Marmaduke Furness, 1st Viscount Furness

The Right Honourable
The Viscount Furness
Born(1883-10-29)29 October 1883
West Hartlepool, Durham, England
Died6 October 1940(1940-10-06) (aged 56)
London, England
Spouses
Ada "Daisy" Hogg
​
(died 1921)​
​
​
(m. 1926; div. 1933)​
Enid Cavendish
​
(m. 1933)​
Children

Marmaduke Furness, 1st Viscount Furness (29 October 1883 – 6 October 1940) was a British shipping magnate and during his lifetime one of the richest men in the world.[1][2][3]

Background

Furness was the son of Christopher Furness, 1st Baron Furness and Jane Annette Suggit.[4] He served as Chairman of Furness Withy, the shipbuilding firm, and was also involved in the steel and iron business.[4] He succeeded his father as 2nd Baron Furness in 1912, and in 1918 was created Viscount Furness, of Grantley in the West Riding of the County of Yorkshire.[4] In November 1929, he was reported as being Laird of the Glen Affric Estate in the Scottish Highlands.[5][6][7] After his father's death, when in London he lived at 21 Grosvenor Square until 1933 when he moved his London residence to Lees Place, also in Mayfair.[8]

Marriages and relationships

Lord Furness was married three times.[4] His first marriage was to Ada "Daisy" Hogg, daughter of an English businessman, G. J. H. Hogg of Seaton Carew. She was heavily involved in the Red Cross during World War I. She died on 28 February 1921, aboard the Furness yacht Sapphire off the coast of Portugal, while recovering from an operation and was buried at sea.[9] She and Lord Furness had two children:

  • Hon. Averill Furness (22 July 1908 – 1936); she married, in 1932, Andrew Rattray, 1882–1933
  • Hon. Christopher Furness, VC (1912–1940)

Lord Furness married secondly, in 1926, Thelma Morgan Converse, the former Mrs James Vail Converse and a daughter of Harry Hays Morgan Sr., an American diplomat. They divorced in 1933 as a result of Lady Furness's affairs with Aly Khan and Edward, Prince of Wales (later Edward VIII). They had one son:[10]

Furness's third and final marriage was to Enid Cavendish (née Lindeman), the Australia-born widow of Brig. Gen. Frederick Cavendish; she was also the widow of Roderick Cameron. She and Lord Furness were married in 1933. By this marriage he had three stepchildren:

  • Roderick "Rory" William Cameron (1914–1985)
  • Patricia Enid Cavendish (1925–2019)[12]
  • Frederick Caryll Philip Cavendish, 7th Baron Waterpark (1926–2013)

In June 1921, Lord Furness was engaged to Julie Thompson (née Julie Francis Eleanor Phillips, died 15 April 1967), an American socialite and former wife of stockbroker George Lee Thompson. She had previously turned down offers of marriage by other nobles including Grand Duke Nicholas of Russia and his cousin Grand Duke Alexander Michaelovitch.[5] The engagement was broken off.

Death

Lord Furness died on 6 October 1940, aged 56, 5 months after his son Christopher was killed in the Battle of Arras. He was succeeded by his younger and only surviving son, Tony, as second viscount.

References

  1. ^ Obituary in The Times, Lord Furness - Shipbuilder And Owner Of Steelworks, October 9, 1940, p.7
  2. ^ Spence, Lyndsy (11 February 2019). The Grit in the Pearl: The Scandalous Life of Margaret, Duchess of Argyll. History Press. ISBN 9780750991063 – via Google Books.
  3. ^ Campbell, Lady Colin (24 April 2012). The Queen Mother: The Untold Story of Elizabeth Bowes Lyon, Who Became Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother. St. Martin's Press. ISBN 9781250018960 – via Google Books.
  4. ^ a b c d Who's Who: Anyone who is, or was anyone...in their own words. Oxford University Press.
  5. ^ a b "Philadelphia Beauty Won By Peer As Brother Spurns Dukedom", Philadelphia Inquirer, 14 June 1921
  6. ^ "POSSIBILITIES OF THE SCHEME". 28 November 1929 - The Scotsman Midlothian, Scotland. Retrieved 18 November 2018. The first group consisted of landowners (lairds) - Lord Furness, in connection with Affric Forest and Glen Affric Lodge; Captain G . B . Portman, and Mr Wm . Wills .... The second consisted of Local Authorities.....
  7. ^ "Article". The Sphere London, England - 27 August 1932. Retrieved 4 August 2017. Far the best stalking is in the Western Highlands though Strathconon is a notable exception. Glen Affric, which Lord Furness has sub-let for the last two years, is another very fine deer forest.
  8. ^ "The Social Character of the Estate: The Last Hundred Years | British History Online". www.british-history.ac.uk.
  9. ^ Philadelphia Inquirer, Feb 1921, full page on why she was buried at sea
  10. ^ Goldsmith, Barbara, ed. (1982), Little Gloria...Happy at Last, Dell, ISBN 0-440-15120-1, retrieved 13 August 2010
  11. ^ Fawkes, Richard (12 May 1995). "Obituary:Viscount Furness". The Independent. London.
  12. ^ McGinness, Mark (19 July 2019). "Extraordinary life that floated from salon to jungle". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 5 July 2020.
Peerage of the United Kingdom
New creation Viscount Furness
1918–1940 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Baron Furness
1912–1940