Jean d'Espinay (nee Ferris, late Harris) gave birth to a daughter, Chantal, in October 1939. Mimi and John now had a half-sister. John was living with his Father, Irving Harris, in the USA.
Amongst Nancie's correspondence I came across a letter written in 1945 by Marie d'Espinay, Charles' Mother. Charles himself adds a little note to Nancie at the bottom of the page. They are still living at the Chateau de Doumy, near Pau. Chantal, then aged about six, adds her 'Bons Baisers' to Nancie.
Irving had flown to the USA with Mimi just after the death of her Mother, in October 1941. Jean died on September 19th and Mimi went back with Irving on 21st October. I presume she stayed there as she is not mentioned in the letter from Marie in 1945. Ten years later Mimi returns to France as a student, for a year.
Because Jean's divorce from Irving Harris was granted in France the US authorities refused to recognise it and they claimed that her subsequent marriage to Charles d'Espinay was therefore illegal. Irving Harris fought for Jean's money to be divided between John and Mimi only. In her will Jean had left an annual allowance to Charles, various bequests to family and friends and the rest to be divided between her three children.
The ensuing court cases made some lawyers very rich and the complexity of the financial and legal situation were hard to untangle. Jean's money was mainly in New York but she also had some in England and property such as the Chateau de Doumy, in France.
I'm not sure if Nancie followed all the repercussions after Jean's early death. The was was in full swing by then and she had other things on her mind, namely the birth of her own baby, David Ian Huntingford, who was born on 11th May 1942 in Maryport, Cumberland.
The French Authorities pursued Charles d'Espinay for assuming a false title to which he was not entitled. Somehow he managed to convince the French courts that it was genuine but not until 1943, when Jean had been dead for two years.
Sunday, 20 May 2018
Friday, 18 May 2018
Jean Harris marries Charles d'Espinay in 1938
Nancie was looking after little Mimi when her Mother, Jean Harris, nee Ferris married Charles Louis d'Espinay-Durtal on 20th April 1938 At Champeaux. The happy couple honeymooned at Rennes whilst Nancie and the other members of the household celebrated with champagne at home. On her marriage Jean became the Marquise d'Espinay-Durtal, Princesse de Broons.
According to Cheryl Beck who has researched his background, Charles was the son of a Paris shoemaker, one Charles Vrigoneaux and his wife, Marie Rochard. In 1937 he had his birth record altered and again, in 1938, after he had married Jean. It would seem that she had no idea about his true origins and we will never know for sure if she suspected anything. Sadly she died on 19th September 1941, after an operation in Pau, at the early age of thirty-one.
There are some very strange entries in Nancie's diary around the time of the wedding. Just before she married Charles, Jean apparently tried to kill herself. Whether she had doubts about marrying him or whether someone was trying to prevent the marriage, no one knows. She may even have been trying to escape other influences by marrying Charles.
She seems to have had a very unstable personality, looking at her on-off relationship with her first husband, Irving Drought Harris. Being parted from her firstborn, her son John, can't have helped.
Nancie rarely refers to Charles so we can only surmise about their relationship.
The newlyweds went off to the Mediterranean on their honeymoon, however, and all seemed well. There was a lot of commotion about buying a yacht but Nancie doesn't give details. Reading between the lines Jean seemed to be a lady who liked her own way, whether it be in the choice of a yacht or a husband and woe betide anyone who crossed her! All that money did not bring her a lot of happiness and it certainly made Nancie appreciate that fact.
According to Cheryl Beck who has researched his background, Charles was the son of a Paris shoemaker, one Charles Vrigoneaux and his wife, Marie Rochard. In 1937 he had his birth record altered and again, in 1938, after he had married Jean. It would seem that she had no idea about his true origins and we will never know for sure if she suspected anything. Sadly she died on 19th September 1941, after an operation in Pau, at the early age of thirty-one.
There are some very strange entries in Nancie's diary around the time of the wedding. Just before she married Charles, Jean apparently tried to kill herself. Whether she had doubts about marrying him or whether someone was trying to prevent the marriage, no one knows. She may even have been trying to escape other influences by marrying Charles.
She seems to have had a very unstable personality, looking at her on-off relationship with her first husband, Irving Drought Harris. Being parted from her firstborn, her son John, can't have helped.
Nancie rarely refers to Charles so we can only surmise about their relationship.
