Mrs Willie James (born Evelyn Elizabeth Forbes; 1867–1929), was known in the late Victorian and Edwardian period as the hostess of house parties and shooting weekends at the

West Dean House West Dean House is a large flint-faced manor house situated in West Dean, West Sussex, near the historic City of Chichester. This country estate has approximately of land and dates back to 1086, with various royal connections throughout the ye ...

country estate in Sussex, England. Frequent guests included

Albert Edward, Prince of Wales Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910. The second child and eldest son of Queen Victoria and ...

, who acted as godfather to her son,

Edward James Edward Frank Willis James (16 August 1907 – 2 December 1984) was a British poet known for his patronage of the surrealist art movement. Early life and marriage James was born on 16 August 1907, the only son of William James (who had inherite ...

. She was the eldest daughter of Helen Moncreiffe and Sir Charles Forbes, 4th Baronet of Newe. Their estate,

Castle Newe Castle Newe was a castellated mansion house, situated in Aberdeenshire, and designed in 1831 by Archibald Simpson. It was based on an existing Z-plan castle from 1604, which had square towers and was similar to Glenbuchat Castle. It was built by W ...

, was adjacent to

Balmoral Castle Balmoral Castle () is a large estate house in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, and a residence of the British royal family. It is near the village of Crathie, west of Ballater and west of Aberdeen. The estate and its original castle were bought ...

, the Scottish residence of

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 21 ...

and

Prince Albert Prince Albert most commonly refers to: *Albert, Prince Consort (1819–1861), consort of Queen Victoria *Albert II, Prince of Monaco (born 1958), present head of state of Monaco Prince Albert may also refer to: Royalty * Albert I of Belgium ...

. The two families knew each other and Evelyn became a friend to their son Edward, Prince of Wales (Edward VII). In 1889 she married

William Dodge James William Dodge James, (1854–1912) was the son of a wealthy American merchant, who was raised and educated in England. He married Evelyn Elizabeth Forbes, daughter of the Forbes baronets, 4th Baronet of Newe, who became a celebrated society hos ...

, who was the son of a wealthy merchant and they purchased

in the village of

West Dean, West Sussex West Dean is a village, Anglican parish and civil parish in the District of Chichester in West Sussex, England north of Chichester on the A286 road just west of Singleton. The parishes include the hamlets of Binderton and Chilgrove. The civ ...

, England. She became known as Mrs Willie James and was one of the great hostesses of the period, often entertaining the Prince of Wales as a guest, and other notables including the King of Spain. She and Willie James had five children, four daughters and a son — Edward William Frank James, whose godfather was Edward VII. Her daughter

Audrey Evelyn James Coats Audrey Evelyn James (married names Coats, Field, and Pleydell-Bouverie) (21 April 1902 – 14 February 1968) was an English socialite included in ''The Book of Beauty'' by Cecil Beaton. Through her mother she was allegedly the illegitimate grandda ...

married

Marshall Field III Marshall Field III (September 28, 1893 – November 8, 1956) was an American investment banker, publisher, racehorse owner/breeder, philanthropist, grandson of businessman Marshall Field, heir to the Marshall Field department store fortune, a ...

After the death of her husband in 1912, Evelyn married Major John Chaytor Brinton; the marriage was annulled in 1927. Evelyn died in 1929 following an operation and was buried in West Dean cemetery.

References

1867 births 1929 deaths 19th-century Scottish women 20th-century Scottish women Scottish socialites People from West Dean, West Sussex People from Aberdeenshire

External links

* {{YouTube, 0oosdgHLTGY, "The Secret Life of Edward James" 1978 George Melly interviews with Edward James