Robert Gould Shaw II
Encyclopedia
Robert Gould Shaw II was a wealthy landowner
and socialite
of the leisure class
in the greater Boston
area of Massachusetts
during the late 19th century, in an era of rapid economic and population growth in the United States referred to as the Gilded Age
.
Born in 1872 into one of the wealthiest and most influential families
in Boston
, he was given the same name as his paternal grandfather, Robert Gould Shaw (17761853). His first cousin was also named Robert Gould Shaw
(RGS, 18371863). RGS was a colonel
in the Volunteer Army of the United States
during the American Civil War
, and commander of the all-black
54th Regiment
. Colonel Robert Gould Shaw was killed in action
during the Second Battle of Fort Wagner in 1863, nine years before the birth of RGS II. It is not clear whether RGS II was named after his grandfather or after his cousin.
RGS II had a reputation for intemperance
and promiscuity
. His first wife was Nancy Witcher Langhorne
, who later divorced him and married Waldorf Astor
. His two children (Robert Gould Shaw III and Louis Agassiz Shaw II) suffered from depression and alcoholism
. Louis Agassiz Shaw II committed a murder in 1964 for which he never stood trial (he was remanded instead to a psychiatric hospital
for the rest of his life). Robert Gould Shaw III (RGS III, more commonly referred to as "Bobbie") committed suicide in 1970.
and Pauline Agassiz. Quincy Adams Shaw
was one of the wealthiest men in Massachusetts as a result of his investment in the Calumet and Hecla Mining Company
. His four older siblings were Louis Agassiz, Pauline, Marian, and Quincy Adams Junior. While his maternal grandfather
was born in Switzerland
, his father's side of the family had roots extending back to the Mayflower
. Aside from his parents and cousin, RGS II's family had many notable members, including:
, daughter of railroad millionaire Chiswell Dabney Langhorne
and Nancy Witcher Keene. The couple were married in New York City
on October 27, 1897. The couple were married for only four years and had one child, Robert Gould Shaw III (August 18, 1898July 10, 1970), referred to affectionately as "Bobbie".
The marriage was a disaster for both RGS II and his wife Nancy. RGS II's friends accused Nancy of being puritan
ical and rigid, while Nancy's friends contended that RGS II was an alcoholic and a womanizer
. Nancy left RGS II numerous times during their brief marriage, the first time during their honeymoon
. In 1903, Nancy's mother died and Nancy divorced RGS II, returning to Mirador
, her childhood home.
In 1905, while a passenger on a trans-Atlantic ship to England
, the recently-divorced Nancy Shaw met Waldorf Astor
. The couple were married in May 1906, settling in Cliveden
, the Astor family
estate in Taplow
, Buckinghamshire
, England. In 1919, Nancy Astor became the first woman to sit as a Member of Parliament
in the British House of Commons.
After his ex-wife and son moved to England, RGS II had a limited role in Bobbie's life. Bobbie was educated at the Shrewsbury School
in Shrewsbury
, Shropshire
, England. Bobbie briefly served in the Life Guards (the senior regiment of the British Army
and part of the Household Cavalry
), but he experienced increasing difficulty in his personal and professional life as a result of his homosexuality
, alcoholism and depression. In 1931, he was imprisoned for six months for homosexuality.
Along with his worsening alcoholism, the 1963 Profumo Affair
, his mother's death in 1964, and the sudden death of his half-brother William Waldorf Astor in 1966 may have increased his suicidal tendencies. After years of struggling with depression and suicidal ideation
, Bobbie finally committed suicide on July 10, 1970. He is buried in the chapel at Cliveden. John Singer Sargent
painted an oil portrait of Nancy Viscountess Astor in 1909, and also did a 1923 charcoal portrait of Bobbie in his military uniform. The portrait was given to Alfred Edward Goodey
, art collector and Bobbie’s partner, after Bobbie's death in 1970. It was sold in England in 2011 for £23,000.
, Newton
, shortly after the death of its owner, William Sumner Appleton (18401903, father of William Sumner Appleton Junior
). He commissioned Boston architect James Lovell Little Junior to design and construct several buildings on the property, including a carriage house and horse stable in 1910, a cow barn in 1912, and a primary residence (the Appleton/Shaw House) in 1912. The family lived briefly in a brownstone
building located at 35 Commonwealth Avenue
in the Back Bay in 1915, presumably while awaiting the completion of their new home in Newton.