The newlyweds went off to the Mediterranean on their honeymoon, however, and all seemed well. There was a lot of commotion about buying a yacht but Nancie doesn't give details. Reading between the lines Jean seemed to be a lady who liked her own way, whether it be in the choice of a yacht or a husband and woe betide anyone who crossed her! All that money did not bring her a lot of happiness and it certainly made Nancie appreciate that fact.
Thursday, 17 May 2018
John Wakefield Ferris marries Emma Watson, nee Spreckels
John Wakefield Ferris is aged 56 when he marries Emma Claudine Watson nee Spreckels, widow of Tom Watson. The wedding took place in 1906, two years after Tom's death, in the Church of the Transfiguration, in New York, as reported in The Los Angeles Times.They had planned to have it at her Father Claus Spreckel's house in San Francisco but the house was wrecked in the terrible earthquake that occurred in 1906.The Reverend John Olyphant conducted the ceremony and then left town, causing some confusion and a denial by the Rector of the church that the marriage had actually taken place there, according to The Washington Post. Controversy seems to be the order of the day for this family!
Wednesday, 16 May 2018
The Ferris Family of Fairford in Gloucestershire emigrate to the USA
Nancie was working as Governess to four year old Mimi, daughter of wealthy heiress Jean Harris (nee Ferris) during the winter of 1937. She managed to see her old employer and lifelong friend Eleonore de Chabannes, Ebles de Chabannes and various other old friends. I think she met Brenda Johnston around this time who was to be another faithful friend. Brenda never married but had a longstanding relationship with a married man. Nancie was her confidante and they were still close in their eighties when Brenda lived in Elgin, Scotland with her sister, Jean.
In February of 1938 Jean took Mimi and Nancie to Fairford in Gloucestershire, where her Father's sister Henrietta lived. The house was called Mount Pleasant House. Henrietta had never married and was to die six years after this aged 89 in 1944. She had lived in the USA but eventually came back to the village she'd grown up in.
Her parents were John Naish Ferris and Henrietta nee Wakefield from nearby Cricklade. They married in1849. In the 1861 census John Naish Ferris is a Stage Coach Proprietor living at 99 High Street, Fairford, owning 28 acres of land and employing two men. He and his wife have three children : John Wakefield Ferris, 11, Colleen Ferris, 9 and Henrietta Ferris,7.
By 1871 they are living on a farm with 406 acres and employing eleven men and two boys. Far Hill Farm is today part of the Ernest Cook Trust (endowed 1952)and the present occupant of the farm, now 900 acres, was awarded the 2014 Cotswold Grey Partridge Trophy for conservation!
John Wakefield Ferris seems to have left Britain for the USA in about 1876. Certainly by 1880 the whole family appears in the US census for Novato, Marin, California. John is now 65 and a Farmer, his wife, Henrietta 61, 'keeps house' and daughter Henrietta is 25 and 'at home'. Daughter Mary 26 is 'visiting'.
In 1900 we find John Wakefield Ferris, aged 51, living in Novato with his two sisters, Mary C. (Colleen) and Henrietta. He is unmarried at this time.
In February of 1938 Jean took Mimi and Nancie to Fairford in Gloucestershire, where her Father's sister Henrietta lived. The house was called Mount Pleasant House. Henrietta had never married and was to die six years after this aged 89 in 1944. She had lived in the USA but eventually came back to the village she'd grown up in.
Her parents were John Naish Ferris and Henrietta nee Wakefield from nearby Cricklade. They married in1849. In the 1861 census John Naish Ferris is a Stage Coach Proprietor living at 99 High Street, Fairford, owning 28 acres of land and employing two men. He and his wife have three children : John Wakefield Ferris, 11, Colleen Ferris, 9 and Henrietta Ferris,7.
By 1871 they are living on a farm with 406 acres and employing eleven men and two boys. Far Hill Farm is today part of the Ernest Cook Trust (endowed 1952)and the present occupant of the farm, now 900 acres, was awarded the 2014 Cotswold Grey Partridge Trophy for conservation!
John Wakefield Ferris seems to have left Britain for the USA in about 1876. Certainly by 1880 the whole family appears in the US census for Novato, Marin, California. John is now 65 and a Farmer, his wife, Henrietta 61, 'keeps house' and daughter Henrietta is 25 and 'at home'. Daughter Mary 26 is 'visiting'.
In 1900 we find John Wakefield Ferris, aged 51, living in Novato with his two sisters, Mary C. (Colleen) and Henrietta. He is unmarried at this time.
