Edith Kingdon

Edith Mary Kingdon Gould (August 24, 1864 – November 13, 1921) was an American actress. She married George Jay Gould.[1][2]

Edith Mary Kingdon Gould
Edith Kingdon Gould in 1903
Born	Edith Mary Kingdon August 23, 1864 Brooklyn, New York
Died	November 13, 1921 (aged 57) Georgian Court Lakewood Township, New Jersey
Spouse(s)	George Jay Gould ​ ​ (m. 1885)​
Children	7, including Helen Vivien, Kingdon, Jay II and Gloria Gould

Early life

She was born in 1864 in Brooklyn, New York and educated in England. She was the daughter of Charles Dennis Kingdon and Mary Carter of Toronto, Ontario.

Career

She worked as a stage actress until her marriage to George Jay Gould I.[3] In 1908, she returned to acting, appearing in a one-act play opposite Frederick Townsend Martin.[4] The play, Mrs. Van Vechten's Divorce Dance, was performed in the ballroom of the Plaza Hotel.[3][5] Her performance was attended by Commodore Elbridge Thomas Gerry and his wife, Louisa Livingston Gerry, Mrs. Vanderbilt, Gladys Vanderbilt, Count Széchenyi, Ellen French Vanderbilt (wife of Alfred G. Vanderbilt), Mrs. Emily Vanderbilt Sloane, Marion Anthon Fish (wife of Stuyvesant Fish), Ruth Livingston Mills (wife of Ogden Mills), Anne Harriman Vanderbilt (wife of William Kissam Vanderbilt), and many others prominent in New York society.[3]

Daughter Marjorie Gould and her mother Edith Kingdon Gould in 1903, photo by Theodore C. Marceau

Edith and George hired Bruce Price, to build their home, which they called Georgian Court.[6] The site is now Georgian Court University.[7]

Personal life

She married George Jay Gould I (1864–1923), a financier and railroad executive who led both the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad and the Western Pacific Railroad. Gould was the son of Jay Gould, who is considered one of the ruthless robber barons of the Gilded Age.[8] Together, George and Edith had the following children:[9]

• Kingdon Gould, Sr. (1887–1945), who married Annunziata Camilla Maria Lucci (1890–1961).[10]
• Jay Gould II (1888–1935), a tennis player who married Anne Douglass Graham, a descendant of Hawaiian royalty.[11][12]
• Marjorie Gwynne Gould (1891–1955), who married Anthony Joseph Drexel III (1887–1946), the son of Anthony Joseph Drexel, Jr. and grandson of Anthony Joseph Drexel.[13]
• Helen Vivien Gould (1893–1931) who married John Beresford, 5th Baron Decies (1866–1945).[14]
• George Jay Gould II (b. 1896) who married, and later divorced,[15] Laura Carter.[16]
• Edith Catherine Gould (1901–1937) who married Carroll Livingston Wainwright I (1899–1967).[17] They divorced and she married Sir Hector Murray MacNeal.[18]
• Gloria Gould (1906–1943) who married Henry A. Bishop II,[19] and after a divorce married Walter McFarlane Barker.[20][21]

She died on November 13, 1921 at the golf course of their home at Georgian Court in Lakewood Township, New Jersey.[1][22] After a private funeral at the Gould home, she was buried at Woodlawn Cemetery, Bronx, in the Jay Gould Mausoleum.[23]

Descendants

Through her daughter Edith, she was the grandmother of Stuyvesant Wainwright (1921–2010), a Member of the U.S. House of Representatives.[24]

Through her daughter Helen, she was the grandmother of Arthur Beresford, 6th Baron Decies (1915–1992).