Like RGS (his first cousin once removed), Louis Agassiz Shaw II was a member of the Porcellian Club
, a men's-only final club
at Harvard University
. Also like his father (RGS II) and half-brother (RGS III), Louis Agassiz Shaw II struggled with depression and alcoholism.
Louis Agassiz Shaw II graduated from Harvard in 1929. That year, he published a novel with the title Pavement, under the pen name Louis Second. After graduation, he lived in a sprawling 15-room mansion in Topsfield
, a town founded by the Gould family. An eccentric snob, he kept a copy of the Social Register next to the telephone, instructing his staff not to accept calls from anyone not listed on the register. He often rode his horse along a bridle path
from his estate, through the area now known as the Ipswich River Wildlife Sanctuary
in order to reach the Myopia Hunt Club
. General George S. Patton
's (18851945) property was also situated on this route.
Louis Agassiz Shaw II confessed to strangling
his maid, Delia Holland, to death on April 7, 1964, a crime for which he never stood trial. He was committed instead to McLean Hospital
, where he lived at Upham Memorial Hall for 23 years before being transferred to a nursing home somewhere on the North Shore
, where he died circa 1987.
gave way to the Progressive Era
and eventually the Great Depression
, the Shaw fortune collapsed. RGS II died in 1930, and the vacant and decaying Shaw estate in Newton was sold in 1939 to Dr. William Fitts Carlson. Carlson used the property as the new campus for Mount Ida Junior College
. Adjoining tracts of land were converted into the Wells Avenue office park in the 1970s, and the Charles River
Footpath (since renamed the Helen Heyn Riverway) in the 1990s.
(1894) by George du Maurier
. This painting hung in the bedroom of Henry Symes Lehr
, the homosexual husband of Elizabeth Wharton Drexel
.
In a 1982 episode of Masterpiece Theatre that chronicled the life of Nancy Astor, Pierce Brosnan
portrayed RGS II as a profligate and promiscuous gambler whom Nancy continued to love even after her marriage to Waldorf Astor. For this performance, Brosnan was nominated for a Best Supporting Actor in 1985.
Fee simple
In English law, a fee simple is an estate in land, a form of freehold ownership. It is the most common way that real estate is owned in common law countries, and is ordinarily the most complete ownership interest that can be had in real property short of allodial title, which is often reserved...
and socialite
Socialite
A socialite is a person who participates in social activities and spends a significant amount of time entertaining and being entertained at fashionable upper-class events....
of the leisure class
The Theory of the Leisure Class
The Theory of the Leisure Class: An Economic Study of Institutions is a book, first published in 1899, by the Norwegian-American economist and sociologist Thorstein Veblen while he was a professor at the University of Chicago....
in the greater Boston
Greater Boston
Greater Boston is the area of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts surrounding the city of Boston. Due to ambiguity in usage, the size of the area referred to can be anywhere between that of the metropolitan statistical area of Boston and that of the city's combined statistical area which includes...
area of Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
during the late 19th century, in an era of rapid economic and population growth in the United States referred to as the Gilded Age
Gilded Age
In United States history, the Gilded Age refers to the era of rapid economic and population growth in the United States during the post–Civil War and post-Reconstruction eras of the late 19th century. The term "Gilded Age" was coined by Mark Twain and Charles Dudley Warner in their book The Gilded...
.
Born in 1872 into one of the wealthiest and most influential families
Boston Brahmin
Boston Brahmins are wealthy Yankee families characterized by a highly discreet and inconspicuous life style. Based in and around Boston, they form an integral part of the historic core of the East Coast establishment...
in Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
, he was given the same name as his paternal grandfather, Robert Gould Shaw (17761853). His first cousin was also named Robert Gould Shaw
Robert Gould Shaw
Robert Gould Shaw was an American officer in the Union Army during the American Civil War. As colonel, he commanded the all-black 54th Regiment, which entered the war in 1863. He was killed in the Second Battle of Fort Wagner, near Charleston, South Carolina...
