Hon. Cynthia Burke Roche (10 April 1884 – 8 December 1966) was a Newport, Rhode Island

Newport, Rhode Island

Newport is a city on Aquidneck Island in Newport County, Rhode Island, United States, about south of Providence. Known as a New England summer resort and for the famous Newport Mansions, it is the home of Salve Regina University and Naval Station Newport which houses the United States Naval War...

 socialite and an art collector.

Life and work

She was born on April 10, 1884 in London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

 to James Roche, 3rd Baron Fermoy

James Roche, 3rd Baron Fermoy

James Boothby Burke Roche, 3rd Baron Fermoy was an Irish peer and a Member of Parliament in the United Kingdom House of Commons. He was the great-grandfather of Diana, Princess of Wales.-Biography:...

 and Frances Ellen Work. Her brothers were Maurice Roche, 4th Baron Fermoy, the maternal grandfather of Diana, Princess of Wales

Diana, Princess of Wales

Diana, Princess of Wales was the first wife of Charles, Prince of Wales, whom she married on 29 July 1981, and an international charity and fundraising figure, as well as a preeminent celebrity of the late 20th century...

., and the Hon. Francis Burke Roche. She became a naturalized

Naturalization

Naturalization is the acquisition of citizenship and nationality by somebody who was not a citizen of that country at the time of birth....

 United States citizen in 1908.

In 1904, Good Housekeeping

Good Housekeeping

Good Housekeeping is a women's magazine owned by the Hearst Corporation, featuring articles about women's interests, product testing by The Good Housekeeping Institute, recipes, diet, health as well as literary articles. It is well known for the "Good Housekeeping Seal," popularly known as the...

magazine described her as among the members of New York's Four Hundred who were daring and skillful automobilists. Roche was also recognized as a skilled tennis player

Tennis

Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...

 and horserider

Equestrianism

Equestrianism more often known as riding, horseback riding or horse riding refers to the skill of riding, driving, or vaulting with horses...

.

She married Arthur Scott Burden

Arthur Scott Burden

-Biography:He was born on August 11, 1879. His brother was James A. Burden, who was the President of the Burden Iron Works of Troy, New York.He was married on June 11, 1906 to the Hon...

 on June 11, 1906, with whom she had a daughter, Eileen Burden Maynard Robins (October 15, 1910 - March 24, 1970) and married to Walter Maynard, whose daughter Sheila Maynard, a clinical social worker who worked in Islamabad

Islamabad

Islamabad is the capital of Pakistan and the tenth largest city in the country. Located within the Islamabad Capital Territory , the population of the city has grown from 100,000 in 1951 to 1.7 million in 2011...

, married Nicholas Platt

Nicholas Platt

Nicholas Platt is an American diplomat who served as U.S. Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Pakistan, Philippines, Zambia, and as a high level diplomat in Canada, China, Hong Kong, and Japan...

, a career diplomat

Diplomat

A diplomat is a person appointed by a state to conduct diplomacy with another state or international organization. The main functions of diplomats revolve around the representation and protection of the interests and nationals of the sending state, as well as the promotion of information and...

 who served as U.S. ambassador

Ambassador

An ambassador is the highest ranking diplomat who represents a nation and is usually accredited to a foreign sovereign or government, or to an international organization....

 to Pakistan

Pakistan

Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...

, Zambia

Zambia

Zambia , officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. The neighbouring countries are the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the north, Tanzania to the north-east, Malawi to the east, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana and Namibia to the south, and Angola to the west....

 and the Philippines

Philippines

The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...

, and had Adam Platt, New York Magazine restaurant critic, actor

Actor

An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...

 Oliver Platt

Oliver Platt

Oliver James Platt is a Canadian-American actor. He is currently starring in the Showtime original series, The Big C with Laura Linney.-Early life:...

 and Nicholas Platt, Jr. Arthur Burden was a noted businessman and President of the Burden Iron Works, but his career was significantly impaired after two horse falls, the second of which seriously aggravated the injuries incurred from the first. As a result of these injuries, Burden was placed under constant care from late 1913, and James Burden, Arthur Burden's brother, filed a petition in Cynthia Roche's absence, (as both she and her daughter were in London at the time), requesting that Arthur Burden be declared incompetent. Burden died from pneumonia

Pneumonia

Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung—especially affecting the microscopic air sacs —associated with fever, chest symptoms, and a lack of air space on a chest X-ray. Pneumonia is typically caused by an infection but there are a number of other causes...

 in June, 1921.

She married Guy Fairfax Cary, Sr. in 1922 and they honeymooned at the fishing lodge of Rober Walton Goelet.

Legacy

In 1981, the Redwood Library received her collected art as the Cynthia Cary Collection. It was donated by her son, Guy Fairfax Cary, Jr.. The art collection was amassed over decades by her. The collection was previously exhibited at Rhode Island School of Design

Rhode Island School of Design

Rhode Island School of Design is a fine arts and design college located in Providence, Rhode Island. It was founded in 1877. Located at the base of College Hill, the RISD campus is contiguous with the Brown University campus. The two institutions share social, academic, and community resources and...

 and Christie's

Christie's

Christie's is an art business and a fine arts auction house.- History :The official company literature states that founder James Christie conducted the first sale in London, England, on 5 December 1766, and the earliest auction catalogue the company retains is from December 1766...

 in Manhattan

Manhattan

Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...

.