Cynthia Cary Van Pelt Russell

Cynthia Cary Van Pelt Russell (1924–2019)[1] was an American socialite, who was part of American 'High Society' in New York and Newport, Rhode Island,[2] and is a first cousin once removed of Diana, Princess of Wales.

Cynthia Russell
Born
Cynthia Cary

(1924-10-16)October 16, 1924
DiedNovember 24, 2019(2019-11-24) (aged 95)
EducationChapin School
Spouse(s)
Charles B. P. Van Pelt
​
​
(m. after 1947, divorced)​

​
​
(died 2001)​
Children3
Parent(s)Guy Fairfax Cary
Cynthia Roche

Early life

She is the daughter of Guy Fairfax Cary (1879–1950) and Cynthia Roche (1884–1966), who married in 1922.[3][4] From her mother's first marriage to Arthur Scott Burden, she had an older half-sister, Eileen Burden. Her older brother was Guy Fairfax Cary Jr., who did not marry.[5]

Her maternal grandparents were James Roche, 3rd Baron Fermoy and Frances Ellen Work, and her mother's siblings were Maurice Roche, 4th Baron Fermoy (the maternal grandfather of Diana, Princess of Wales), and the Hon. Francis Burke Roche.[6] Her paternal grandparents were Elizabeth Miller Potter and Clarence Cary, who grew up at Vaucluse plantation with his sister, Constance Cary.[7] Elisabeth Miller Potter was a granddaughter of Alonzo Potter. Her great-grandparents, Archibald Cary and Monimia Fairfax were a Southern planter aristocrat family. Archibald Cary was the son of Wilson Jefferson Cary and Virginia Randolph.[8] Monimia Fairfax was the daughter of Thomas Fairfax, 9th Lord Fairfax of Cameron.[9]

Cynthia's parents resided at 61 East 91st Street in Manhattan and at "Oak Hill" in Jericho, New York.[10] She graduated from the Chapin School on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. During World War II, she served as a nurse's aide.[11]

Personal life

On August 23, 1947, she was married to Charles Bingham Penrose Van Pelt (1922–2003) at Trinity Protestant Episcopal Church in Newport, Rhode Island.[12][11] Charles was the son of Andrew Van Pelt and Sarah Hannah Boies Penrose.[10] A lawyer, he graduated from Groton, Harvard and the University of Pennsylvania Law School and served in the U.S. Army Military Intelligence in the Pacific during the War.[13] Before their divorce, they had two sons and daughter:[5]

  • Peter Turner Van Pelt (b. 1948),[14] a writer.[15]
  • Guy Fairfax Cary Van Pelt (b. 1957), who married Mary McGill duBose Adickes, the daughter of Mrs. Thomas Walter Blake and David Pryor Adickes, in 2000.[16]
  • Abby Ann Van Pelt, who married Jay R. Feldman, in 1982.[17]

She later married Edwin F. Russell (1914–2001), an American newspaper publisher.[18] He had previously been married to Lady Sarah Spencer-Churchill,[19] daughter of John Spencer-Churchill, 10th Duke of Marlborough from 1943 until their divorce in 1966. Winston Spencer Churchill, a grandson of the prime minister, served as a page at the wedding.[18][20] He married Iris Paine (daughter of Ambassador Earl E. T. Smith) after Lady Sarah and before Cynthia.[21]

She died in Mystic, Connecticut, on November 24, 2019.[1]

Residence

Russell's home in Newport, "Elm Court"[22] was featured in a Style article of The New York Times about the updating of classic homes in that rarified community.[23] She was an active member of the Preservation Society of Newport County.[24]