(RGS, 18371863). RGS was a colonel
Colonel (United States)
In the United States Army, Air Force, and Marine Corps, colonel is a senior field grade military officer rank just above the rank of lieutenant colonel and just below the rank of brigadier general...
in the Volunteer Army of the United States
United States Volunteers
United States Volunteers also known as U.S. Volunteers, U. S. Vol., or U.S.V.Starting as early as 1861 these regiments were often referred to as the "volunteer army" of the United States but not officially named that until 1898.During the nineteenth century this was the United States federal...
during the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
, and commander of the all-black
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
54th Regiment
54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry
The 54th Regiment Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry was an infantry regiment that saw extensive service in the Union Army during the American Civil War. The regiment was one of the first official black units in the United States during the Civil War...
. Colonel Robert Gould Shaw was killed in action
Killed in action
Killed in action is a casualty classification generally used by militaries to describe the deaths of their own forces at the hands of hostile forces. The United States Department of Defense, for example, says that those declared KIA need not have fired their weapons but have been killed due to...
during the Second Battle of Fort Wagner in 1863, nine years before the birth of RGS II. It is not clear whether RGS II was named after his grandfather or after his cousin.
RGS II had a reputation for intemperance
Alcohol abuse
Alcohol abuse, as described in the DSM-IV, is a psychiatric diagnosis describing the recurring use of alcoholic beverages despite negative consequences. Alcohol abuse eventually progresses to alcoholism, a condition in which an individual becomes dependent on alcoholic beverages in order to avoid...
and promiscuity
Promiscuity
In humans, promiscuity refers to less discriminating casual sex with many sexual partners. The term carries a moral or religious judgement and is viewed in the context of the mainstream social ideal for sexual activity to take place within exclusive committed relationships...
. His first wife was Nancy Witcher Langhorne
Nancy Astor, Viscountess Astor
Nancy Witcher Astor, Viscountess Astor, CH, was the first woman to sit as a Member of Parliament in the British House of Commons.Constance Markievicz was the first woman elected to the House of Commons in December 1918 after running for the Sinn Féin party in 1918 General Election, but in line...
, who later divorced him and married Waldorf Astor
Waldorf Astor, 2nd Viscount Astor
Waldorf Astor, 2nd Viscount Astor was an American-born British politician and newspaper proprietor.-Early life:...
. His two children (Robert Gould Shaw III and Louis Agassiz Shaw II) suffered from depression and alcoholism
Alcoholism
Alcoholism is a broad term for problems with alcohol, and is generally used to mean compulsive and uncontrolled consumption of alcoholic beverages, usually to the detriment of the drinker's health, personal relationships, and social standing...
. Louis Agassiz Shaw II committed a murder in 1964 for which he never stood trial (he was remanded instead to a psychiatric hospital
Psychiatric hospital
Psychiatric hospitals, also known as mental hospitals, are hospitals specializing in the treatment of serious mental disorders. Psychiatric hospitals vary widely in their size and grading. Some hospitals may specialise only in short-term or outpatient therapy for low-risk patients...
for the rest of his life). Robert Gould Shaw III (RGS III, more commonly referred to as "Bobbie") committed suicide in 1970.
Family and early life
RGS II was the youngest child of Quincy Adams ShawQuincy Adams Shaw
Quincy Adams Shaw was a Boston Brahmin investor and business magnate whowas the first president of Calumet and Hecla Mining Company.-Family and early life:...
and Pauline Agassiz. Quincy Adams Shaw
Quincy Adams Shaw
Quincy Adams Shaw was a Boston Brahmin investor and business magnate whowas the first president of Calumet and Hecla Mining Company.-Family and early life:...
was one of the wealthiest men in Massachusetts as a result of his investment in the Calumet and Hecla Mining Company
Calumet and Hecla Mining Company
The Calumet and Hecla Mining Company was a major copper-mining company based in the Michigan Copper Country. In the 19th century, the company paid out more than $72 million in shareholder dividends, more than any other mining company in the United States during that period.-History:In 1864, Edwin J...
. His four older siblings were Louis Agassiz, Pauline, Marian, and Quincy Adams Junior. While his maternal grandfather
Louis Agassiz
Jean Louis Rodolphe Agassiz was a Swiss paleontologist, glaciologist, geologist and a prominent innovator in the study of the Earth's natural history. He grew up in Switzerland and became a professor of natural history at University of Neuchâtel...
was born in Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
, his father's side of the family had roots extending back to the Mayflower
Mayflower
The Mayflower was the ship that transported the English Separatists, better known as the Pilgrims, from a site near the Mayflower Steps in Plymouth, England, to Plymouth, Massachusetts, , in 1620...
