Pauline Payne Whitney

Pauline Payne Whitney
Born	(1874-03-21)March 21, 1874 New York City, U.S.
Died	November 22, 1916(1916-11-22) (aged 42) Esher, Surrey, U.K.
Spouse	Almeric Hugh Paget ​ (m. 1895)​
Children	Olive Cecilia Paget Dorothy Wyndham Paget
Parent(s)	William Collins Whitney Flora Payne Whitney
Relatives	See Whitney family

Pauline Payne Whitney Paget (March 21, 1874 – November 22, 1916), was an American heiress and a member of the prominent Whitney family.

Early life

She was born in New York City, New York, to William Collins Whitney and Flora (née Payne) Whitney. Her father was corporation counsel for New York City from 1875 to 1882, United States Secretary of the Navy from 1885 to 1889 (under President Grover Cleveland), and a force in street-railway affairs until his retirement in 1902. Pauline Whitney had her social debut in 1892.

She received a large fortune from her uncle, Colonel Oliver Hazard Payne (1839-1917), one of the founders and original directors of the Standard Oil Company. Shortly before her death she divided $4,000,000 between her two daughters.^[1]

Personal life

On November 12, 1895, she was married to the British-born Almeric Hugh Paget (1861-1949).^[2][3] He was educated at Harrow,^[4] and was the sixth and youngest son of Cecilia (née Wyndham) Paget and Lord Alfred Paget, and a grandson of Henry Paget, 1st Marquess of Anglesey, who commanded the British cavalry at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815.^[5] The marriage was solemnized at St. Thomas's Church, New York City, and among those attending it was President Grover Cleveland.

With Paget she had two daughters, but the marriage was not entirely happy.^[6]

• Olive Cecilia (1899-1974), who married three times and was the owner of Leeds Castle.
• Dorothy Wyndham (1905-1960), who never married.

Move to England

In 1893, her husband joined Henry Melville Whitney in establishing the Dominion Coal Company Ltd. and, in 1901, the Dominion Iron and Steel Company, Ltd. at Sydney, Nova Scotia. That same year, the Pagets moved to England, ostensibly because of Pauline's ill health. Paget was later elected to the Parliament of the United Kingdom as the Unionist party candidate for Cambridge, serving from 1910 to 1917.

During the First World War, at the Summerdown convalescent camp in Eastbourne and at other facilities in England, she organized the Almeric Paget Massage Corps to provide physiotherapy to injured soldiers by trained masseuses. During this time, she became known as the "Angel of Summerdown". The corps started in late 1914 and continued to operate after her death.^[7][8]

Death and burial

Pauline Paget died after a three weeks' illness at Esher, Surrey, on November 22, 1916, at the age of forty-two.^[9] She was buried at Hertingfordbury, Hertfordshire. Following her death, her husband resigned from the House of Commons and was elevated to the peerage as Baron Queenborough. Lord Queensborough later remarried to another American heiress, Edith Starr Miller, with whom he had three additional daughters before their divorce.^[10]

References

1. "Lord Queenborough Weds Miss Miller. British Peer Quietly Marries Daughter of Mr. and Mrs. William Starr Miller", The New York Times, July 20, 1921.
2. "Miss Whitney's Engagement. The Daughter of the ex-Secretary of the Navy to Marry Almeric H. Paget, Son of Lord Alfred Paget", The New York Times, July 25, 1895.
3. "PAGET-WHITNEY WEDDING; St. Thomas's Church Beautifully Decorated for the Occasion. PRESIDENT CLEVELAND A GUEST Ex-Secretary W.C. Whitney Gives His Daughter Pauline to Almeric Hugh Paget. THE MUSICAL PROGRAMME ELABORATE Admiring Crowds Warmly Greet the Bride -- Reception and Wedding Breakfast -- Handsome Gifts". The New York Times. 13 November 1895. Retrieved 2 April 2020.
4. Who was Who. OUP. 2007.
5. Mosley, Charles, ed. (1999). Burke's Peerage and Baronetage. Vol. 1 (100 ed.). Crans, Switzerland: Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd. p. 77.
6. In fact, Paget's second wife, Edith Starr Miller, sued in New York City for legal separation on January 8, 1932, citing cruelty. "Separation Asked by Lady Paget Here", The New York Times, January 8, 1932; Cleveland Amory, Who Killed Society?, p. 503. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1960.
7. Angel of Summerdown. Retrieved September 13, 2018
8. My Favorite Heiresses: the Perils of Pauline Payne Whitney.Retrieved September 13, 2018
9. "Mrs. Almeric H. Paget Dies. Former Miss Pauline Whitney of New York Expires at Esher, Eng.", The New York Times, November 23, 1916.
10. "Lady Queenborough Dies in Paris at 45. Former Edith Starr Miller of New York Was Wed to British Baron in 1921". United Press in The New York Times. January 17, 1933. Retrieved 2010-07-26. Queenborough, the former Edith Starr Miller of New York, died here today in a hospital after an operation. Lady Queenborough, who was 45 ...