Wikipedia

A. Lanfear Norrie

Ambrose Lanfear Norrie (July 27, 1857 – December 22, 1910)[1] was an American businessman and social leader during the Gilded Age.

A. Lanfear Norrie
Born(1857-07-27)July 27, 1857
New York City, New York, U.S.
DiedDecember 22, 1910(1910-12-22) (aged 53)
New York City, New York, U.S.
Spouse
Ethel Lynde Barbey
​
​
(m. 1895)​
Children3
Parent(s)Gordon Norrie
Emily Frances Lanfear Norrie
RelativesAdam Norrie (grandfather)

Early life

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Norrie was born on July 27, 1857, in New York City. He was the eldest son of Gordon Norrie (1830–1909)[2] and Emily Frances (née Lanfear) Norrie (1836–1917).[3] Among his siblings was Mary Lanfear Norrie, Dr. Van Horne Norrie,[4][5] Sara Goodhue Norrie, Adam Gordon Norrie (who married Margaret Lewis Morgan, sister of Geraldine Livingston Morgan[6]), Emily Lanfear Norrie, who died unmarried in 1936.[7]

His paternal grandparents were Mary Johanna (née van Horne) Norrie and Adam Norrie, a native of Aberdeen, Scotland, who was an iron merchant and a founder of St. Luke's Hospital.[7] His maternal grandparents were Ambrose Lanfear and Mary (née Hill) Lanfear. His aunt, Louisa Sarah Lanfear, was married to Ogilvie Blair Graham and David A. Ogden Jr. (son of David A. Ogden).[8] Among his cousins was Norrie Sellar,[9] a prominent cotton broker who married Sybil Katherine Sherman (the daughter of William Watts Sherman).[10]

Career

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Norrie, a broker, discovered the iron ore of the Gogebic Range of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan (which became known as the Lorrie Mine[11]) in September 1882.[12] He was important in the founding of the town of Ironwood, Michigan.[12] He was also a director of the Ohio Mining and Manufacturing Company and the Buffalo, Rochester & Pittsburgh Railroad.[1]

Society life

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Norrie was prominent in New York society. He was a close friend of Lispenard Stewart, with whom he threw a 100-person dinner and evening of vaudeville before the two traveled to Mexico on vacation in 1893.[13] Another close friend, John Rhea Barton Willing (who was Vincent Astor's uncle), left Norrie a Stradivarius violin in his will.[14] He was also a member of the Union Club, the Calumet Club, the Racquet Club, the Metropolitan Club, the Downtown Club, the Riding Club, and the Tuxedo Club.[1]

Personal life

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In 1890, Norrie's engagement to heiress Frances Evelyn "Fannie" Bostwick was announced. She was the daughter of Jabez A. Bostwick, a founding partner of Standard Oil. However, a month later, the engagement was declared off by "mutual consent".[15] Fannie eventually married Capt. Albert J. Carstairs of the Royal Irish Rifles,[16] and became the mother of Joe Carstairs before that marriage ended. She remarried three more times, including her last to Serge Voronoff.[17]

On April 23, 1893, at a grand ball Norrie's family again announced his engagement, this time to Amy Bend. Amy, a close friend of Emily Vanderbilt Sloane, was the daughter of banker George H. Bend and was called "the New York society beauty par excellence."[18] Again, less than a month later, the engagement was called off and,[15] shortly thereafter, Amy was courted by William Kissam Vanderbilt. After rumors that she was to marry John Jacob Astor III proved false, Amy later married Cortlandt F. Bishop in 1899.[19] Norrie was also reportedly engaged to Emily Montague Tooker, daughter of Gabriel Mead Tooker.[20] The purported impending marriage never took place and, instead, Emily married J. Wadsworth Ritchie in 1895.[21][22]

In 1895, Norrie was married to Ethel Lynde Barbey (1873–1959). Ethel was the daughter of Henry Isaac Barbey[23] and Mary Lorillard Barbey, and granddaughter of tobacco magnate Pierre Lorillard III.[24] Among her many siblings was Hélène Barbey, the wife of Count von Pourtalès; Eva Barbey, who married the Baron de Neuflize; and Pierre Lorillard Barbey, who married Florence Flower,[25][26] niece of Captain Charles H. Houghton.[27] Together, they were the parents of:

  • Lanfear Barbey Norrie (1896–1977), who graduated from Harvard in 1920 and became a mining engineer. He married Christobel More-Molyneux (d. 1995) of Loseley Park in Guildford, England, in 1941.[28] They divorced in 1951,[29] and she remarried to the Hon. William Neville Berry, son of Gomer Berry, 1st Viscount Kemsley.
  • Emily Margarita "Rita" Norrie (b. 1897), who married John Wells in 1917.[30][31] She later married Jacques de Morsier, of Switzerland.
  • Valerie "Valérie" Norrie (1903–1999), who married Joseph Pozzo di Borgo, 4th Duke Pozzo di Borgo, in 1924.[32] The Duke was a former lieutenant of François de La Rocque, head of the nationalist French Social Party.[33][34] She inherited Villa Fantaisie from her brother upon his death in 1977.[12]