. Aside from his parents and cousin, RGS II's family had many notable members, including:
- His paternal uncle was Francis George Shaw (October 23, 1809November 7, 1882), an outspoken advocate of the abolition of slaveryAbolitionismAbolitionism is a movement to end slavery.In western Europe and the Americas abolitionism was a movement to end the slave trade and set slaves free. At the behest of Dominican priest Bartolomé de las Casas who was shocked at the treatment of natives in the New World, Spain enacted the first...
. - His maternal uncle was Henry Lee HigginsonHenry Lee HigginsonHenry Lee Higginson was a noted American businessman and philanthropist. He is best known as the founder of the Boston Symphony Orchestra.-Family and Early Life:...
(18341919), a noted businessman, philanthropistPhilanthropyPhilanthropy etymologically means "the love of humanity"—love in the sense of caring for, nourishing, developing, or enhancing; humanity in the sense of "what it is to be human," or "human potential." In modern practical terms, it is "private initiatives for public good, focusing on quality of...
, and founder of the Boston Symphony OrchestraBoston Symphony OrchestraThe Boston Symphony Orchestra is an orchestra based in Boston, Massachusetts. It is one of the five American orchestras commonly referred to as the "Big Five". Founded in 1881, the BSO plays most of its concerts at Boston's Symphony Hall and in the summer performs at the Tanglewood Music Center...
. - Another of his maternal uncles was Alexander Emanuel AgassizAlexander Emanuel AgassizAlexander Emmanuel Rodolphe Agassiz , son of Louis Agassiz and stepson of Elizabeth Cabot Agassiz, was an American scientist and engineer.-Biography:...
(18351910), who served as president of Calumet and Hecla Mining Company from 18711910, as well as president of the United States National Academy of SciencesUnited States National Academy of SciencesThe National Academy of Sciences is a corporation in the United States whose members serve pro bono as "advisers to the nation on science, engineering, and medicine." As a national academy, new members of the organization are elected annually by current members, based on their distinguished and...
(19011907). - His first cousin (once removed) was Francis Parkman JuniorFrancis ParkmanFrancis Parkman was an American historian, best known as author of The Oregon Trail: Sketches of Prairie and Rocky-Mountain Life and his monumental seven-volume France and England in North America. These works are still valued as history and especially as literature, although the biases of his...
(18231893), a noted American historian and author of The Oregon Trail: Sketches of Prairie and Rocky-Mountain LifeThe Oregon Trail: Sketches of Prairie and Rocky-Mountain LifeThe Oregon Trail: Sketches of Prairie and Rocky-Mountain Life is a book written by Francis Parkman. It was originally serialized in twenty-one installments in Knickerbocker's Magazine and subsequently published as a book in 1849.The book is a breezy, first-person account of a 2 month summer tour...
. - His grandfather was Louis AgassizLouis AgassizJean Louis Rodolphe Agassiz was a Swiss paleontologist, glaciologist, geologist and a prominent innovator in the study of the Earth's natural history. He grew up in Switzerland and became a professor of natural history at University of Neuchâtel...
(18071873), a prominent paleontologistPaleontologyPaleontology "old, ancient", ὄν, ὀντ- "being, creature", and λόγος "speech, thought") is the study of prehistoric life. It includes the study of fossils to determine organisms' evolution and interactions with each other and their environments...
, glaciologistGlaciologyGlaciology Glaciology Glaciology (from Middle French dialect (Franco-Provençal): glace, "ice"; or Latin: glacies, "frost, ice"; and Greek: λόγος, logos, "speech" lit...
, geologistGeologyGeology is the science comprising the study of solid Earth, the rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which it evolves. Geology gives insight into the history of the Earth, as it provides the primary evidence for plate tectonics, the evolutionary history of life, and past climates...
, and scholar of the Earth's natural historyNatural historyNatural history is the scientific research of plants or animals, leaning more towards observational rather than experimental methods of study, and encompasses more research published in magazines than in academic journals. Grouped among the natural sciences, natural history is the systematic study...
. - His grandmother was Elizabeth Cabot AgassizElizabeth Cabot AgassizElizabeth Cabot Agassiz was an American educator, and the co-founder and first president of Radcliffe College.-Life:...
