Helen Beresford, Baroness Decies

Helen Vivien Beresford, Baroness Decies, formerly Helen Vivien Gould (May 2, 1893 – February 3, 1931) was an American socialite and philanthropist. She was one of the two Jay Gould descendants to marry into European aristocracy.[1]

Helen Vivien Beresford, Baroness Decies
Lady Decies in 1919
Born	Vivian Gould May 2, 1893
Died	February 3, 1931 (aged 37) London
Spouse(s)	John Beresford, 5th Baron Decies ​ ​ (m. 1911; her death 1931)​
Parent(s)	George Jay Gould Edith Kingdon
Relatives	Jay Gould (grandfather) Kingdon Gould Sr. (brother) Jay Gould II (brother) Gloria Gould (sister)

Early life

Helen Vivien Gould was born on May 2, 1893 in the United States. She was the fourth of seven children born to George Jay Gould (1864–1923), a railroad executive; and Edith Kingdon (1864–1921), an actress.[2] Among her siblings were Kingdon Gould I, Jay Gould II, and Gloria Gould.[3]

Her paternal grandparents were Jay Gould, a leading American railroad developer and speculator known as one of the ruthless robber barons of the Gilded Age, and Helen Day (née Miller) Gould.[2]

Personal life

On February 7, 1911, Helen married John Graham Hope de la Poer Horsley Beresford (1866–1944), the 5th Baron Decies.[2] John was the son of William Robert John Beresford, 3rd Baron Decies and Catherine Anne Dent.[4] Together they had the following children:

• Eileen Vivien de la Poer Beresford (1912-?) who married Robert Alfred O'Brien
• Catherine Moya de la Poer Beresford (1913–1967) who married Patrick Herbert Bellew in 1936. They divorced and she married Max Wilhelm Johannsen in 1946.
• Arthur George Marcus Douglas de la Poer Beresford (1915-1992) the 6th Baron Decies

She died in February 1931 of jaundice and a heart attack in London.[1][5] After her death Lord Decies married Elizabeth Wharton Drexel, the daughter of Joseph William Drexel, on May 25, 1936. He died on 31 January 1944 at age 77.[6][3]

References

1. "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". New York Times. February 3, 1931. Retrieved 2007-11-26. Lady Decies, the former Helen Vivien Gould, daughter of the late George Jay Gould of New York, died in London this morning. She had been critically ill here for several days.
2. "Mr. and Mrs. G.J. Gould May Formally Announce Daughter's Engagement on Jan. 19". New York Times. December 15, 1910. Retrieved 2009-02-02. The engagement of the season, one interesting abroad as well as in New York, Is that of Miss Vivien Gould, second daughter of Mr. and Mrs. George J. Gould, and Lord Decies. While the engagement has not as yet been formally announced by the Gould family, Lord Decies, on the eve of his sailing for England, has admitted to his friends that it is true.
3. MacColl, Gail; Wallace, Carol McD (2012). To Marry an English Lord: Tales of Wealth and Marriage, Sex and Snobbery. Workman Publishing. p. 334. ISBN 9780761171980. Retrieved 21 November 2017.
4. Montgomery, Maureen E. (2013). 'Gilded Prostitution': Status, Money and Transatlantic Marriages, 1870-1914. Routledge. p. 339. ISBN 9781136214950. Retrieved 21 November 2017.
5. "Died". Time magazine. February 16, 1931. Retrieved 2009-02-04. Lady Helen Vivien Decies, 39, daughter and heiress of the late George Jay Gould, wife of John Graham Hope de la Poer Beresford, 5th Baron Decies, Boer War veteran; of jaundice and heart attack; in London.
6. "Lord Decies dies in England at 77. Soldier, Sportsman, Friend of Taxpayer. Married Gould Heiress Here in 1911". New York Times. February 2, 1944. Retrieved 2007-07-21. Married Gould Heiress Here in 1911.

External links

• Helen Beresford, Baroness Decies at Find a Grave