Norrie died after an attack of pneumonia at his home, 15 East 84th Street in New York City,[a] on December 22, 1910.[36][1] He was buried at Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn. After his death, she married Count Armand de Jumilhac (1886–1966), a relative of the Duke of Richelieu,[37] in 1914.[38][39]

Descendants

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Through his son, he was the posthumous grandfather of Christopher Lorillard Norrie (b. 1946),[40] a farmer living in New York.[41]

Legacy

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Norrie was the namesake of Norrie Park, Norrie School, Norrie mine, Norrie location and Norrie Street in Ironwood, Michigan.[12]

References

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Notes
  1. ^ As of 2019, 15 East 84th Street is the home of Institute for the Study of the Ancient World at New York University. The six-story limestone townhouse between Fifth and Madison Avenues was built in 1899 by Renwick, Aspinwall & Owen and later owned by Ogden Mills Reid and purchased by the Leon Levy Foundation for the Institute.[35]
Sources
  1. ^ a b c d "A. Lanfear Norrie" (PDF). The New York Times. December 23, 1910. Retrieved 14 February 2019.
  2. ^ "GORDON NORRIE DEAD. Retired Financier and Vice President of St. Luke's Hospital" (PDF). The New York Times. November 9, 1909. Retrieved 14 February 2019.
  3. ^ York, Saint Andrew's Society of the State of New (1923). Register of Saint Andrew's Society of the State of New York ...: Third. Society. p. 53. Retrieved 14 February 2019.
  4. ^ "DR. VAN HORNE NORRIE DIES IN 72D YEAR | Chairman of Executive Committee of Bellevue Medical Board--Was Noted as Diagnostician" (PDF). The New York Times. February 1, 1933. Retrieved 14 February 2019.
  5. ^ "BURROUGHS ESTATE WORTH $4,204,345; Former Counsel of American Tobacco Company Willed All to His Family. DR. NORRIE HAD $2,543,222 Left $50,000 to Public Library -- Miss Kendall Bequeathed $280,011 to Charities" (PDF). The New York Times. November 28, 1934. Retrieved 14 February 2019.
  6. ^ Adams, Henry; Levenson, Jacob C.; Samuels, Ernest (1982). The Letters of Henry Adams. Harvard University Press. p. 157. ISBN 9780674526860. Retrieved 14 February 2019.
  7. ^ a b "EMILY LANFEAR NORRIE; Member of Family Prominent in New York Since 1820" (PDF). The New York Times. January 4, 1936. Retrieved 14 February 2019.
  8. ^ Alstyne, Lawrence Van; Ogden, Charles Burr (1907). The Ogden family in America, Elizabethtown branch, and their English ancestry: John Ogden, the Pilgrim, and his descendants, 1640-1906. Printed for private circulation by J.B. Lippincott company. p. 303. Retrieved 8 May 2017.
  9. ^ "SELLAR -- HOFFMAN. Mrs. Hoffman's Quiet Wedding a Surprise to Friends" (PDF). The New York Times. December 14, 1904. Retrieved 14 February 2019.
  10. ^ "Mrs. John Ellis Hoffman (ca. 1875-1955)". www.nyhistory.org. New-York Historical Society. Retrieved 9 February 2017.
  11. ^ "Norrie, A. Lanfear". research.frick.org. Frick Art Reference Library Photoarchive. Retrieved 14 February 2019.
  12. ^ a b c d "A. L. Norrie's Descendants Visit Here for First Time". Ironwood Daily Globe. June 4, 1971. p. 6. Retrieved 14 February 2019.
  13. ^ "DINNER AND VAUDEVILLE; WITH THEM MESSRS. STEWART AND NORRIE PAID THEIR SOCIAL DEBTS". The New York Times. 7 March 1893. Retrieved 26 September 2017.
  14. ^ "VINCENT ASTOR INHERITS $1,500 J.R.B. Willing's Penciled, Undated, and Unwitnessed Will Probated" (PDF). The New York Times. October 18, 1913. Retrieved 11 July 2018.
  15. ^ a b "MISS BEND WILL NOT WED MR. NORRIE | Their Engagement Broken a Second Time by Mutual Consent". Chicago Tribune. May 16, 1893. p. 5. Retrieved 15 February 2019.
  16. ^ "AN AMERICAN GIRL ENGAGED. MISS FANNY BOSTWICK TO MARRY CAPT. ALBERT CARSTAIRS" (PDF). The New York Times. May 2, 1892. Retrieved 15 February 2019.
  17. ^ "Mme. Frances E.B. Voronoff" (PDF). The New York Times. March 6, 1921. Retrieved 15 February 2019.
