{{Short description|American actress (1864–1921)}} {{Infobox person | name = Edith Mary Kingdon Gould | image = Mrs. George Jay Gould LCCN98518970 (cropped).jpg | caption = Kingdon in 1903 | birth_name = Edith Mary Kingdon | birth_date = {{birth date|1864|8|23|mf=y}} | birth_place = Brooklyn, New York, US | death_date = {{death date and age|1921|11|13|1864|8|23|mf=y}} | spouse = {{marriage|George Jay Gould<br>|1885}} | children = 7, including Helen Vivien, Kingdon, Jay II and Gloria Gould | relatives = | death_place = Georgian Court, Lakewood Township, New Jersey }} '''Edith Mary Kingdon Gould''' (August 24, 1864 &ndash; November 13, 1921) was an American actress. She married George Jay Gould, American railroad developer and speculator known as one of the ruthless robber barons of the Gilded Age.<ref name=obit/><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://search.alexanderstreet.com/ticc|title=Theatre in Context Collection &#124; Alexander Street, part of Clarivate|website=search.alexanderstreet.com}}</ref>

==Early life== She was born in 1864 in Brooklyn, New York, and educated in England. She was the daughter of Charles Dennis Kingdon and Mary Carter of Toronto, Ontario.

==Career== She worked as a stage actress until her marriage to George Jay Gould I.<ref name="1908OneDay">{{cite news|title=MRS. GOULD TURNS ACTRESS FOR A DAY; Large and Fashionable Audience Greets Her in "Mrs. Van Vechten's Divorce Dance." PLAZA TEA ROOM THRONGED Guests Came Early to Obtain Seats -- Star's Acting Shows She Has Lost None of Her Skill.|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1908/01/22/archives/mrs-gould-turns-actress-for-a-day-large-and-fashionable-audience.html|access-date=25 September 2017|work=The New York Times|date=January 22, 1908}}</ref> In 1908, she returned to acting, appearing in a one-act play opposite Frederick Townsend Martin.<ref name="1908Acting">{{cite news|title=MRS. GOULD TO RE-APPEAR IN A ONE-ACT PLAY; To be Seen Next Week in Semi-Private Theatricals at the Plaza After an Absence of Twenty Years from the Stage. Nordica Upsets Programme. How It All Happened.|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1908/01/12/archives/mrs-gould-to-reappear-in-a-oneact-play-to-be-seen-next-week-in.html|access-date=25 September 2017|work=The New York Times|date=1908}}</ref> The play, ''Mrs. Van Vechten's Divorce Dance'', was performed in the ballroom of the Plaza Hotel.<ref name="1908OneDay"/><ref name="Gathje2014">{{cite book|last1=Gathje|first1=Curtis|title=At the Plaza: An Illustrated History of the World's Most Famous Hotel|date=2014|publisher=St. Martin's Press|isbn=9781466867000|page=40|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aR7SAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA40|access-date=25 September 2017|language=en}}</ref> Her performance was attended by Commodore Elbridge Thomas Gerry and his wife, Louisa Livingston Gerry, Mrs. Vanderbilt, Gladys Vanderbilt, Count Széchenyi, Ellen French Vanderbilt (wife of Alfred G. Vanderbilt), Mrs. Emily Vanderbilt Sloane, Marion Anthon Fish (wife of Stuyvesant Fish), Ruth Livingston Mills (wife of Ogden Mills), Anne Harriman Vanderbilt (wife of William Kissam Vanderbilt), and many others prominent in New York society.<ref name="1908OneDay"/>

[[File:Edith M. Kingdon Gould and her daughter, Marjorie Gould in 1903.jpg|thumb|Daughter Marjorie Gould and her mother Edith Kingdon Gould in 1903, photo by Theodore C. Marceau]] Edith and George hired Bruce Price, to build their home, which they called Georgian Court.<ref name="1899GeoCourt">{{cite news|title=GEORGIAN COURT.|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1899/07/23/archives/georgian-court.html|access-date=25 September 2017|work=The New York Times|date=23 July 1899}}</ref> The site is now Georgian Court University.<ref name="1934College">{{cite news|title=Georgian Court College Opens.|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1934/09/27/archives/georgian-court-college-opens.html|access-date=25 September 2017|work=The New York Times|date=27 September 1934}}</ref>

