another American countess in the making

On November 1, 1905, The Tatler, a weekly publication that covered high society events and gossip, broke news of an engagement between an American heiress from New York and an British nobleman.

"Though the engagement between Lord Willoughby de Eresby and Miss Eloise Breese has only recently been announced, it has practically existed for some time, and everybody who knew the two families was aware that the official announcement was only a question of time. Lord Willoughby was constantly in attendance at Mrs. Harry Higgins's and was not to be tempted elsewhere.

In its cutting fashion, The Tatler does not hesitate to bring up the notion that American heiresses have money, but the British have titles that transcend wealth:
 
It is an open secret that there are two or three of the best families of Britain who would have welcomed an alliance with Lord Ancaster’s heir, and it is equally certain that the ladies concerned were willing. The engagement is indeed a real American triumph, for Lord Willoughby as one of the greatest parties in the marriage market. Miss Breese may have money in her own right, but Lord Willoughby has both long descent and the prospect of broad acres when in the course of nature he succeeds to one of our oldest and best endowed titles.
 
The Tatler, in all fairness, takes jibes at the British nobility, pointing out the snobbery of the Earl of Ancaster, Willoughby de Eresby’s father:
 
The future father-in-law of miss Eloise Breese is known in certain quarters as the inaccessible Earl. As becomes a hereditary Lord Great Chamberlain he is hedged round with dignity, and there is no member of the peerage with whom it is more difficult for an outsider to obtain an interview. Lord Ancaster keeps a man specially employed, they say, in fending off intruders. Seriously, he is very exclusive and disdains to mix with the common crowd. His intimates are indeed very few and very highly placed.
 
The Tatler goes on to explain that the Earl’s wife is also quite snobby:
 
Lady Ancaster is also very exclusive, and her parties hitherto have never been overrun with the “nouveaux riches”. The sister of a Marquis of Huntly, she, too, has a pedigree which goes back some seven centuries, and when she meets a pushing social climber can easily convey the impression that the family tree really had its roots in the glacial period.
 
I can imagine the arguments the Earl and Countess had with their son because he chose to marry not only a member of the nouveaux riches, but an American to boot!

The big day came on, December 6, 1905. Newspapers in the United States and Britain, described in the event in full detail. The Grantham Journal said:
 
There was a large and fashionable assembly on Wednesday afternoon, at Saint Margaret’s Church, Westminster, when Lord Willoughby de Eresby  (Gilbert Heathcote Drummond Willoughby), MP for the Horncastle Division of Lincolnshire, eldest of the Earl and Countess of Ancaster, of Normanton Park Stamford;  Grimsthorpe Castle, Bourne, Lincolnshire; and Drummond Castle, Crieff […], was married to Miss Eloise Breese, elder daughter of the late Mr. W.L. Breese of New York, and of Mrs. H.V. Higgins, of One Upper Berkeley Street, Portman Square, SW [Eloise’s mother had moved to London after her first husband’s death] some handsome decorations had been arranged in the chancel of tall palms and white flowers in the altar vases were also filled with choice white blooms.
 
The bridegroom was supported by his brother the Hon. Peter Willoughby as best man there were eight bridesmaids in attendance upon the bride, and who waited her arrival in the spacious porch of the church, namely, the ladies Blanche and Diana Somerset, Lady Alice Willoughby, sister of the bridegroom, Miss Ann Breese sister of the bride, Lady Dorothy Onslow, the Hon. Gladys Fellowes, Miss H Moyra Goth, and Miss Peggy Cavendish.
 
The four elder ladies were gowned in pale periwinkle-blue satin, trimmed with chiffon, the skirts having a band of brown fur at the helm; velvet hats to match the gowns comma trimmed with blue feathers and veils of chiffon. They carried muffs to correspond with their dresses. The bridegroom presented to them diamond and ruby crescent broaches. The four little girls looked well in long blue coats and hats without veils and the bride groom presented them with diamond and ruby heart lockets.
 
The bride wore a gown of plain white satin, slightly trimmed with lace and silver, and a Brussels lace veil, over a tiara of orange blossom; her only ornament was a pearl necklace, the gift of the bridegroom, and instead of the orthodox bridal bouquet, she carried a prayer book.
 
The list of gifts was two columns long and included:

• A tortoise shell umbrella handle from Mrs. Waldorf Astor, junior
  
• Two ivory boxes from Mr and lady Evelyn Guinness
  
• A diamond and topaz brooch from Lord and Lady Barrymore
• A large silver cigar box from the Duke of Canaught
• Copenhagen China vases from Princess Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden
• A traveling cushion from Prince Francis of Teck
• A diamond tiara from the bride’s mother and a diamond crescent from the bride’s stepfather
• A diamond necklace with a single stone pendant, a Pearl necklace and a pair of Pearl earrings, three brooches set with diamonds, and a complete chest of silver plate from the Earl and Countess of Ancaster.

 
Image: Daily Mirror, Wednesday, 06 December 1905, page 8. Image © Reach PLC. Image created courtesy of THE BRITISH LIBRARY BOARD. The British Newspaper Archive (www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk)
Sources:
Grantham Journal, Saturday 9th of December 1905, page 6.Image © THE BRITISH LIBRARY BOARD. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. The British Newspaper Archive (www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk).
The Tatler, Wednesday November 1st 1905, page 20. Image illustrated London News Group. The British Newspaper Archive (www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk)