Mary's Mosaic: Entering Peter Janney's World of Fantasy

[Mark A. O'Blazney]

Dang, Tom. It's on again, huh ?

Don't hesitate to contribute your two cents, Mark. As Scottie once said, everybody knows everybody!

David H. Strier, a Brooklyn USAAF officer during WWII, happens to marry the ex-wife of a UK diplomat, Michael O'Conor, who happens to be the abandoned child of Bijou O'Conor, a woman involved
in an affair with F. Scott Fitzgerald. Was Strier's brief marriage some sort of a ploy? Gillian Beamish O'Conor Strier is seen in May, 1957, three months after her marriage (1) (2), sailing back to London with
her son Richard O'Conor, and a nanny also on the ship's manifest (3) (4). Gillian's brother Tufton is of special interest, and so is Strier.

LIFE - Nov 4, 1957 - Page 20



The third page indicate the following document is attributed to Frank Wisner:
http://www.foia.cia.gov/sites/default/fi...9_0049.pdf

http://www.thepeerage.com/p27085.htm#i270843
Children of Rear-Adm. Tufton Percy Hamilton Beamish and Margaret Antonia Simon

• Antonia Vivien Hamilton Beamish[SUP]1[/SUP] b. 8 Aug 1915, d. Feb 1991
  
• Tufton Victor Hamilton Beamish, Baron Chelwood+[SUP]1[/SUP] b. 27 Jan 1917, d. 6 Apr 1989
  

http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk...fdcb573(a) Sir Tufton Beamish MP (Lord Chelwood)

Tufton Beamish was born on 27 January 1917, the older of two sons of Rear-Admiral T P H Beamish (see below). He was educated at Kings Mead Preparatory School, Seaford; Stowe School; and Sandhurst Military Academy, taking part in a public schools expedition to explore Newfoundland in 1934
He was commissioned in the Royal Northumberland Fusiliers in 1937, seeing service in Palestine in 1937-39, France and Belgium in 1940, Singapore and India, 1942-43, North Africa in 1943-44, and Italy in 1944. He was awarded the Military Cross for his part in the evacuation from Dunkirk, and had a notable escape by rowing boat from the Japanese when Singapore was taken
He was elected Conservative Member of Parliament for Lewes in 1945 in succession to his father, remaining so until 1974. He was knighted in 1961, and in 1974 was created a Life Peer as Lord Chelwood of Lewes. Sir Tufton's distinguished parliamentary career, and his involvement in Europe, are illustrated in the papers listed below, while a full list of dates and offices can be seen in Who's Who (qv)
Of particular interest here are the files relating to individual subjects, for example the alleged repatriation of Soviet Nationals from Austria and Hungary from 1945; his rôle as an observer of the 1980 Zimbabwe General Election; and (lastly) his opposition to the Poll Tax in 1988. He also had a strong interest in Middle East affairs, particularly in what he saw as the unfair treatment of the Palestinian people. He published books and many articles (most represented here), and had a particular interest in nature conservation. After his father's death he lived at Chelworth, Chelwood Gate, and then from 1976 at Plover's Meadow, Blackboys. He died on 6 April 1989
The family correspondence in particular (CLW/1/6) makes some reference to his only brother, Capt John Beamish, who was with Tufton at Stowe, and who served in India during the last War. He was killed in the advance on Mandalay in 1945. There were also sisters - 'Vi' (Vivien), and 'Gilly' (Gillian). Gillian was married first in the name of O'Connor, and then to the Italian sculptor Enzo Plazzotta, who designed the memorial in Lewes commemorating the Battle of Lewes in 1264. The papers also make some mention of his aunt (his mother's sister) Lady Hamilton (née Eleanora Simon), of Cransford Hall, Saxmundham, Suffolk

• Captain John Otway Hamilton Beamish[SUP]1[/SUP] b. 15 Jun 1919, d. 31 Jan 1945
  
• Gillian Antonia Hamilton Beamish+[SUP]1[/SUP] b. 31 Jul 1927
  

[URL="https://www.google.com/#tbm=bks&q=%22*of+Bijou%27s+son.+Mrs.+Plazzota+told+mc+more+%22"]

