Ethel Beatty

Ethel Beatty, 1915

Ethel Beatty, Countess Beatty (née Field) (1873 - July 17, 1932) was a socialite and a member of the aristocracy. The daughter of American millionaire Marshall Field, she enjoyed a lavish lifestyle.

Family and early life

Marshall Field, the founder of the American firm Marshall Field's and his first wife, Nannie Douglas Scott, were Beatty's parents. She had one full brother, Marshall Field junior.[1]

Marriages

Beatty married Arthur Tree, son of Lambert Tree, in an opulent ceremony held at the home of her parents, 1905 Prairie Avenue, Chicago, on 1 January 1891.[2] They had one child, Ronald born on 26 September 1897.

She had a secret affair with David Beatty, 1st Earl Beatty and married him on 22 May 1901 ten days after her divorce from Tree was made public.[3] The couple had two children: David, born in Malta on 22 February 1905; and Peter, born on 2 April 1910.[3]

According to Robert K. Massie, Beatty was a poor mother, abandoning her son Ronald from her first marriage; she also left the children of her second marriage with her husband while she went on a gambling trip to Monte Carlo in 1912.[4] Peter had birth complications that affected his eyesight and muscle control for the rest of his life, thought to originate from a venereal disease carried by Ethel[4] It was "generally accepted" in later years that Peter was illegitimate, the father being a "well-known member of the British aristocracy", according a Beatty family member.[4]

While David benefited by Ethel's wealth, it was not a happy marriage, "I am the most unhappy man in the world", David once said, "I have paid terribly for my millions".[4]

Death and legacy

Beatty died in her sleep on 17 July 1932.[5]

References

Citations

  1. ↑ "Loneliest man in Chicago", Cincinnati Enquirer, p. 1, 7 April 1901 – via Newspapers.com
  2. ↑ "Marriage of Miss Field", Chicago Tribune, p. 3, 2 January 1891 – via Newspapers.com
  3. 1 2 Ranft, Bryan (2004). "Beatty, David, first Earl Beatty (1871–1936)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/30661. Retrieved 19 March 2015. (subscription or UK public library membership required)
  4. 1 2 3 4 Massie (2003), Ch. 5 "Beatty"
  5. ↑ "Countess Beatty Dead", Gloucester Citizen, 57, p. 11, 18 July 1932 – via British Newspaper Archive, (Subscription required (help))

Bibliography

  • Massie, Robert Kinloch (2003), Castles of Steel: Britain, Germany, and the Winning of the Great War at Sea, Ballantine Books, ISBN 0-345-40878-0
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