Marmaduke Furness, 1st Viscount Furness (29 October 1883 – 6 October 1940) was a British shipping magnate and during his lifetime one of the richest men in the world.

Early life

Furness was born on 29 October 1883 at

West Hartlepool West Hartlepool was a predecessor of Hartlepool, County Durham, England. It developed in the Victorian era and took the name from its western position in the parish of what is now known as the Headland. The former town was originally formed ...

Durham, England Durham ( , locally ) is a cathedral city and civil parish in the county of County Durham, Durham, England. It is the county town and contains the headquarters of Durham County Council, the unitary authority which governs the district of Count ...

. He was the son of

Christopher Furness, 1st Baron Furness Christopher Furness, 1st Baron Furness (23 April 1852 – 10 November 1912) was a British businessman and Liberal Party politician. Early life Furness was born in West Hartlepool, Durham on 23 April 1852. He was the seventh son of John Furne ...

and Jane Annette Suggit. His father was the seventh son of John Furness of West Hartlepool, and Averill Eastor Furness (

née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...

Wilson). His mother was the only daughter of Henry Suggitt of Brierton,

County Durham County Durham, officially simply Durham, is a ceremonial county in North East England.UK General Acts 1997 c. 23Lieutenancies Act 1997 Schedule 1(3). From legislation.gov.uk, retrieved 6 April 2022. The county borders Northumberland and Tyne an ...

Career

He served as Chairman of

Furness Withy Furness Withy was a major United Kingdom, British transport business. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange. History The company was founded by Christopher Furness, 1st Baron Furness, Christopher Furness and Henry Withy (1852–1922) in 18 ...

, the shipbuilding firm, and was also involved in the steel and iron business. He succeeded his father as 2nd Baron Furness in 1912, and in 1918 was created Viscount Furness, of Grantley in the West Riding of the County of Yorkshire. In November 1929, he was reported as being

Laird Laird () is a Scottish word for minor lord (or landlord) and is a designation that applies to an owner of a large, long-established Scotland, Scottish estate. In the traditional Scottish order of precedence, a laird ranked below a Baronage of ...

of the Glen Affric Estate in the

Scottish Highlands The Highlands (; , ) is a historical region of Scotland. Culturally, the Highlands and the Scottish Lowlands, Lowlands diverged from the Late Middle Ages into the modern period, when Scots language, Lowland Scots language replaced Scottish Gae ...

."Philadelphia Beauty Won By Peer As Brother Spurns Dukedom", Philadelphia Inquirer, 14 June 1921 After his father's death, when in London he lived at 21 Grosvenor Square until 1933 when he moved his London residence to Lees Place, also in Mayfair.

Personal life

Lord Furness was married three times. His first marriage was to Ada "Daisy" Hogg, daughter of an English businessman, G. J. H. Hogg of Seaton Carew. She was heavily involved in the

Red Cross The organized International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a Humanitarianism, humanitarian movement with approximately 16million volunteering, volunteers, members, and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ...

during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. She died on 28 February 1921, aboard the Furness yacht ''Sapphire'' off the coast of Portugal, while recovering from an operation and was buried at sea. She and Lord Furness had two children: * Hon. Averill Furness (1908–1936), who married Andrew Rattray in 1932; he died in 1933. * Hon. Christopher Furness, VC (1912–1940)

Second marriage

Lord Furness married secondly, in 1926, Thelma Morgan Converse, the former Mrs James Vail Converse and a daughter of Harry Hays Morgan Sr., an American diplomat. They divorced in 1933 as a result of Lady Furness's affairs with

Aly Khan Prince Aly Salomone Khan (13 June 1911 – 12 May 1960), known as Aly Khan, was an Ismaili sayyid, socialite and ambassador for Pakistan. He was the son of the Aga Khan III, and the father of Aga Khan IV. A socialite, racehorse owner and jock ...

and Edward, Prince of Wales (later Edward VIII). They had one son: *

William Anthony Furness, 2nd Viscount Furness William Anthony Furness, 2nd Viscount Furness (31 March 1929 – 1 May 1995) was a British peer. He was the producer and financier of many West End plays, and an active member of the Royal Central Asian Society. He was also a knight of the Sov ...

, aka Tony (1929–1995) In June 1921, Lord Furness was engaged to Julie Thompson (née Julie Francis Eleanor Phillips, died 15 April 1967), an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

socialite A socialite is a person, typically a woman from a wealthy or aristocratic background, who is prominent in high society. A socialite generally spends a significant amount of time attending various fashionable social gatherings, instead of having ...

and former wife of stockbroker George Lee Thompson. She had previously turned down offers of marriage by other nobles including Grand Duke Nicholas of Russia and his cousin Grand Duke Alexander Michaelovitch. The engagement was broken off.

Third marriage

Furness's third and final marriage was to Enid Cavendish (née Lindeman), the Australia-born widow of Brig. Gen. Frederick Cavendish; she was also the widow of

Roderick Cameron Sir Roderick William Cameron (July 25, 1825 – October 19, 1900) was a Canadian and American businessman noted for co-founding the R. W. Cameron and Company shipping line in New York City, as well as for his role as an official representative o ...

. She and Lord Furness were married in 1933. By this marriage he had three stepchildren: Roderick "Rory" William Cameron (1914–1985), Patricia Enid Cavendish (1925–2019) and Frederick Caryll Philip Cavendish, 7th

Baron Waterpark Baron Waterpark of Waterpark in the County of Cork, is a title in the Peerage of Ireland. It was created in 1792 for Sarah, Lady Cavendish, in honour of her husband, Sir Henry Cavendish, 2nd Baronet. Sir Henry Cavendish was a politician who repr ...

(1926–2013). Lord Furness died on 6 October 1940, aged 56, 5 months after his son

Christopher Christopher is the English language, English version of a Europe-wide name derived from the Greek language, Greek name Χριστόφορος (''Christophoros'' or ''Christoforos''). The constituent parts are Χριστός (''Christós''), "Jesus ...

was killed in the Battle of Arras. He was succeeded by his younger and only surviving son,

Tony Tony may refer to: People and fictional characters * Tony the Tiger, cartoon mascot for Frosted Flakes cereal * Tony (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Gregory Tony (born 1978), American law enforcement officer * ...

, as second viscount.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Furness, Marmaduke Furness, 1st Viscount 1883 births 1940 deaths Viscounts in the Peerage of the United Kingdom 20th-century British businesspeople Viscounts created by George V