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Dorothy Payne <I>Whitney</I> Elmhirst

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Dorothy Payne Whitney Elmhirst

Birth
Washington, District of Columbia, District of Columbia, USA
Death
14 Dec 1968 (aged 81)
Newton Abbot, Teignbridge District, Devon, England
Burial
Dartington, South Hams District, Devon, England Add to Map
Plot
She was cremated and her ashes scattered in the garden at Dartington Hall.
Memorial ID
View Source
Dorothy Payne Whitney was the daughter of William Collins Whitney, who served as the United States Secretary of the Navy during the first Cleveland administration (1885-1889), and his first wife, Flora Payne Whitney, the daughter of Senator Henry B. Payne. She was married in 1911 to Willard Dickerman Straight, who died during the 1918 pandemic while serving with the United States Army in France during World War I. She was married in 1925 to Leonard Knight Elmhirst, an Englishman from a Yorkshire landowning family. They embarked on ambitious plans to recreate rural community life at Dartington Hall in Devon, undertaking a major restoration and conservation of Dartington Hall. She founded Dartington College of Arts and Dartington International Summer School.

In his 1980 biography of Dorothy (Whitney) Elmhirst, entitled Whitney Father, Whitney Heiress, W. A Swanberg writes, page 471:

"...her funeral ceremony was held at the Anglican church in the village. She was cremated and her ashes scattered in her own Dartington garden, where Leonard's ashes were later to join hers."
Dorothy Payne Whitney was the daughter of William Collins Whitney, who served as the United States Secretary of the Navy during the first Cleveland administration (1885-1889), and his first wife, Flora Payne Whitney, the daughter of Senator Henry B. Payne. She was married in 1911 to Willard Dickerman Straight, who died during the 1918 pandemic while serving with the United States Army in France during World War I. She was married in 1925 to Leonard Knight Elmhirst, an Englishman from a Yorkshire landowning family. They embarked on ambitious plans to recreate rural community life at Dartington Hall in Devon, undertaking a major restoration and conservation of Dartington Hall. She founded Dartington College of Arts and Dartington International Summer School.

In his 1980 biography of Dorothy (Whitney) Elmhirst, entitled Whitney Father, Whitney Heiress, W. A Swanberg writes, page 471:

"...her funeral ceremony was held at the Anglican church in the village. She was cremated and her ashes scattered in her own Dartington garden, where Leonard's ashes were later to join hers."

Gravesite Details

She was cremated and her ashes scattered in the garden at Dartington Hall.



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  • Created by: CMWJR
  • Added: Apr 26, 2020
  • Find a Grave Memorial ID:
  • Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/209519334/dorothy_payne-elmhirst: accessed ), memorial page for Dorothy Payne Whitney Elmhirst (23 Jan 1887–14 Dec 1968), Find a Grave Memorial ID 209519334, citing Dartington Hall and Gardens, Dartington, South Hams District, Devon, England; Maintained by CMWJR (contributor 50059520).