hector Murray MacNeal, 53, Scottish shipowner.
  12. ^ "MRS. CAROLINE SHEAN". The New York Times. August 28, 1969. Retrieved August 8, 2017.
  13. ^ "C.L. WAINWRIGHT JR. HERE AS STOWAWAY; Former Edith Gould's Son, 8, Boards Ship at Bermuda to See Father in New York. GRANDMOTHER PAYS FARE Another Stowaway on Queen of Bermuda Is W.L. Hires, 16, Nephew of Root Beer Man". The New York Times. December 1, 1934. Retrieved August 8, 2017.
  14. ^ Times, Special To The New York (July 3, 1948). "NINA WALKER WED TO FORMER MARINE; Pine Manor Alumna Married in East Hampton Ceremony to C. L. Wainwright Jr". The New York Times. Retrieved August 8, 2017.
  15. ^ a b Times, Special To The New York (January 26, 1932). "EDITH GOULD GETS DIVORCE, IS REWED; She Marries Hector McNeal in Reno a Few Hours After Ob- taining a Decree in Court. NO PROPERTY SETTLEMENT Mental Cruelty Was Grounds Set Up Against Wainwright -- Wife Wins Custody of Children". The New York Times. Retrieved August 8, 2017.
  16. ^ Times, Special To The New York (May 21, 1931). "C. WAINWRIGHT WINS COMPETENCY RULING; In Sanitarium Three Months He Is Adjudged Able to Manage His Affairs. BROTHERS BRING ACTION Jury Disregards Opinion of Three Psychiatrists--He Lays Illness to Strenuous Social Duties". The New York Times. Retrieved August 8, 2017.
  17. ^ a b "Carroll Wainwright, Artist and Member Of L.I. Family, Dies". The New York Times. July 7, 1967. Retrieved August 8, 2017.
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