(18221907), a teacherTeacherA teacher or schoolteacher is a person who provides education for pupils and students . The role of teacher is often formal and ongoing, carried out at a school or other place of formal education. In many countries, a person who wishes to become a teacher must first obtain specified professional...
and the co-founder and first president of Radcliffe CollegeRadcliffe CollegeRadcliffe College was a women's liberal arts college in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and was the coordinate college for Harvard University. It was also one of the Seven Sisters colleges. Radcliffe College conferred joint Harvard-Radcliffe diplomas beginning in 1963 and a formal merger agreement with...
. - His granduncle was George ParkmanGeorge ParkmanGeorge Parkman , a Boston Brahmin , belonged to one of Boston's richest families...
(17901849), a murder victim in a highly publicized case that shook the city of BostonBostonBoston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
to its core in 18491850, due to the gruesome nature of the crime and the high social station of both the victim and the murdererJohn White WebsterJohn White Webster , born in Boston, Massachusetts, was a professor of chemistry and geology at Harvard Medical College...
. - His nephew was Louis Agassiz Shaw Junior, a professorProfessorA professor is a scholarly teacher; the precise meaning of the term varies by country. Literally, professor derives from Latin as a "person who professes" being usually an expert in arts or sciences; a teacher of high rank...
of physiologyPhysiologyPhysiology is the science of the function of living systems. This includes how organisms, organ systems, organs, cells, and bio-molecules carry out the chemical or physical functions that exist in a living system. The highest honor awarded in physiology is the Nobel Prize in Physiology or...
at Harvard Medical SchoolHarvard Medical SchoolHarvard Medical School is the graduate medical school of Harvard University. It is located in the Longwood Medical Area of the Mission Hill neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts....
and co-inventor of the first widely used iron lungIron lungA negative pressure ventilator is a form of medical ventilator that enables a person to breathe when normal muscle control has been lost or the work of breathing exceeds the person's ability....
.
First marriage
RGS II met Nancy Witcher Langhorne (18791964) of Danville, VirginiaDanville, Virginia
Danville is an independent city in Virginia, United States, bounded by Pittsylvania County, Virginia and Caswell County, North Carolina. It was the last capital of the Confederate States of America. The Bureau of Economic Analysis combines the city of Danville with Pittsylvania county for...
, daughter of railroad millionaire Chiswell Dabney Langhorne
Chiswell Langhorne
Colonel Chiswell Dabney Langhorne was an American railroad millionaire. He was the father of Nancy Astor, Viscountess Astor and the maternal grandfather of both Joyce Grenfell and Michael Langhorne Astor....
and Nancy Witcher Keene. The couple were married in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
on October 27, 1897. The couple were married for only four years and had one child, Robert Gould Shaw III (August 18, 1898July 10, 1970), referred to affectionately as "Bobbie".
The marriage was a disaster for both RGS II and his wife Nancy. RGS II's friends accused Nancy of being puritan
Puritan
The Puritans were a significant grouping of English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries. Puritanism in this sense was founded by some Marian exiles from the clergy shortly after the accession of Elizabeth I of England in 1558, as an activist movement within the Church of England...
ical and rigid, while Nancy's friends contended that RGS II was an alcoholic and a womanizer
Promiscuity
In humans, promiscuity refers to less discriminating casual sex with many sexual partners. The term carries a moral or religious judgement and is viewed in the context of the mainstream social ideal for sexual activity to take place within exclusive committed relationships...
. Nancy left RGS II numerous times during their brief marriage, the first time during their honeymoon
Honeymoon
-History:One early reference to a honeymoon is in Deuteronomy 24:5 “When a man is newly wed, he need not go out on a military expedition, nor shall any public duty be imposed on him...
. In 1903, Nancy's mother died and Nancy divorced RGS II, returning to Mirador
Mirador (Greenwood, Virginia)
Mirador, near Greenwood, Albemarle County, Virginia, was built in 1842. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983. Mirador was the childhood home of Nancy Langhorne Astor, who was born in Danville, Virginia...
, her childhood home.
In 1905, while a passenger on a trans-Atlantic ship to England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, the recently-divorced Nancy Shaw met Waldorf Astor
Waldorf Astor, 2nd Viscount Astor
Waldorf Astor, 2nd Viscount Astor was an American-born British politician and newspaper proprietor.-Early life:...
