Raymond Belmont II

Raymond Belmont II (May 31, 1888 – April 5, 1934) was a champion polo player.[1]

For his uncle, also a polo player, see Raymond Rodgers Belmont.

Early life

Belmont was born on May 31, 1888, in Nassau County, New York. He was one of three sons born to financier August Belmont Jr. (1853–1924) and, his first wife, Elizabeth "Bessie" Hamilton (née Morgan) Belmont (1862–1898).[2] Among his siblings was August Belmont III and Morgan Belmont. After his mother's death in 1898, his father remarried to the English born actress, Eleanor Robson.[3]

Belmont graduated from Harvard University in 1910.[2]

Career

After graduation from Harvard, he became a clerk in the office of August Belmont & Co., the banking house founded by his grandfather August Belmont. In 1916, Belmont attended the Citizens' Military Training Camp in Plattsburgh, New York, before shipping off to France in May 1918 as a lieutenant in the Headquarters Troop of the 78th Division. He was promoted to captain in the St. Mihiel advance.[2]

Polo career

Belmont was a champion polo player, with a six-goal handicap, in 1923, and was a member of the team (along with Devereux Milburn, Thomas Hitchcock Jr., and Robert Early Strawbridge Jr.) that won the National Open Championship from the British Army four.[2] He was also a horse breeder and one of the best known gentleman riders in the county. His horse, Oracle, twice won the Maryland Hunt Club.[4]

Personal life

Belmont was married three times. His first marriage was in 1912 to Ethel Helen Linder, who was known by her stage name, Ethel Lorraine.[5] They divorced in 1916 and his second marriage took place on September 20, 1916, he was married to Carolyn Brown Hulbert (1892–1970) in Middleburg, Virginia.[6] Before their divorce, they were the parents of one daughter:

  • Elizabeth Hurlbert "Bettina" Belmont (1919–1993), who married Newell Jube "Buddy" Ward Jr. in 1939.[7][8] Ward, a gentleman-farmer, was a great-grandson of the founder of Prudential Insurance.[9]

Raymond and Carolyn divorced in Reno in August 1926 and she remarried to Arthur John White, with whom she had a son, Arthur Ridgely White.[10] In September 1926, Belmont married Mrs. Marie Muurling Maddux.

After an illness of several days, Belmont died of pneumonia at his home, known as Belray in Middleburg, near Leesburg, Virginia, on April 5, 1934.[2]

References
  1. "Belmont Family In Polo". New York Times. May 27, 1908. Retrieved 2015-05-04.
  2. "Raymond Belmont, Polo Star, Is Dead. Son of Late Financier Victim of Pneumonia at 45 at His Home in Virginia" (PDF). The New York Times. April 6, 1934. Retrieved June 26, 2019.
  3. "August Belmont, Stricken In Office, Dies In 36 Hours. Financier and Sportsman Undergoes Operation, Rallies, Then Sinks Into Coma". The New York Times. December 11, 1924. Retrieved June 26, 2019.
  4. "ORACLE II. VICTOR IN STEEPLECHASE; With Raymond Belmont in Saddle Takes the Grand National Race" (PDF). The New York Times. 19 April 1925. Retrieved 26 June 2019.
  5. "ADMITS MARRYING BELMONT.; Jersey Parson Says He United Him to Show Girl" (PDF). The New York Times. 24 November 1912. Retrieved 26 June 2019.
  6. "RAYMOND BELMONT WEDS.; Married Miss Carolyn B. Hulbert After Divorce Decree Is Signed" (PDF). The New York Times. 21 September 1916. Retrieved 26 June 2019.
  7. TIMES, Special to THE NEW YORK (30 June 1939). "BETTINA BELMONT BRIDE IN VIRGINIA; Granddaughter of Financier Is Wed to Newell J. Ward Jr. in Middleburg Church MADE HER DEBUT IN 1936 Two Cousins Are Attendants for Member of Hunt Clubs-- William Myrick Best Man" (PDF). The New York Times. Retrieved 26 June 2019.
  8. Bates, Steve (20 October 1992). "MIDDLEBURG SCHISM COOKS UP A HUNTERS' STEW". Washington Post. Retrieved 26 June 2019.
  9. Horn, Huston (February 11, 1963). "A RAMPART OF PEDIGREE | MIDDLEBURG, VIRGINIA IS THE HOME OF THE WELL-BRED FOXHOUND AND THE WELL-BRED FOX HUNTER, AND A SOCIETY BUILT AROUND RIDING THE WELL-BRED HORSE". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved 26 June 2019.
  10. White, Carolyn H. (April 2015). "Stories of Our Founders | Throughout FLGC's 100th year" (PDF). Fauquier and Loudoun Garden Club. 3 (6). Archived from the original (PDF) on 26 June 2019. Retrieved 26 June 2019.
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