The Strange Marriage of Jean Ferris and Irving Drought Harris
By 1935 the marriage between Jean Ferris and her husband Irving Drought Harris was finally over and they had separated. In May of that year Irving filed for divorce from Jean and a few months later she filed a counter claim.
Amazingly they had previously battled in the Supreme Court in January 1932 when, in an earlier separation, Jean had taken their baby son, John, to live with her at her Uncle Rudolph Spreckels' New York apartment. Irving Harris took out a writ of Habeas Corpus to force her to produce the child in court. Jean tried to prevent him seeing the boy whose full name was John Wakefield Harris.
After their marriage at The Church of the Heavenly Rest in New York, Jean and Irving had lived together in New York. In November 1931 Jean left him and went to live with her Uncle Rudolph at the Ritz Carlton. Irving tried to see his son on numerous occasions but eventually had been told to settle the case in court.
This 'spat' was clearly over by October 1932 when Jean and Irving bought the Chateau de Doumy near Pau, in the Basses Pyrenees, France. In September of the following year 1933, Elizabeth Marshall Harris 'Mimi' was born but by April 1935 the marriage had finally crumbled. 'Volatile' seems too mild a word to describe this relationship!
Nancie arrived to look after Mimi in October 1937. By this time her older brother John was living with his Father in the USA. Irving Harris had managed to get custody of John, and flown back to the states with the five year old boy.
I don't know if Mimi had any contact with her brother John after that or even if Jean saw her son. The volatile marriage had become a war!
Mimi was four when Nancie arrived in Paris to take up her post. She wasn't an easy child to cope with, which wasn't surprising, given her family circumstances. Nancie would take her to the manege for her riding lessons and sometimes to the Scots Kirk where the Reverend Donald Caskie was Minister. He took the young Scots woman under his wing and introduced her to lots of other Scots. Later he would become famous as The Tartan Pimpernel, helping British airmen escape from France.
Amazingly they had previously battled in the Supreme Court in January 1932 when, in an earlier separation, Jean had taken their baby son, John, to live with her at her Uncle Rudolph Spreckels' New York apartment. Irving Harris took out a writ of Habeas Corpus to force her to produce the child in court. Jean tried to prevent him seeing the boy whose full name was John Wakefield Harris.
After their marriage at The Church of the Heavenly Rest in New York, Jean and Irving had lived together in New York. In November 1931 Jean left him and went to live with her Uncle Rudolph at the Ritz Carlton. Irving tried to see his son on numerous occasions but eventually had been told to settle the case in court.
This 'spat' was clearly over by October 1932 when Jean and Irving bought the Chateau de Doumy near Pau, in the Basses Pyrenees, France. In September of the following year 1933, Elizabeth Marshall Harris 'Mimi' was born but by April 1935 the marriage had finally crumbled. 'Volatile' seems too mild a word to describe this relationship!
Nancie arrived to look after Mimi in October 1937. By this time her older brother John was living with his Father in the USA. Irving Harris had managed to get custody of John, and flown back to the states with the five year old boy.
I don't know if Mimi had any contact with her brother John after that or even if Jean saw her son. The volatile marriage had become a war!
Mimi was four when Nancie arrived in Paris to take up her post. She wasn't an easy child to cope with, which wasn't surprising, given her family circumstances. Nancie would take her to the manege for her riding lessons and sometimes to the Scots Kirk where the Reverend Donald Caskie was Minister. He took the young Scots woman under his wing and introduced her to lots of other Scots. Later he would become famous as The Tartan Pimpernel, helping British airmen escape from France.
Nancie used to write and receive letters every day
Nancie corresponded with many of her friends and families for whom she had worked. She wrote and received many letters throughout her life, from all over the world. As I was writing this a couple of years ago I received a letter from Patience Holt, widow of James Holt, one of Nancie's babies. It contained a letter that Nancie had written to her in 1964. It wasn't dated but I was able to date it from the contents. It gave me a shock when I opened the envelope and saw her writing. I used to joke that my Mother wrote to me wherever I was and whatever I was doing. I remember being in the labour ward, having my first baby. She wasn't allowed to come in, despite having given birth to me in the same nursing home in 1946, so, to ease her frustration, she wrote me a letter, much to the amusement of the nursing staff! The arrival of this letter of hers from Patience convinces me that she approves of my writing up her memoirs. Thank you, Patience for your thoughtful gesture.