. The couple were married in May 1906, settling in Cliveden
Cliveden
Cliveden is an Italianate mansion and estate at Taplow, Buckinghamshire, England. Set on banks above the River Thames, its grounds slope down to the river. The site has been home to an Earl, two Dukes, a Prince of Wales and the Viscounts Astor....
, the Astor family
Astor family
The Astor family is a Anglo-American business family of German descent notable for their prominence in business, society, and politics.-Founding family members:...
estate in Taplow
Taplow
Taplow is a village and civil parish within South Bucks district in Buckinghamshire, England. It sits on the east bank of the River Thames facing Maidenhead on the opposite bank. Taplow railway station is situated near the A4 south of the village....
, Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan home county in South East England. The county town is Aylesbury, the largest town in the ceremonial county is Milton Keynes and largest town in the non-metropolitan county is High Wycombe....
, England. In 1919, Nancy Astor became the first woman to sit as a Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
in the British House of Commons.
After his ex-wife and son moved to England, RGS II had a limited role in Bobbie's life. Bobbie was educated at the Shrewsbury School
Shrewsbury School
Shrewsbury School is a co-educational independent school for pupils aged 13 to 18, founded by Royal Charter in 1552. The present campus to which the school moved in 1882 is located on the banks of the River Severn in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England...
in Shrewsbury
Shrewsbury
Shrewsbury is the county town of Shropshire, in the West Midlands region of England. Lying on the River Severn, it is a civil parish home to some 70,000 inhabitants, and is the primary settlement and headquarters of Shropshire Council...
, Shropshire
Shropshire
Shropshire is a county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes, the county is a NUTS 3 region and is one of four counties or unitary districts that comprise the "Shropshire and Staffordshire" NUTS 2 region. It borders Wales to the west...
, England. Bobbie briefly served in the Life Guards (the senior regiment of the British Army
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
and part of the Household Cavalry
Household Cavalry
The term Household Cavalry is used across the Commonwealth to describe the cavalry of the Household Divisions, a country’s most elite or historically senior military groupings or those military groupings that provide functions associated directly with the Head of state.Canada's Governor General's...
), but he experienced increasing difficulty in his personal and professional life as a result of his homosexuality
Homosexuality
Homosexuality is romantic or sexual attraction or behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality refers to "an enduring pattern of or disposition to experience sexual, affectional, or romantic attractions" primarily or exclusively to people of the same...
, alcoholism and depression. In 1931, he was imprisoned for six months for homosexuality.
Along with his worsening alcoholism, the 1963 Profumo Affair
Profumo Affair
The Profumo Affair was a 1963 British political scandal named after John Profumo, Secretary of State for War. His affair with Christine Keeler, the reputed mistress of an alleged Russian spy, followed by lying in the House of Commons when he was questioned about it, forced the resignation of...
, his mother's death in 1964, and the sudden death of his half-brother William Waldorf Astor in 1966 may have increased his suicidal tendencies. After years of struggling with depression and suicidal ideation
Suicidal ideation
Suicidal ideation is a common medical term for thoughts about suicide, which may be as detailed as a formulated plan, without the suicidal act itself. Although most people who undergo suicidal ideation do not commit suicide, some go on to make suicide attempts...
, Bobbie finally committed suicide on July 10, 1970. He is buried in the chapel at Cliveden. John Singer Sargent
John Singer Sargent
John Singer Sargent was an American artist, considered the "leading portrait painter of his generation" for his evocations of Edwardian era luxury. During his career, he created roughly 900 oil paintings and more than 2,000 watercolors, as well as countless sketches and charcoal drawings...
painted an oil portrait of Nancy Viscountess Astor in 1909, and also did a 1923 charcoal portrait of Bobbie in his military uniform. The portrait was given to Alfred Edward Goodey
Alfred E. Goodey
Alfred E. Goodey was a collector of paintings, prints and photographs, especially those connected with the English Midlands town of Derby.-Biography:...
, art collector and Bobbie’s partner, after Bobbie's death in 1970. It was sold in England in 2011 for £23,000.
Second marriage
RGS II later married Mary Hannington (18741937) and had one more child, Louis Agassiz Shaw II (ca. 1906ca. 1987), by this second marriage. RGS II purchased a tract of land in Oak HillOak Hill, Massachusetts
Oak Hill is one of thirteen villages of the city of Newton in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, USA.-History and geography:This village is situated on a landform known since the mid-17th century as Oak Hill, and one of the seven principal elevations of Newton .One of the last...
