Margaret Eleanor Crosby
Margaret Eleanor Crosby, Baroness Huntingfield, of Heveningham Hall (New York City, April 25, 1884 – London, England, March 1, 1943) was an American heiress and philanthropist.{{Cite book |last=Scheufele |first=Michael |url= |title=Jacob Scheuffelin, currently in Pennsylvania … Five Hundred Years of the Schieffelin Family |publisher=wbg Academic in Herder |year=2022 |isbn=978-3534450060 |location= |pages=156–157 |language=EN}}{{Cite book |last=Gillotti |first=Susan |title=Women of Privilege: 100 Years of Love and Loss in a Family of the Hudson River Valley |publisher=Academy Chicago Publishers |year=2013 |isbn=978-0897337243 |location=Chicago, IL |language=EN}}{{Cite web |title=Margaret Eleanor (née Crosby), Lady Huntingfield - National Portrait Gallery |url=https://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/person/mp91572/margaret-eleanor-nee-crosby-lady-huntingfield |access-date=2023-07-30 |website=www.npg.org.uk |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=Margaret Eleanor Crosby (1884-1963) - HouseHistree |url=https://househistree.com/people/margaret-eleanor-crosby |access-date=2023-07-30 |website=househistree.com}}{{Cite web |title=Margaret Eleanor Crosby 1884-1943 - Ancestry® |url=https://www.ancestry.com.au/genealogy/records/margaret-eleanor-crosby-24-21g0tvz |access-date=2023-07-30 |website=www.ancestry.com.au |language=en-US}}
Early life
Margaret Eleanor Crosby was the first daughter of Frances (Fanny) Kendall Schieffelin and Ernest Howard Crosby. She was born in Manhattan. She was Maunsell Schieffelin Crosby's only sibling, and she was the maternal grandchild of Henry Maunsell Schieffelin and Sarah Minerva (nee Kendall) Schieffelin.
Margaret Eleanor Crosby grew up on Grasmere estate close to Rhinebeck, NY, which her grandma Sarah Minerva Schieffelin bought in 1894.
Personal life and family
Margaret Eleanor Crosby married William Charles Arcedeckne Vanneck, 5th Baron Huntingfield, of Heveningham Hall in 1912.{{Cite web |title=Who was Lady Huntingfield? |url=https://www.hothamhistory.org.au/who-was-lady-huntingfield/ |access-date=2023-07-30 |website=Hotham History Project |language=en-US}}
Margaret Eleanor met Captain Vanneck, who was stationed with his regiment in India, at the Coronation Durbar in Delhi.
Margaret Eleanor and William Vanneck married in December 1912 at St George’s Church in London.{{Cite news |date=1912-12-22 |title=WEDS ENGLISH LIEUTENANT.; Miss Margaret Eleanor Crosby Married to William C.A. Vanneck. (Published 1912) |language=en |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1912/12/22/archives/weds-english-lieutenant-miss-margaret-eleanor-crosby-married-to.html |access-date=2023-07-30}}
The couple had two daughters and two sons: Sarah Carola, Gerard Charles, Anne Margaret Theodosia, and Peter.
The family lived in England, and in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia from 1934 to 1939.
Committee work and social commitment
- Founding the University Women’s College at the University of Melbourne{{Cite web |title=Our History - Residential College {{!}} University College Melbourne |url=https://www.unicol.unimelb.edu.au/about-us/our-history/ |access-date=2023-07-30 |website=University College}}{{Cite web |last=Melbourne |first=National Foundation for Australian Women and The University of |title=University Women's College - Organisation - The Australian Women's Register |url=https://www.womenaustralia.info/biogs/AWE6489b.htm |access-date=2023-07-30 |website=www.womenaustralia.info |language=en-gb}}
- Founding Melbourne’s oldest Kindergarten
- Donated a scholarship for social work students at the University of Melbourne, still existing today{{Cite web |last=Nguyen |first=Brigitte |date=2023-05-10 |title=Lady Huntingfield Memorial Scholarship |url=https://mdhs.unimelb.edu.au/study/scholarships/n/lady-huntingfield-memorial |access-date=2023-07-30 |website=Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Bartlett |first=Rodney |date=2019-03-19 |title=Lady Huntingfield Memorial Scholarship |url=https://scholarships.unimelb.edu.au/awards/lady-huntingfield-memorial-scholarship |access-date=2023-07-30 |website=Scholarships |language=en}}
Death
Margaret Eleanor Crosby died in 1943 in London, soon after her home was bombed during a German airstrike in World War II.