When Nancie went to work for Jean Ferris she was still getting over the end of her romance with 'Mac': Denzil Ian McCleod. I don't know much about their meeting but I think it must have been in Haft Kel. Unfortunately there is a gap in her diaries for this period. I do know that he later married in 1940 and had three children but apart from a passenger list showing him going out to Venezuela at the age of eighteen he is quite an elusive character. I wish I'd asked her more when she was still alive.
She did always tell us that she was engaged several times before she met Jack, including the stalwart Bill Park from back home.
She was certainly deterred from marriage by the unhappy marriages she observed and was not in a hurry to settle down.
When Nancie went to work for Jean Ferris she was still getting over the end of her romance with 'Mac': Denzil Ian McCleod. I don't know much about their meeting but I think it must have been in Haft Kel. Unfortunately there is a gap in her diaries for this period. I do know that he later married in 1940 and had three children but apart from a passenger list showing him going out to Venezuela at the age of eighteen he is quite an elusive character. I wish I'd asked her more when she was still alive.
She did always tell us that she was engaged several times before she met Jack, including the stalwart Bill Park from back home.
She was certainly deterred from marriage by the unhappy marriages she observed and was not in a hurry to settle down.
Tuesday, 15 May 2018
A romantic trip to St Jean de Luz for Nancie and Jack in 1974
In 1974 Nancie and Jack celebrated their 35th wedding anniversary by returning to the place they met: St Jean de Luz. As ever, she kept a detailed diary. It was very wet and stormy for most of their time there but on their actual anniversary, 23rd September, they were able to go for a swim in the sea.
They had arrived at their hotel on September 15th, in torrential rain, having driven all the way from their home in Widnes, Lancashire. As they drove into the car park they caught the wing of the car on a gate post and damaged both the bodywork and some of the electrical system. Undaunted, they managed to get it repaired in Bayonne but it meant they were without a car for several days.
Once it was repaired they then drove into Spain (still in awful weather) to visit an old university friend of Jack's (from his time at Poitiers University, presumably) , who was amazed when they turned up, out of the blue, at his factory. They hadn't seen each other for over forty years.
Nancie and Jack had first met on the beach at St Jean de Luz in 1937. He thought she was French and married as she had children with her. It wasn't until he saw her again the following year that he plucked up the courage to actually speak to her. He then discovered she was an unmarried Scots lass from Kilmacolm who was working as a Governess and came to St Jean de Luz
each summer from their home in Paris. The rest is history!
Nancie kept in touch with many of the families she worked for but sadly not Mimi. I have been trying to find out what happened to her in later life but so far, unsuccessfully.
To return to the mysterious Mr Smith of my previous post. He seems to have been involved in Jean Ferris' financial affairs but I'm not sure in what capacity. He could have been a New York trustee. At one point he gave Nancie, then aged 26, the money to pay all the staff at the Villa Korsar, so he certainly had control of the purse strings. Nancie also mentions a Mrs Bond in her diary but I'm not sure of her role. She was possibly the housekeeper at the Villa Korsar.
They had arrived at their hotel on September 15th, in torrential rain, having driven all the way from their home in Widnes, Lancashire. As they drove into the car park they caught the wing of the car on a gate post and damaged both the bodywork and some of the electrical system. Undaunted, they managed to get it repaired in Bayonne but it meant they were without a car for several days.
Once it was repaired they then drove into Spain (still in awful weather) to visit an old university friend of Jack's (from his time at Poitiers University, presumably) , who was amazed when they turned up, out of the blue, at his factory. They hadn't seen each other for over forty years.
Nancie and Jack had first met on the beach at St Jean de Luz in 1937. He thought she was French and married as she had children with her. It wasn't until he saw her again the following year that he plucked up the courage to actually speak to her. He then discovered she was an unmarried Scots lass from Kilmacolm who was working as a Governess and came to St Jean de Luz
Nancie kept in touch with many of the families she worked for but sadly not Mimi. I have been trying to find out what happened to her in later life but so far, unsuccessfully.
To return to the mysterious Mr Smith of my previous post. He seems to have been involved in Jean Ferris' financial affairs but I'm not sure in what capacity. He could have been a New York trustee. At one point he gave Nancie, then aged 26, the money to pay all the staff at the Villa Korsar, so he certainly had control of the purse strings. Nancie also mentions a Mrs Bond in her diary but I'm not sure of her role. She was possibly the housekeeper at the Villa Korsar.
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