==Personal life== She married George Jay Gould I (1864–1923), a financier and railroad executive who led both the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad and the Western Pacific Railroad. Gould was the son of Jay Gould, who is considered one of the ruthless robber barons of the Gilded Age.<ref>{{cite book|author=Maury Klein|title=The Life and Legend of Jay Gould|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Oetqt4uqaJsC&pg=PA393|year=1997|page=393|isbn=9780801857713|access-date=September 25, 2017}}</ref> Together, George and Edith had the following children:<ref>{{cite magazine |title=The Goulds Are Going |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,881484,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081202080030/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,881484,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=December 2, 2008 |magazine=Time |date= March 23, 1925|access-date=2007-08-21 }}</ref>

* Kingdon Gould, Sr. (1887–1945), who married Annunziata Camilla Maria Lucci (1890–1961).<ref>{{cite news |title=Kingdon Gould, 58, Long A Financier. Grandson Of Founder Of Family Fortune Dies. Once On Rail Boards. Officer In 1918. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1945/11/08/archives/kingdon-gould-58-long-a-financier-grandson-of-founder-of-family.html |work=The New York Times |date=November 8, 1945 |access-date=2008-06-19 }}</ref> * Jay Gould II (1888–1935), a tennis player who married Anne Douglass Graham, a descendant of Hawaiian royalty.<ref>{{cite news |title=Jay Gould Is Dead. Court Tennis Star. Grandson of the Financier Had Held Championship for Quarter of Century. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1935/01/28/archives/jay-gould-is-dead-court-tennis-star-grandson-of-the-financier-had.html |work=The New York Times |date=January 28, 1935 |access-date=2007-07-21 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web | title = The Colfax chronicle. (Colfax, Grant Parish, La.) 1877-1981, July 22, 1911, Image 7 « Chronicling America « Library of Congress | url = http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn88064176/1911-07-22/ed-1/seq-7/ | access-date = 9 May 2013 }}</ref> * Marjorie Gwynne Gould (1891–1955), who married Anthony Joseph Drexel III (1887–1946), the son of Anthony Joseph Drexel, Jr. and grandson of Anthony Joseph Drexel.<ref>{{cite news |title=Marjorie Gould to Wed A.J. Drexel, Jr. Engagement of George Jay Gould's Eldest Daughters is Announced at a Dance |url= https://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F3081EFD3A5D16738DDDA00994D9405B808DF1D3 |newspaper=The New York Times |date=January 19, 1910 |access-date=2012-08-10 }}</ref> * Helen Vivien Gould (1893–1931) who married John Beresford, 5th Baron Decies (1866–1945).<ref>{{cite news |title=Lady Decies Dies at 38 in London. Former Helen Vivien Gould Was Principal in Brilliant International Wedding of 1911. Was Noted As Hostess. Her Entertaining Was a Feature of British Capital. Husband Is Distinguished Irish Peer. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1931/02/03/archives/lady-decies-dies-at-38-in-london-former-helen-vivien-gould-was.html |work=The New York Times |date=February 3, 1931|access-date=2007-11-26 }}</ref> * George Jay Gould II (1896-1963) who married, and later divorced,<ref name="1923Divorce">{{cite news|title=George J. Gould Jr. Wins Divorce at Nice; Wife, Former Dancer, Takes Children|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1923/03/15/archives/george-j-gould-jr-wins-divorce-at-nice-wife-former-dancer-takes.html|access-date=25 September 2017|work=The New York Times|date=15 March 1923}}</ref> Laura Carter.<ref>{{cite news |title=He Is George Jay Gould, Jr. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1896/05/15/archives/he-is-george-jay-gould-jr.html |work=The New York Times |date=May 15, 1896 |access-date=2008-08-22 }}</ref> * Edith Catherine Gould (1901–1937) who married Carroll Livingston Wainwright I (1899–1967).<ref name="CLWObit1967">{{cite news|title=Carroll Wainwright, Artist and Member Of L.I. Family, Dies|url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9F0CE5D8103AE63ABC4F53DFB166838C679EDE&legacy=true|access-date=25 April 2017|work=The New York Times|date=7 July 1967}}</ref> They divorced and she married Sir Hector Murray MacNeal.<ref>{{cite news |title=Lady MacNeal Dies. Was Edith Gould. Granddaughter of Financier, 36, Succumbs at Estate in East Hampton. Wife of British Knight. Wrote Autobiography Telling of Family Life ... |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1937/09/12/archives/lady-mneal-dies-was-edith-gould-granddaughter-of-financier-36.html |work=The New York Times |date= September 12, 1937|access-date=2008-08-22 }}</ref> * Gloria Gould (1906–1943) who married Henry A. Bishop II,<ref name="1923BishopGouldWedding">{{cite news|title=GLORIA GOULD WEDS HENRY A. BISHOP JR; Daughter of Late Mr. and Mrs. George J. Could a Bride in St. Bartholomew's.|url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9E00E3D71030E233A2575AC1A96F9C946295D6CF&legacy=true|access-date=25 September 2017|work=The New York Times|date=19 September 1923}}</ref> and after a divorce married Walter McFarlane Barker.<ref name="1938Banquet">{{cite news|title=MISS MAE C. FLYNN HONORED AT DINNER; Mrs. W. McFarlane Barker Is Hostess for Bride-Elect|url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9F0CE7DF1238EE3ABC4C51DFB3668383629EDE&legacy=true|access-date=25 September 2017|work=The New York Times|date=24 May 1938}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Gloria Gould Barker Is Drowned In Swim Pool at Arizona Home. Mrs. W.M. Barker Drowns In A Pool. Victim Of Accident. |url=https://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=FB0B17FD3F59147B93C4A81783D85F478485F9 |publisher=Associated Press in The New York Times |date=August 16, 1943 |access-date=2008-06-07 }}</ref>