, Newton
Newton, Massachusetts
Newton is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States bordered to the east by Boston. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the population of Newton was 85,146, making it the eleventh largest city in the state.-Villages:...
, shortly after the death of its owner, William Sumner Appleton (18401903, father of William Sumner Appleton Junior
William Sumner Appleton
William Sumner Appleton, Jr. was Founder of the Society for the Preservation of New England Antiquities in 1910. He was the chief force behind much of the preservation of historic homes in the New England area...
). He commissioned Boston architect James Lovell Little Junior to design and construct several buildings on the property, including a carriage house and horse stable in 1910, a cow barn in 1912, and a primary residence (the Appleton/Shaw House) in 1912. The family lived briefly in a brownstone
Brownstone
Brownstone is a brown Triassic or Jurassic sandstone which was once a popular building material. The term is also used in the United States to refer to a terraced house clad in this material.-Types:-Apostle Island brownstone:...
building located at 35 Commonwealth Avenue
Commonwealth Avenue, Boston
Commonwealth Avenue is a major street in the cities of Boston and Newton, Massachusetts. It begins at the western edge of the Public Garden, and continues west through the neighborhoods of the Back Bay, Kenmore Square, Allston, Brighton and Chestnut Hill...
in the Back Bay in 1915, presumably while awaiting the completion of their new home in Newton.
Like RGS (his first cousin once removed), Louis Agassiz Shaw II was a member of the Porcellian Club
Porcellian Club
The Porcellian Club is a men's-only final club at Harvard University, sometimes called the Porc or the P.C. The year of founding is usually given as 1791, when a group began meeting under the name "the Argonauts," or as 1794, the year of the roast pig dinner at which the club, known first as "the...
, a men's-only final club
Final club
A final club is an undergraduate social club at Harvard College.- Origins :The historical basis for the name final clubs is that Harvard used to have a variety of clubs for freshmen, sophomores, juniors, and seniors, with students of different years being in different clubs, and the "final clubs"...
at Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
. Also like his father (RGS II) and half-brother (RGS III), Louis Agassiz Shaw II struggled with depression and alcoholism.
Louis Agassiz Shaw II graduated from Harvard in 1929. That year, he published a novel with the title Pavement, under the pen name Louis Second. After graduation, he lived in a sprawling 15-room mansion in Topsfield
Topsfield, Massachusetts
Topsfield is a town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 6,085 at the 2010 census.Part of the town comprises the census-designated place of Topsfield.-Colonial period:...
, a town founded by the Gould family. An eccentric snob, he kept a copy of the Social Register next to the telephone, instructing his staff not to accept calls from anyone not listed on the register. He often rode his horse along a bridle path
Bridle path
A bridle path is a thoroughfare originally made for horses, but which these days serves a wide range of interests, including hikers, walkers and cyclists as well as equestrians. The laws relating to permissions vary from country to country...
from his estate, through the area now known as the Ipswich River Wildlife Sanctuary
Ipswich River Wildlife Sanctuary
The Ipswich River Wildlife Sanctuary, which is the Massachusetts Audubon Society’s largest wildlife sanctuary, is located in Topsfield and Wenham, Massachusetts. Much of its landscape was created by a glacier 15,000 years ago. The park's more than ten miles of interconnected trails wind...
in order to reach the Myopia Hunt Club
Myopia Hunt Club
Myopia Hunt Club is a foxhunting and private country club at 435 Bay Road in South Hamilton, Massachusetts founded in 1882 by J. Murray Forbes. The name "Myopia" is due to some of its founding members having come from the Myopia Club in Winchester, Massachusetts, which had been founded by four...
. General George S. Patton
George S. Patton
George Smith Patton, Jr. was a United States Army officer best known for his leadership while commanding corps and armies as a general during World War II. He was also well known for his eccentricity and controversial outspokenness.Patton was commissioned in the U.S. Army after his graduation from...
's (18851945) property was also situated on this route.
Louis Agassiz Shaw II confessed to strangling
Strangling
Strangling is compression of the neck that may lead to unconsciousness or death by causing an increasingly hypoxic state in the brain. Fatal strangling typically occurs in cases of violence, accidents, and as the auxiliary lethal mechanism in hangings in the event the neck does not break...
his maid, Delia Holland, to death on April 7, 1964, a crime for which he never stood trial. He was committed instead to McLean Hospital
McLean Hospital
McLean Hospital is a psychiatric hospital in Belmont, Massachusetts.It is noted for its clinical staff expertise and ground-breaking neuroscience research...
