Lady
Astor
1909
National
Trust, Cliveden
Oil on
canvas
149.9
x 99 cms
Signed
Jpg: Olga's
Gallery. local
Lady Astor - Nancy
Witcher Langhorne
Astor, Viscountess (1879-1964) .
She was born
Nancy Witcher
Langhorne, an American daughter of Chiswell Dabney Langhorne of
Danville,
Virginia. Her first husband was Robert Gould Shaw; they were divorced
in
1903 and then she moved to England. Three years later she married
Waldorf
Astor (1879-1952).
Her father-in-law,
William Waldorf
Astor, was the great grandson of John Jacob Astor. He became a
naturalized
British subject, bought Hever Castle -- pouring millions into restoring
it, got elected member of Parliament in 1910, raised to peerage in 1916
(House of Lords), and then was created Viscount Astor in 1917. His son
won his seat in the House of Commons.
In 1919 her
father-in-law died. Nancy's
husband succeeded his father as the second Viscount Astor of Hever
Castle
and he entered the House of Lords, vacating his seat in the lower House.
Nancy became a
candidate for her
husband's vacant seat and won -- the first woman to ever hold a
seat
in the House of Commons. She would hold that seat, as a Conservative
Member
of Parliament until retiring in 1945, serving the Sutton division in
Plymouth. One of
her political legacies is of a champion of women's and children's
rights. A less flattering look at her political views paints her
as an elitist who felt she and her social cast (the cultured elite)
could better benevolently lead the rest of us commoners than we could
lead ourselves.
She was known as a
fierce debater.
There is a famous exchange between Winston Churchill and Lady Astor
when
they were both staying at Blenheim Castle visiting the Marlboroughs.
The two politicians had been at each other's throat all weekend when
Lady
Astor said, "Winston, if I were your wife I'd put poison in your
coffee."
Whereupon Winston said, "Nancy, if I were your husband I'd drink it." (1)
Provenance
- Viscount Astor, by
whom bequeathed
to the National Trust in 1942
Exhibited
- London, Royal
Academy, 1909, no
24
- London, Royal
Academy, Winter
exhibition, Exhibition of works by the late John S Sargent RA, 1926, no
311
- Literature -
Charteris, The Hon.
Evan, John Singer Sargent, 1927, page 274
- Mount, Charles
Merrill, John Singer
Sargent, 1957, page 439
Notes:
Thanks to Wendy &
Gordon Hawksley
of Sheffield, England for Provenance and additional information
1) Famous
Quotes & Stories of Winston Churchill
The World Book
Encyclopedia, 1958
Bibliography notes -
The
Sins of the Father: Joseph P. Kennedy and the Dynasty He Founded,
1996, by Ronald Kessler, page 159-160, (Joe, referring to Joseph P.
Kennedy, Sr., former U.S. Ambassador to
England)
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