Helen Beresford, Baroness Decies

The Right Honourable The Lady Decies
Lady Decies in 1919
Born	Vivian Gould (1893-05-02)May 2, 1893
Died	February 3, 1931(1931-02-03) (aged 37) London, UK
Spouse	John Beresford, 5th Baron Decies ​ ​ (m. 1911)​
Children	3
Parent(s)	George Jay Gould Edith Kingdon
Relatives	Jay Gould (grandfather)

Helen Vivien Beresford, Baroness Decies, formerly Helen Vivien Gould (May 2, 1893 – February 3, 1931) was an American socialite and philanthropist. She was one of the two Jay Gould descendants to marry into European aristocracy.[1]

Early life

Helen Vivien Gould was born on May 2, 1893, in the United States. She was the fourth of seven children born to George Jay Gould (1864–1923), a railroad executive; and Edith Kingdon (1864–1921), an actress.[2] Among her siblings were Kingdon Gould I, Marjorie Gwynne Gould, Jay Gould II, Edith Catherine Gould, and Gloria Gould.[3]

Her paternal grandparents were Jay Gould, a leading American railroad developer and speculator known as one of the ruthless robber barons of the Gilded Age, and Helen Day (née Miller) Gould.[2]

Personal life

On February 7, 1911, Helen married John Graham Hope de la Poer Horsley Beresford (1866–1944), the 5th Baron Decies.[2] John was the son of William Robert John Beresford, 3rd Baron Decies and Catherine Anne Dent.[4] Together they had three children:

• Eileen Vivien de la Poer Beresford (1912-?) who married Robert Alfred O'Brien
• Catherine Moya de la Poer Beresford (1913–1967) who married Patrick Herbert Bellew in 1936. They divorced and she married Max Wilhelm Johannsen in 1946.
• Arthur George Marcus Douglas de la Poer Beresford (1915-1992) the 6th Baron Decies

She died in February 1931 of jaundice and a heart attack in London.[1][5] After her death, Lord Decies married Elizabeth Wharton Drexel, the daughter of Joseph William Drexel, on May 25, 1936. He died on 31 January 1944 at age 77.[6][3]

References

1. "Lady Decies Dies at 38 in London. Former Helen Vivien Gould Was Principal in Brilliant International Wedding of 1911. Was Noted As Hostess. Her Entertaining Was a Feature of British Capital. Husband Is Distinguished Irish Peer". New York Times. 3 February 1931. Retrieved 26 November 2007.
2. "Mr. and Mrs. G.J. Gould May Formally Announce Daughter's Engagement on Jan. 19". New York Times. 15 December 1910. Retrieved 2 February 2009.
3. MacColl, Gail; Wallace, Carol McD (2012). To Marry an English Lord: Tales of Wealth and Marriage, Sex and Snobbery. Workman Publishing. p. 334. ISBN 9780761171980. Retrieved 21 November 2017.
4. Montgomery, Maureen E. (2013). 'Gilded Prostitution': Status, Money and Transatlantic Marriages, 1870-1914. Routledge. p. 339. ISBN 9781136214950. Retrieved 21 November 2017.
5. "Died". Time magazine. 16 February 1931. Archived from the original on 2 November 2012. Retrieved 4 February 2009.
6. "Lord Decies dies in England at 77. Soldier, Sportsman, Friend of Taxpayer. Married Gould Heiress Here in 1911". New York Times. 2 February 1944. Retrieved 21 July 2007. Married Gould Heiress Here in 1911.

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