Full Name Cynthia Roche Political party Republican Role Socialite | Occupation Art Collector Name Cynthia Roche Died December 8, 1966 | |
 | ||
Born April 10, 1884 London, England Residence "Elm Court", Newport RI Relatives Maurice Roche, 4th Baron Fermoy (brother) Spouse Arthur Scott Burden (m. 1906–1921) Children Cynthia Cary Van Pelt Russell, Eileen Burden Maynard Robins, Guy Fairfax Cary, Jr. Parents James Roche, 3rd Baron Fermoy, Frances Ellen Work Siblings Maurice Roche, 4th Baron Fermoy, Eileen Roche Similar Frances Ellen Work, Frances Shand Kydd, Nicholas Platt | ||
Cynthia Burke Roche (10 April 1884 – 8 December 1966) was a Newport, Rhode Island socialite and an art collector.
Contents
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.
In 1904, Good Housekeeping magazine described her as among the members of New York's Four Hundred (see Forbes 400) who were daring and skillful automobilists. Roche was also recognized as a skilled tennis player and horserider.
Family
Roche married Arthur Scott Burden (1879-1921) on June 11, 1906. Burden was the grandson of industrialist Henry Burden and President of the family business 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. 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. Burden died from pneumonia in June, 1921. The couple had a daughter:
After her first husband's death, Roche married Guy Fairfax Cary, Sr. in 1922 and they honeymooned at the fishing lodge of Robert Walton Goelet. They had 2 children:
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.
Great-grandmother of actor Oliver Platt.