  18. ^ "Table Gossip". The Boston Globe. April 30, 1893. p. 17. Retrieved 15 February 2019.
  19. ^ Owens, Carole (July 25, 2009). "The debutante". The Berkshire Eagle. Retrieved 3 May 2017.
  20. ^ Town Topics, the Journal of Society. Town Topics Publishing Company. 1893. p. 5. Retrieved 12 July 2018.
  21. ^ "TOOKER-RITCHIE WEDDING Notably Brilliant Society Event at All Saints' Chapel, Newport. ELITE OF THE COTTAGERS PRESENT Dr. Magill, Rector of Trinity, Officiated — Congratulations for Miss Cameron, Who Found the Bride's Cake-Ring" (PDF). The New York Times. August 25, 1895. Retrieved 12 July 2018.
  22. ^ "Death List of the Week" (PDF). The New York Times. July 12, 1903. Retrieved 12 July 2018. RITCHIE--July 4, at Ashwell, Rutland, England, Emily, wife of J. Wadsworth Ritchie, daughter of Gabriel Mead Tooker, in the 32nd year of her age.
  23. ^ "BARBEY ESTATE ACCOUNTING.; $6,581,051 Capital Balance Shown -- $999,031 Paid Out to Beneficiaries". The New York Times. January 22, 1913. Retrieved 18 February 2018.
  24. ^ "Married NORRIE -- BARBEY". The New York Times. 16 June 1895. Retrieved 18 February 2018.
  25. ^ "PIERRE L. BARBEY ENGAGED.; His Marriage to Miss Flower Will Probably Take Place in the Spring". The New York Times. 2 December 1906. Retrieved 18 February 2018.
  26. ^ "Pierre Lorillard Barbey and Miss Flower Married in St. Thomas's". The New York Times. 7 February 1907. Retrieved 18 February 2018.
  27. ^ "MARRIAGE OF MR . P . L . BARBEY". The Telluride Journal (Colorado Historic Newspapers Collection). February 21, 1907. Retrieved 26 July 2021.
  28. ^ "LANFEAR B. NORRIE WEDS IN FLORIDA; Christobel More-Molyneux Is His Bride in Ceremony Held in Palm Beach Church GUESTS OF MRS. MESKER She and Pierre L. Barbey, the Uncle of Bridegroom, Are Attendants at Service" (PDF). The New York Times. March 19, 1941. Retrieved 14 February 2019.
  29. ^ "Lanfear Norrie Divorced" (PDF). The New York Times. June 16, 1951. Retrieved 14 February 2019.
  30. ^ "MISS NORRIE BETROTHED. Daughter of the Countess de Jumilhac to Wed John Wells" (PDF). The New York Times. October 17, 1917. Retrieved 14 February 2019.
  31. ^ "MISS NORRIE WEDS LIEUT. JOHN WELLS Daughter of the Countess Odet A. de Jumilhac Married in Grace Church" (PDF). The New York Times. November 11, 1917. Retrieved 14 February 2019.
  32. ^ "DUKE POZZO DI BORGO HONORED AT DINNER; He and Duchess Are Guests of Mrs. Newbold Morris -- Miss Signe Toennesses Feted" (PDF). The New York Times. February 3, 1935. Retrieved 14 February 2019.
  33. ^ "DE LA ROCQUE FOE HELD IN PARIS PLOT; Police Search Home of Duke Pozzo di Borgo, Who Broke With Fascist Leader" (PDF). The New York Times. November 27, 1937. Retrieved 14 February 2019.
  34. ^ "DUKE'S RELEASE EXPECTED; Wife Says Police Failed to Link Pozzo di Borgo in Paris Plot" (PDF). The New York Times. January 26, 1938. Retrieved 14 February 2019.
  35. ^ McEnaney, Elizabeth (5 February 2010). "History of the Building". isaw.nyu.edu. Institute for the Study of the Ancient World. Retrieved 14 February 2019.
  36. ^ "A. LANFEAR NORRIE". New-York Tribune. December 23, 1910. p. 7. Retrieved 14 February 2019.
  37. ^ "DUC DE RICHELIEU, LAST TO HOLD TITLE; Descendant of French Marshal Dies at 76---Gave Estate to University of Paris" (PDF). The New York Times. May 31, 1952. Retrieved 14 February 2019.
  38. ^ Miller, Tom (4 May 2017). "Daytonian in Manhattan: The Ogden Mills Reid Mansion - No. 15 East 84th Street". Daytonian in Manhattan. Retrieved 18 February 2018.
  39. ^ "MRS. A.L. NORRIE TO WED. Widow's Engagement to Count De Jumilhac Announced in Paris" (PDF). The New York Times. May 20, 1914. Retrieved 14 February 2019.
  40. ^ "Son to Mrs. Lanfear B. Norrie" (PDF). The New York Times. August 31, 1946. Retrieved 14 February 2019.
  41. ^ Curtis, Charlotte (1976). The Rich and Other Atrocities. Harper & Row. p. 58. ISBN 9780060109318. Retrieved 14 February 2019.
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