Elizabeth de la Poer Beresford, Baroness Decies
Lady Elizabeth de la Poer Beresford, Baroness Decies , née Elizabeth Wharton Drexel (born April 22, 1868 in Philadelphia , † June 13, 1944 in London ) was an American writer and high society lady in New York society in the Belle Époque .
Life
Elizabeth Drexel was the youngest daughter of the banker Joseph William Drexel (1833-1888) and his wife Lucy Wharton (1841-1912). Her childhood revolved around perfect behavior and social representation. She and her older sister Lucy (1867–1944) were tutored at home by governesses and tutors with the help of their father's library . In addition to geography , history , math , art , dance, and music , Elizabeth also learned French and Italian .
On June 29, 1889, Elizabeth Drexel married in New York John Dahlgren († 1898), a son of Rear Admiral John Adolphus Bernard Dahlgren and the writer Madeleine Vinton . The mutual connection resulted in a son, John Jr. (* 1892). Her sister Lucy married her brother-in-law, Eric Bernard Dahlgren, in 1890.
At the turn of the century Elizabeth Dahlgren moved with her son to New York and was immediately accepted into the circle of the " Four Hundred " by the then Grand Dame of New York Society, Mrs. Caroline Astor (1830–1908) . At this time she met the eccentric bon vivant Henry Symes Lehr (1869–1929), a son of the German consul in Baltimore . In June 1901, the 33-year-old widow was married again, but the couple led a "separate bed marriage" because Lehr preferred the company of men. In the early 1910s, Elizabeth Lehr traveled to Paris and became involved in the work of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). After the outbreak of the First World War , she worked as a nurse in various hospitals . After the war she returned to New York. In the early 1920s, doctors diagnosed her husband with a brain tumor, which he did not have surgery until 1927. She eventually nursed him until his death.
In the early 1930s, Elizabeth Lehr traveled to England to see her friend Lady Spencer-Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough . Together they were involved in several charitable organizations, including schools and the health sector. In addition to her social responsibilities, Elizabeth was a member of the circle of friends of King George V and his wife Princess Maria von Teck . In May 1936 she married the Irish aristocrat John Graham Hope de la Poer Beresford, 5th Baron Decies (1866-1944) in London . The marriage, which all reports said was a happy one, remained childless. In her second book Turn of the World (1937) Lady Elizabeth processed her impressions at the magnificent coronation of King George VI. and his wife, Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, at Westminster Abbey .
literature
- Elizabeth Drexel Lehr: King Lehr and the Gilded Age: With Extracts from the Locked Diary of Harry Lehr . Kessinger Publishing, 1935, new edition 2007, ISBN 1-432-51643-4
- Elizabeth Drexel Lehr: Turn of the World . 1937
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Beresford, Elizabeth de la Poer, Baroness Decies |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Drexel, Elizabeth (maiden name); Dahlgren, Elizabeth (name from 1889 to 1901); Lehr, Elizabeth (name from 1901 to 1936) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American writer and high society lady |
| DATE OF BIRTH | April 22, 1868 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Philadelphia |
| DATE OF DEATH | June 13, 1944 |
| Place of death | London |