Bessie Wallis (Warfield) Windsor (1896 - 1986)

Born 19 Jun 1896 in Square Cottage, Monterey Inn, Blue Ridge Summit, Franklin County, Pennsylvania, United States of America

Ancestors

Wife of Earl Winfield Spencer Jr — married 8 Nov 1916 (to 10 Dec 1927) in Baltimore, Baltimore, Maryland, United States

Wife of Ernest Aldrich Simpson — married 21 Jul 1928 (to 3 May 1937) in London, England

Wife of Edward Albert Christian George Andrew Patrick David (Sachsen-Coburg und Gotha) Windsor — married 3 Jun 1937 in Château de Candé, Monts, Indre-et-Loire, France

Died 24 Apr 1986 at age 89 in Bois de Boulogne, Paris, Ile-de-France, France

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Biography

Wallis (Warfield) Windsor is Notable.

Bessie Wallis Warfield, (later she dropped the "Bessie"), was born on 19 June 1896 in Square Cottage, Monterey Inn, Blue Ridge Summit, Franklin County, Pennsylvania, the daughter of Teackle Wallis Warfield and Alice M. Montague. She was named after her mother's favorite aunt, Bessie (Montague) Merryman, and Teackle's middle name, Wallis. The Warfields were living at Monterey Inn at that time in an attempt to cure Teackle's tuberculosis, which ended his life in November 1896, when Bessie was about five months old. Alice and Bessie were left with little to support them.^[1][2][3]

At first, Alice and Bessie moved in with Teackle's mother, Anna in Baltimore, Maryland but the two women could not get along, due either to the fact that Solomon Warfield, Wallis' bachelor uncle, had fallen in love with Alice or because Anna just didn't like Alice dating so soon after Teackle's death. So Alice and Bessie moved again, to a hotel, then yet again into the home of Alice's aunt. They soon took an apartment in a building with several other tenants. Solomon helped the two out with the majority of their expenses, but Alice also did some small at-home sewing and took a hand at cooking for some of the other tenants in the apartment building where she lived.^[1][4]

In 1908, Alice married John Freeman Rasin, an insurance broker, and moved her family to Baltimore, Maryland.^[1][2]

Wallis married Earl Winfield Spencer Jr., a member of the U.S. Navy, on 8 November 1916 at Christ Protestant Episcopal Church in Baltimore, Maryland. He was "a violent alcoholic", and she left him in 1921, though they did not divorce until 10 December 1927, when it was registered in Fauquier, Virginia.^[1][3][5][6]

Wallis moved to London where she married banker Ernest Aldrich Simpson on 21 July 1928 at the Chelsea Registrar's Office, Chelsea, London, England. She divorced Ernest on 27 October 1936 but not before she had begun a romantic relationship with Edward, Prince of England, heir to the throne.^[1][7][8]

England's King George died on 20 January 1936, making Edward the king. His desire to marry Wallis was objected to by the British government, as well as the British public. His famous abdication speech given on 11 December 1936 stated that, "The throne means nothing to me without Wallis beside me."^[9] Edward and Wallis were married on 3 June 1937 in Chateau de Cande, Maine-et-Loire, France, and lived thereafter in semi-exile from Britain, mostly in France, with occasional trips to Great Britain and the United States.^[1]

After his abdication, Edward was made Duke of Windsor by his brother, King George VI. Wallis was styled Duchess of Windsor but because of a new statute created just for her, she was not called "Her Royal Highness". ^[1][10]

Edward and Wallis were suspected during World War II to be sympathetic to the Nazis. The couple adopted a jet-setting lifestyle, living as socialites until Edward died in 1972. After his death, Wallis was rarely seen in public.^[1]

Wallis died on 24 April 1986 in Bois de Boulogne, Paris, France. She was buried next to Edward, on 29 April 1986 at Frogmore House, Windsor, Berkshire, England."^[1][11]

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8} Will Johnson and published at KnolWayback Machine version under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1} "United States Census, 1910," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M2FQ-VQY : accessed 2 June 2020), Bessie W Warfield in household of J Freeman Rasie, Baltimore Ward 10, Baltimore (Independent City), Maryland, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 158, sheet 14B, family 35, NARA microfilm publication T624 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1982), roll 556; FHL microfilm 1,374,569.
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1} "United States Passport Applications, 1795-1925," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QV5Y-DKCY : 16 March 2018), Wallis Warfield Spencer, 1923; citing Passport Application, , source certificate #360329, Passport Applications, January 2, 1906 - March 31, 1925, 2405, NARA microfilm publications M1490 and M1372 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).
4. ↑ Ancestry.com. 1900 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2004. Year: 1900; Census Place: Baltimore Ward 13, Baltimore City (Independent City), Maryland; Page: 22; Enumeration District: 0161; FHL microfilm: 1240613 Ancestry Record 7602 #78458118
5. ↑ "Washington, Seattle, Passenger Lists, 1890-1957," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KDZ7-RHY : 12 March 2018), Wallis Warfield Spencer, 1925; citing Seattle, King, Washington, United States, NARA microfilm publication M1383, National Archives and Records Administration, Washington, D.C.; FHL microfilm 2,266,096.
6. ↑ Ancestry.com. Virginia, Divorce Records, 1918-2014 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015. Virginia Department of Health; Richmond, Virginia; Virginia Divorce Records, 1918-2014 Ancestry Record 9280 #30524
7. ↑ "New York, New York Passenger and Crew Lists, 1909, 1925-1957," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:24FW-M1T : 12 March 2018), Wallis W Simpson, 1929; citing Immigration, New York, New York, United States, NARA microfilm publication T715 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).
8. ↑ "New York, New York Passenger and Crew Lists, 1909, 1925-1957," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:24VM-WCD : 12 March 2018), Wallis Simpson, 1933; citing Immigration, New York, New York, United States, NARA microfilm publication T715 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).
9. ↑ (The Royals, page 15)
10. ↑ Ancestry.com. New York, Passenger and Crew Lists (including Castle Garden and Ellis Island), 1820-1957 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. Year: 1937; Arrival: New York, New York, USA; Microfilm Serial: T715, 1897-1957; Line: 2; Page Number: 14 Ancestry Record 7488 #24776724
11. ↑ Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com : accessed 01 June 2020), memorial page for Wallis Simpson (19 Jun 1896–24 Apr 1986), Find A Grave: Memorial #4252, citing Royal Burial Ground, Windsor, Windsor and Maidenhead Royal Borough, Berkshire, England ; Maintained by Find A Grave .

• Philip Ziegler, ‘Windsor , (Bessie) Wallis, duchess of Windsor (1896–1986)’, rev. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Jan 2011 accessed 31 Oct 2017
• Wallis Simpson