, where he lived at Upham Memorial Hall for 23 years before being transferred to a nursing home somewhere on the North Shore
North Shore (Massachusetts)
The North Shore is a region in the U.S. state of Massachusetts, loosely defined as the coastal area between Boston and New Hampshire. The region is made up both of a rocky coastline, dotted with marshes and wetlands, as well as several beaches and natural harbors. The North Shore is an important...
, where he died circa 1987.
Death and legacy
As the Gilded AgeGilded Age
In United States history, the Gilded Age refers to the era of rapid economic and population growth in the United States during the post–Civil War and post-Reconstruction eras of the late 19th century. The term "Gilded Age" was coined by Mark Twain and Charles Dudley Warner in their book The Gilded...
gave way to the Progressive Era
Progressive Era
The Progressive Era in the United States was a period of social activism and political reform that flourished from the 1890s to the 1920s. One main goal of the Progressive movement was purification of government, as Progressives tried to eliminate corruption by exposing and undercutting political...
and eventually the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
, the Shaw fortune collapsed. RGS II died in 1930, and the vacant and decaying Shaw estate in Newton was sold in 1939 to Dr. William Fitts Carlson. Carlson used the property as the new campus for Mount Ida Junior College
Mount Ida College
Mount Ida College is a private college in Newton, Massachusetts offering professional undergraduate and graduate degrees.-History:The Mount Ida School for Girls was a private all-female high school founded in 1899 by George Franklin Jewett, named after the hill on which it was located in Newton...
. Adjoining tracts of land were converted into the Wells Avenue office park in the 1970s, and the Charles River
Charles River
The Charles River is an long river that flows in an overall northeasterly direction in eastern Massachusetts, USA. From its source in Hopkinton, the river travels through 22 cities and towns until reaching the Atlantic Ocean at Boston...
Footpath (since renamed the Helen Heyn Riverway) in the 1990s.
In popular culture
Artist R.G. Harper Pennington (18541920) in one of his paintings depicted a nude RGS II as the character "Little Billee" from the bohemian novel TrilbyTrilby (novel)
Trilby is a novel by George du Maurier and one of the most popular novels of its time, perhaps the second best selling novel of the Fin de siècle after Bram Stoker's Dracula. Published serially in Harper's Monthly in 1894, it was published in book form in 1895 and sold 200,000 copies in the United...
(1894) by George du Maurier
George du Maurier
George Louis Palmella Busson du Maurier was a French-born British cartoonist and author, known for his cartoons in Punch and also for his novel Trilby. He was the father of actor Gerald du Maurier and grandfather of the writers Angela du Maurier and Dame Daphne du Maurier...
. This painting hung in the bedroom of Henry Symes Lehr
Henry Symes Lehr
Henry Symes Lehr was a socialite and the husband of Elizabeth Wharton Drexel. He was the son of Robert Oliver Lehr, a tobacco and snuff importer who became the German consul in Baltimore. He was the fourth child in a family of seven. He had a sister Alice Lehr Morton; and a brother Louis Lehr,...
, the homosexual husband of Elizabeth Wharton Drexel
Elizabeth Wharton Drexel
Elizabeth Wharton Drexel was an American author and Manhattan socialite.- Birth :She was the daughter of Lucy Wharton and Joseph William Drexel...
.
In a 1982 episode of Masterpiece Theatre that chronicled the life of Nancy Astor, Pierce Brosnan
Pierce Brosnan
Pierce Brendan Brosnan, OBE is an Irish actor, film producer and environmentalist. After leaving school at 16, Brosnan began training in commercial illustration, but trained at the Drama Centre in London for three years...
portrayed RGS II as a profligate and promiscuous gambler whom Nancy continued to love even after her marriage to Waldorf Astor. For this performance, Brosnan was nominated for a Best Supporting Actor in 1985.
External links
- City of Newton Massachusetts Atlas (1886): Section V, Ward 5. The location of the tract of land purchased by Robert Gould Shaw II in 1903 (property owned by William Sumner Appleton) is clearly visible on this 1886 map of Newton, Massachusetts.