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Ethel Beatty

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Ethel Beatty, 1915

Ethel Newcomb Beatty, Countess Beatty (née Field) (1873 - July 17, 1932) was a socialite and a member of the aristocracy. The daughter of American millionaire Marshall Field, she enjoyed a lavish lifestyle.

Early life

Ethel was born in Cook County, Illinois in 1873. Her parents were Marshall Field (1834–1906), the founder of the American firm Marshall Field's, and his first wife, Nannie Douglas Scott (1840–1896). She had one full brother, Marshall Field Jr.[1]

Personal life

On January 1, 1891, Ethel married Arthur Magie Tree in an opulent ceremony held at the home of her parents, 1905 Prairie Avenue in Chicago.[2] Arthur was the son of American diplomat Lambert Tree and the former Anna Josephine Magie. Together, they were the parents of three children, only one of whom survived to adulthood:

While married to Tree, she had an affair with British captain David Beatty. Ethel wrote to her husband, telling him that it was her firm intention never to live with him again as his wife, though not naming any particular person or reason. Arthur agreed to co-operate, and filed for divorce in America on the grounds of desertion, which was granted 9 May 1901.

Second marriage

Dingley Hall

Ten days after her divorce from Tree was made public, she was married to Captain Beatty on 22 May 1901 at the registry office, St. George's, Hanover Square in London with no family attending.[4][5] The couple had two children:[4]

According to Robert K. Massie, Ethel Beatty was a poor mother, abandoning her son Ronald from her first marriage; she also left the children of her second marriage with her husband while she went on a gambling trip to Monte Carlo in 1912.[7] Peter had birth complications that affected his eyesight and muscle control for the rest of his life, thought to originate from a venereal disease carried by Ethel[7] It was "generally accepted" in later years that Peter was illegitimate, the father being a "well-known member of the British aristocracy", according to a Beatty family member.[7] In her obituary, it was noted that "her beauty and personality made her one of England's foremost hostesses. She and her husband often entertained King Edward VII at shooting parties in Scotland."[8]

While David Beatty benefited by Ethel's wealth, it was not a happy marriage, "I am the most unhappy man in the world", David once said, "I have paid terribly for my millions".[7] The result of which was his decade-long love affair with Eugénie Godfrey-Faussett, wife of Captain Bryan Godfrey-Faussett.[9] In 1919, David was raised to the peerage when he became the first Earl Beatty, making Ethel Countess Beatty.[6]

After a one month illness, Lady Beatty died in her sleep on 17 July 1932 at Dingley Hall in Dingley, Northamptonshire.[8][10] Lord Beatty died in London on 12 March 1936,[11] and was succeeded in his titles by his eldest son, David.[6]

Descendants

Lady Beatty and her two younger sons, David and Peter.

Through her eldest son's two marriages (first to Nancy Perkins Field, a niece of Lady Nancy Astor, and second to Marietta Peabody), she was a grandmother of three, Michael Lambert, racehorse trainer Arthur Jeremy Tree, and fashion model Penelope Tree.[12]

Through her second son David, who inherited the earldom, she was a grandmother of four,[6] David Beatty, 3rd Earl Beatty, Lady Diana Beatty (wife of Nicolas Gage, 8th Viscount Gage), Hon. Nicholas Duncan Beatty (who married writer Laura Keen, a granddaughter of Edward Curzon, 6th Earl Howe and sister of actor Will Keen and poet Alice Oswald), and Lady Miranda Katherine Beatty (wife of Alan Stewart, youngest son of Sir Dugald Stewart of Appin).[6]

References

  1. ^ "Loneliest man in Chicago", Cincinnati Enquirer, p. 1, 7 April 1901 – via Newspapers.com
  2. ^ "Marriage of Miss Field", Chicago Tribune, p. 3, 2 January 1891 – via Newspapers.com
  3. ^ Beatty, Charles (1980). Our Admiral, a biography of Admiral of the Fleet Earl Beatty. London: W. H. Allen. pp. 38–44. ISBN 978-0-491-02388-7.
  4. ^ a b Ranft, Bryan (2004). "Beatty, David, first Earl Beatty (1871–1936)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/30661. Retrieved 19 March 2015. (subscription or UK public library membership required)
  5. ^ Massie, Robert Kinloch (2003), Castles of Steel: Britain, Germany, and the Winning of the Great War at Sea, Ballantine Books, ISBN 0-345-40878-0
  6. ^ a b c d e f "Beatty, Earl (UK, 1919)". www.cracroftspeerage.co.uk. Heraldic Media Limited. Retrieved 26 May 2020.
  7. ^ a b c d Massie (2003), Ch. 5 "Beatty"
  8. ^ a b Truss, Wireless to THE Nsw YORK (18 July 1932). "LADY BEATTY DIES; WIFE OF ADMIRAL; Daughter of Late Marshall Field of Chicago--Succumbs in Sleep at English Home. A YACHTING ENTHUSIAST Active During World War in Providing Comforts for Men of Fleet --Interested in Philanthropy". The New York Times. Retrieved 26 May 2020.
  9. ^ "The Shane Leslie-Godfrey Faussett Archive". Retrieved 11 November 2012.
  10. ^ "Countess Beatty Dead", Gloucester Citizen, vol. 57, p. 11, 18 July 1932 – via British Newspaper Archive
  11. ^ TIMES, Special Cable to THE NEW YORK (11 March 1936). "EARL BEATTY DIES; HERO OF JUTLAND; Led British Ships That Bore Brunt of Battle in One Big Naval Fight of War. TOOK GERMAN SURRENDER Won Many Honors and Love of Men in Long Career -- Wed Ethel Field of Chicago. 1EARL BEATTY DIES; HERO OF JUTLAND". The New York Times. Retrieved 26 May 2020.
  12. ^ Seebohm, Caroline (October 21, 1997). "No Regrets: The Life of Marietta Tree". Washington Monthly. Simon & Schuster. Archived from the original (Book Review) on February 28, 2008.
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