She died on November 13, 1921, at the golf course of their home at Georgian Court in Lakewood Township, New Jersey.<ref name=obit>{{cite news |title=Mrs. George J. Gould Dies Playing Golf |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1921/11/14/archives/mrs-george-j-gould-dies-playing-golf-stricken-with-heart-disease.html |newspaper=The New York Times |date=November 14, 1921 |access-date=2014-12-31 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/ajc_historic/access/516575532.html?dids=516575532:516575532&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:AI&date=Nov+14,+1921&author=&pub=The+Atlanta+Constitution&desc=MRS.+GEORGE+J.+GOULD+DIES+ON+GOLF+LINKS&pqatl=google |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110605045912/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/ajc_historic/access/516575532.html?dids=516575532:516575532&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:AI&date=Nov+14,+1921&author=&pub=The+Atlanta+Constitution&desc=MRS.+GEORGE+J.+GOULD+DIES+ON+GOLF+LINKS&pqatl=google |url-status=dead |archive-date=June 5, 2011 |title=Mrs. George J. Gould Dies On Golf Links. Before Marriage Was Edith Kingdon, Noted And Beautiful Actress |work=Atlanta Constitution |date=November 14, 1921 |access-date=2010-04-02 }}</ref> After a private funeral at the Gould home, she was buried at Woodlawn Cemetery, Bronx, in the Jay Gould Mausoleum.<ref name="1921Funeral">{{cite news|title=GOULD FUNERAL PRIVATE.; Services for Capitalist's Wife at Fifth Av. Home Tomorrow at 2 P.M.|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1921/11/15/archives/gould-funeral-private-services-for-capitalists-wife-at-fifth-av.html|access-date=25 September 2017|work=The New York Times|date=15 November 1921}}</ref>

===Descendants=== Through her daughter Edith, she was the grandmother of Stuyvesant Wainwright (1921–2010), a Member of the U.S. House of Representatives.<ref name="NYTObit2010">{{cite news|title=WAINWRIGHT, STUYVESANT II|url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B0CE4DC1E3AF937A25750C0A9669D8B63|access-date=25 April 2017|work=The New York Times|date=14 March 2010}}</ref>

Through her daughter Helen, she was the grandmother of Arthur Beresford, 6th Baron Decies (1915–1992).

==References== {{reflist|30em}}

==External links== {{Commons category|Edith M. Kingdon}} {{wikisource}} *{{IMDb name|0455413}}

{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kingdon, Edith}} Category:Gould family Category:1864 births Category:1921 deaths Category:People from Lakewood Township, New Jersey Category:Burials at the Jay Gould Mausoleum