Robert Early Strawbridge Jr. (November 17, 1896 – March 6, 1986) was an American polo champion and chairman of the United States Polo Association.[1]
Early life
He was born on November 17, 1896, to Anita (née Berwind) Strawbridge (1875–1942),[2] and Robert E. Strawbridge, former president of the Strawbridge & Clothier department store in Philadelphia.[3] His sister was Anita Strawbridge (wife of Lt. Cmdr. Hon. Theodore P. Grosvenor).[4][5]
His paternal grandfather was Justus Clayton Strawbridge, who founded Strawbridge & Clothier in 1868.[6] His maternal grandfather was Charles Frederick Berwind, founder of the Berwind-White Coal Mining Company. His aunt, Frederica, was the wife of banker Henry Herman Harjes, J.P. Morgan's partner in France.[7] His two other maternal aunts were Gertrude, Baroness Boecklin,[8] and Edith, Baroness Von Kleist.[9] From his great aunt Julia Berwind, he received a legacy of $170,000.
Strawbridge was a lifelong sportsman. In 1913, his father had been made M.F.H. of the famous Cottesmore Hunt, becoming the first American to become master of an English pack of foxhounds. In the 1920s and 1930s, Strawbridge Jr. was one of the nation's leading polo players earning a 9-goal handicap. In 1924, he was a member of the Meadow Brook team that "wrested the historical International Challenge Cup from the English team in International Field, L.I., when the Prince of Wales was among the spectators."[11] He was elected chairman of the United States Polo Association in 1936 and retained the post for two decades until 1950 when he was succeeded by Devereux Milburn. He was inducted into the Museum of Polo and Hall of Fame in 1996.
Robert Early Strawbridge III, who married Alexandra White, daughter of Ogden White and granddaughter of Alexander Moss White (founder of White Weld & Co.), in 1964.[14]
Florence T. Strawbridge, who married Michael McDonough, son of Charles J. McDonough of Buffalo, New York, in June 1965.[15][16]
Strawbridge died at his farm in Chatham, Pennsylvania, on March 6, 1986, after suffering a series of strokes.[1] He was buried in Church of the Redeemer Cemetery in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania.
References
^ ab"Robert Strawbridge Jr. Dies. Former Polo Star and Official". New York Times. 8 March 1986. Retrieved 29 March 2011. Robert E. Strawbridge Jr., one of the nation's leading polo players in the 1920s and 1930s and a longtime official of the sport, died Thursday at his farm in Chatham, Pa. ... He was elected chairman of the United States Polo Association in 1936 and retained the post for two decades.
^"Robert Early Strawbridge Jr". Archived from the original on 5 March 2021. Retrieved 22 November 2012. Robert Early Strawbridge Jr. was the grandson of Justus C. Strawbridge, a founder of the Strawbridge & Clothier department store chain of Philadelphia. His mother was Anita Berwind, the daughter of Charles Berwind, whose brother, Edward J. Berwind, was a director of the Guaranty Trust