References
  1. "Cynthia Russell". The New York Times. November 30, 2019 – via Legacy.com.
  2. Times, Special to The New York (30 August 1942). "Cynthia Cary, Debutante, Feted". The New York Times. Retrieved 14 June 2017.
  3. "Mrs. Burden To Wed Guy F. Cary Today. Widow of Arthur Scott Burden Will Marry New York Lawyer at Newport. Bride Is the Only Daughter of Mrs. Burke-Roche and a Sister of Baron Fermoy". The New York Times. July 24, 1922. Retrieved August 28, 2009.
  4. "Mrs. Burden Weds Guy Fairfax Cary. Seventy Relatives and Friends at Widow's Marriage to New York Lawyer at Roche Home. Amid 11,000 Columbia Roses. Bridal Pair Leave by Motor for R. W. Goelet's Fishing Lodge in Canada to Spend Honeymoon". The New York Times. July 25, 1922. Retrieved August 28, 2009.
  5. "Paid Notice: Deaths — CARY, GUY FAIRFAX". The New York Times. November 19, 2004.
  6. "Mrs. Burden now a Citizen. The Former Cynthia Roche Takes Out Her Naturalization Papers". The New York Times. July 19, 1908. Retrieved September 12, 2009.
  7. "Mrs. Constance Cary Harrison," in Raymond, Ida; Mary Tardy (1870). Southland Writers: Biographical and Critical Sketches of the Living Female Writers of the South. With Extracts from Their Writings, Vol. 2. Claxton, Remsen & Haffelfinger. p. 775.
  8. Pecquet du Bellet, Louise; Edward Jaquelin; Martha Cary Jaquelin (1907). Some Prominent Virginia Families, Vol. 2. Bell. p. 81.
  9. McMurdo Whitemore, Madeline. "The Monticello Graveyard 1837–1883". The Monticello Association. Archived from the original on September 27, 2008. Retrieved 2009-03-16.
  10. "MISS CYNTHIA CARY BECOMES ENGAGED; Chapin School Alumna Fiancee of Charles B. P. Van Pelt, Ex-Captain of Artillery" (PDF). The New York Times. 30 June 1947. Retrieved 5 September 2019.
  11. Times, Special to The New York (24 August 1947). "CYNTHIA CARY WED TO C.B.P. VAN PELT; She Is Gowned in Ivory Satin at Her Marriage in Newport to Alumnus of Harvard" (PDF). The New York Times. Retrieved 14 June 2017.
  12. "PLANS OF CYNTHIA CARY; She Will Be Wed to Charles B. P. Van Pelt Aug. 23 in Newport" (PDF). The New York Times. 4 August 1947. Retrieved 5 September 2019.
  13. "Abby Ann Van Pelt Is Bride". The New York Times. 4 July 1982. Retrieved 14 June 2017.
  14. "Son to Charles B. P. Van Pelts" (PDF). The New York Times. 25 June 1948. Retrieved 5 September 2019.
  15. Death Penalty: Peter T. Van Pelt: 9781413440485: Amazon.com: Books. ISBN 1413440487.
  16. "WEDDINGS; Mary Adickes, Guy Van Pelt". The New York Times. 26 March 2000. Retrieved 19 March 2017.
  17. "Abby Ann Van Pelt Is Bride". The New York Times. 4 July 1982. Retrieved 19 March 2017.
  18. Meier, Barry (25 December 2001). "Edwin F. Russell, 87, Newspaper Publisher". The New York Times. Retrieved 14 June 2017.
  19. "Lady Sarah Spencer-Churchill". The Telegraph. 19 October 2000. Retrieved 14 June 2017.
  20. Pace, Eric (19 October 2000). "Lady Sarah Consuelo Spencer-Churchill, 78, Dies". The New York Times. Retrieved 14 June 2017.
  21. "Edwin F. Russell And Mrs. Paine Marry in Capital; Publisher in Harrisburg Weds Daughter of Former Envoy". The New York Times. 1 November 1966. Retrieved 14 June 2017.
  22. Times, Special To The New York (2 September 1902). "BALL AT "ELM COURT."; Miss Cynthia Roche Has a Brilliant Introduction to Newport Society". The New York Times. Retrieved 14 June 2017.
  23. Green, Penelope (2 August 2007). "Updating Newport, Ever So Gently". The New York Times. Retrieved 14 June 2017.
  24. "WEDDINGS; Mary Adickes, Guy Van Pelt". The New York Times. 26 March 2000. Retrieved 14 June 2017.
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