References

1. "Mrs. George J. Gould Dies Playing Golf". The New York Times. November 14, 1921. Retrieved 2014-12-31.
2. Edith Kingdon: North American Theatre Online
3. "MRS. GOULD TURNS ACTRESS FOR A DAY; Large and Fashionable Audience Greets Her in "Mrs. Van Vechten's Divorce Dance." PLAZA TEA ROOM THRONGED Guests Came Early to Obtain Seats -- Star's Acting Shows She Has Lost None of Her Skill". The New York Times. January 22, 1908. Retrieved 25 September 2017.
4. "MRS. GOULD TO RE-APPEAR IN A ONE-ACT PLAY; To be Seen Next Week in Semi-Private Theatricals at the Plaza After an Absence of Twenty Years from the Stage. Nordica Upsets Programme. How It All Happened". The New York Times. 1908. Retrieved 25 September 2017.
5. Gathje, Curtis (2014). At the Plaza: An Illustrated History of the World's Most Famous Hotel. St. Martin's Press. p. 40. ISBN 9781466867000. Retrieved 25 September 2017.
6. "GEORGIAN COURT". The New York Times. 23 July 1899. Retrieved 25 September 2017.
7. "Georgian Court College Opens". The New York Times. 27 September 1934. Retrieved 25 September 2017.
8. Maury Klein (1997). The Life and Legend of Jay Gould. p. 393. ISBN 9780801857713. Retrieved September 25, 2017.
9. "The Goulds Are Going". Time. March 23, 1925. Retrieved 2007-08-21.
10. "Kingdon Gould, 58, Long A Financier. Grandson Of Founder Of Family Fortune Dies. Once On Rail Boards. Officer In 1918". The New York Times. November 8, 1945. Retrieved 2008-06-19.
11. "Jay Gould Is Dead. Court Tennis Star. Grandson of the Financier Had Held Championship for Quarter of Century". The New York Times. January 28, 1935. Retrieved 2007-07-21.
12. "The Colfax chronicle. (Colfax, Grant Parish, La.) 1877-1981, July 22, 1911, Image 7 « Chronicling America « Library of Congress". Retrieved 9 May 2013.
13. "Marjorie Gould to Wed A.J. Drexel, Jr. Engagement of George Jay Gould's Eldest Daughters is Announced at a Dance". The New York Times. January 19, 1910. Retrieved 2012-08-10.
14. "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". The New York Times. February 3, 1931. Retrieved 2007-11-26.
15. "George J. Gould Jr. Wins Divorce at Nice; Wife, Former Dancer, Takes Children". The New York Times. 15 March 1923. Retrieved 25 September 2017.
16. "He Is George Jay Gould, Jr". The New York Times. May 15, 1896. Retrieved 2008-08-22.
17. "Carroll Wainwright, Artist and Member Of L.I. Family, Dies". The New York Times. 7 July 1967. Retrieved 25 April 2017.
18. "Lady MacNeal Dies. Was Edith Gould. Granddaughter of Financier, 36, Succumbs at Estate in East Hampton. Wife of British Knight. Wrote Autobiography Telling of Family Life ..." The New York Times. September 12, 1937. Retrieved 2008-08-22.
19. "GLORIA GOULD WEDS HENRY A. BISHOP JR; Daughter of Late Mr. and Mrs. George J. Could a Bride in St. Bartholomew's". The New York Times. 19 September 1923. Retrieved 25 September 2017.
20. "MISS MAE C. FLYNN HONORED AT DINNER; Mrs. W. McFarlane Barker Is Hostess for Bride-Elect". The New York Times. 24 May 1938. Retrieved 25 September 2017.
21. "Gloria Gould Barker Is Drowned In Swim Pool at Arizona Home. Mrs. W.M. Barker Drowns In A Pool. Victim Of Accident". Associated Press in The New York Times. August 16, 1943. Retrieved 2008-06-07.
22. "Mrs. George J. Gould Dies On Golf Links. Before Marriage Was Edith Kingdon, Noted And Beautiful Actress". Atlanta Constitution. November 14, 1921. Retrieved 2010-04-02.
23. "GOULD FUNERAL PRIVATE.; Services for Capitalist's Wife at Fifth Av. Home Tomorrow at 2 P.M." The New York Times. 15 November 1921. Retrieved 25 September 2017.
24. "WAINWRIGHT, STUYVESANT II". The New York Times. 14 March 2010. Retrieved 25 April 2017.

External links

• Edith Kingdon at IMDb
• Edith Kingdon at Find a Grave