Cynthia Roche

Cynthia Roche
Born	Cynthia Roche April 10, 1884(1884-04-10) London, England[1]
Died	December 8, 1966(1966-12-08) (aged 82)
Spouse	Arthur Scott Burden
Children	Eileen Burden (1909-?) Guy Fairfax Cary, Jr. Cynthia Cary Van Pelt Russell
Parents	James Roche, 3rd Baron Fermoy Frances Ellen Work
Relatives	Maurice Roche, 4th Baron Fermoy, brother

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

Life and work

She was born on April 10, 1884 in London to James Roche, 3rd Baron Fermoy and Frances Ellen Work. Her brothers were Maurice Roche, 4th Baron Fermoy, the maternal grandfather of Diana, Princess of Wales., and the Hon. Francis Burke Roche. She became a naturalized United States citizen in 1908.^[2]

In 1904, Good Housekeeping magazine described her as among the members of New York's Four Hundred who were daring and skillful automobilists.^[3] Roche was also recognized as a skilled tennis player and horserider.^[4]

She married Arthur Scott Burden on June 11, 1906, with whom she had a daughter, Eileen Burden Maynard Robins (October 15, 1910 - March 24, 1970)^[5][6] and married to Walter Maynard, whose daughter Sheila Maynard, a clinical social worker who worked in Islamabad,^[7] married Nicholas Platt, a career diplomat who served as U.S. ambassador to Pakistan, Zambia and the Philippines,^[8] and had Adam Platt, New York Magazine restaurant critic, actor Oliver Platt 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.^[5] 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.^[4] Burden died from pneumonia in June, 1921.^[5]

She married Guy Fairfax Cary, Sr. in 1922 and they honeymooned at the fishing lodge of Rober Walton Goelet.^[9][10]

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 and Christie's in Manhattan.^[11]

References

1. ^ England & Wales Birth Index, St George in the East, 1c, 421
2. ^ "Mrs. Burden now a Citizen. The Former Cynthia Roche Takes Out Her Naturalization Papers". New York Times. July 19, 1908. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9E0DE0DF123EE233A2575AC1A9619C946997D6CF. Retrieved September 12, 2009. 
3. ^ Good Housekeeping (Hearst Corporation) 38: p. 343. 1904. 
4. ^ ^{a b} "Asks Burden Committee; Brother in Application Calls Relative Incompetent". New York Times: p. 2. May 3, 1921. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=980CEFDF1E3FEE3ABC4B53DFB366838A639EDE. Retrieved September 12, 2009. 
5. ^ ^{a b c} "A Victim of Pneumonia, He Passes Away in Hospital After a Brief Illness. He was 42 Years Old. Twice Injured by Falls From His Horse. Husband of Cynthia Roche.". New York Times. June 16, 1921. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9B05E7D81631EF33A25755C1A9609C946095D6CF. Retrieved August 28, 2009. "Arthur Scott Burden, brother of James A. Burden, President of the Burden Iron Works of Troy and husband of the former Cynthia Roche, died yesterday of pneumonia at a branch of the New York Hospital in White Plains. ..." 
6. ^ "Mrs. Burden To Wed Guy F. Cary Today. Widow of Arthur Scott Burden Will Marry New York Lawyer at Newport. Bride Is the Only Daughter of Mrs. Burke-Roche and a Sister of Baron Fermoy.". New York Times. July 24, 1922. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9903E1DD1239EF3ABC4C51DFB1668389639EDE. Retrieved 2009-08-28. "The social colony here received a big surprise today when it became known that Mrs. Arthur Scott Burden of 147 East Sixty-first Street, New York, and Guy Fairfax Cary of 54 Park Avenue, New York, are to be married at one o'clock tomorrow afternoon at Elm Court, the Summer home of Mrs. Burden's mother on Bellevue Avenue." 
7. ^ "Weddings; Camilla Campbell, Oliver Platt". New York Times. 1992-09-13. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E0CE2DA1739F930A2575AC0A964958260. Retrieved 2008-03-10. 
8. ^ Kipen, David (1995-04-03). "Oliver Platt: from second banana to pick of the bunch". L.A. Life (Los Angeles Daily News): p. L1. 
9. ^ "Mrs. Burden To Wed Guy F. Cary Today. Widow of Arthur Scott Burden Will Marry New York Lawyer at Newport. Bride Is the Only Daughter of Mrs. Burke-Roche and a Sister of Baron Fermoy.". New York Times. July 24, 1922. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9903E1DD1239EF3ABC4C51DFB1668389639EDE. Retrieved August 28, 2009. "The social colony here received a big surprise today when it became known that Mrs. Arthur Scott Burden of 147 East Sixty-first Street, New York, and Guy Fairfax Cary of 54 Park Avenue, New York, are to be married at one o'clock tomorrow afternoon at Elm Court, the Summer home of Mrs. Burden's mother on Bellevue Avenue." 
10. ^ "Mrs. Burden Weds Guy Fairfax Cary. Seventy Relatives and Friends at Widow's Marriage to New York Lawyer at Roche Home. Amid 11,000 Columbia Roses. Bridal Pair Leave by Motor for R. W. Goelet's Fishing Lodge in Canada to Spend Honeymoon.". New York Times. July 25, 1922. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9F0CE2DC1239EF3ABC4D51DFB1668389639EDE. Retrieved August 28, 2009. "In the presence of about seventy relatives and close friends in the reception room of Elm Court, the Summer home of Mrs. Burke Roche, on Bellevue Avenue, Mrs. Cynthia Roche Burden, Mrs. Roche's ..." 
11. ^ "Cynthia Cary Collection". Redwood Library & Athenæum. http://redwoodlibrary.org/special_collections/cynthia_cary_collection.html. Retrieved September 12, 2009. "In 1981, the Redwood Library received the Cynthia Cary Collection from Guy Fairfax Cary, Jr., in memory of his mother. Collected over decades by Mr. and Mrs. Guy Fairfax Cary, Sr., devoted benefactors of Redwood who were passionately interested in 18th century English decorative arts, the Cary Collection contains nearly 200 English and related continental pattern books of furniture, decoration, and ornament from the late 15th century to the mid-19th century."