[/URL]http://www.thepeerage.com/p27086.htm#i270856
Gillian Antonia Hamilton Beamish[SUP]1[/SUP]

F, #270856, b. 31 July 1927
Last Edited=29 Feb 2008

Gillian Antonia Hamilton Beamish was born on 31 July 1927.[SUP]1[/SUP] She is the daughter of Rear-Adm. Tufton Percy Hamilton Beamish and Margaret Antonia Simon.[SUP]1[/SUP] She married, firstly, Michael O'Conor, son of Lt.-Cmdr. Henry O'Conor, on 7 October 1950.[SUP]1[/SUP] She and Michael O'Conor were divorced in 1953.[SUP]1[/SUP] She married, secondly, Enzo Mario Plazzotta, son of Silvio Plazzotta, on 10 March 1960.[SUP]1[/SUP]
From 7 October 1950, her married name became O'Conor.[SUP]1[/SUP] From 10 March 1960, her married name became Plazzotta.[SUP]1[/SUP]
Child of Gillian Antonia Hamilton Beamish and Michael O'Conor

• Richard Shawn O'Conor[SUP]1[/SUP] b. 30 Sep 1951
  

Children of Gillian Antonia Hamilton Beamish and Enzo Mario Plazzotta

• Carol Lucinda Plazzotta[SUP]1[/SUP] b. 26 Jun 1962
  
• Mark Alexander Plazzotta[SUP]1[/SUP] b. 13 Dec 1963
  

Citations

1. [S47] BIFR1976 Beamish, page 93. See link for full details for this source. Hereinafter cited as. [S47]
   

Chronicles - Volume 17 - Page 42

https://books.google.com/books?id=WlMIAQAAMAAJ

1993 - ‎Snippet view -
Recent Fitzgerald biographers have mentioned the evocatively named Bijou O'Conor and quoted bits from the tape, but no one has discovered any thing significant about her background, appearance, or character.
The husky, upper-class voice on the tape intrigued me, and I wondered what had brought them together. Happening to be in London last summer, 1 tried to find out more about her. As I have often
discovered, someone who seems utterly obscure, dead, and forgotten can be brought to life once you tap into the institutions that survive her: in this case, her family, an Oxford college, and the Foreign Office. 1 began with the W ho's Who entry on Bijou's father, Sir Francis Elliot (1851- 1940). Grandson of the second Earl of Minto, he rowed for Balliol College, entered the diplomatic service, served as consul-general in Sofia from 1895 to 1903 and as minister in Athens from 1903 to 1917. Debrett's Peerage adds that Bijou, whose whose real name was Violet Marie, was born in 1896 (the same year as Fitzgerald), the fourth and youngest daughter of Sir Francis. In 1920 she married Lieutenant Kdmund O'Conor, R. N., of Charlcvillc, Dunleer, County Louth (the O'Conors are no longer there), who died in 1924. Though widowed at age 28, she never remarried. I first telephoned the present Earl of Minto, whom I imagined pacing the armor-lined corridors of his crumbling castle in the 1 lighlands. Instead of the servant I had expected, the Earl himself answered the phone. Though he had not heard of Bijou, his curiosity was aroused by my questions about his family. He spoke to me for a leisurely 20 minutes and shrewdly suggested various lines of inquiry. Following the Earl's advice, I wrote to the records department of the British Foreign Office, which sent me the address of Bijou's niece in Exeter. Debrett's provided the address of the I honourable Mary Alington Marten, O. B. E., the daughter of Bijou's friend Napier Alington. But Mary Alington was only 1 1 years old when her father died and knew nothing about Bijou. William Furlong, who had conducted the taped interview with Bijou, had heard about her by chance through a mutual friend in Hove, near Brighton. He characterized her as a mysterious and rather ruthless woman, who responded to male attention and seemed genuinely concerned about the welfare of Fitzgerald's daughter, Scottie. Furlong promised to look through the original transcripts and to send me any new material he could find. My first breakthrough came from Claire Eaglestone of Balliol College, who was intrigued by my query about Sir Francis and, putting my letter on the top of her correspondence, rang me at once. Though Sir Francis had no sons, his grandson had (as I suspected) gone to his old college. Captain William Elliot- Young (1910-42) had been killed in the war, but his son, the 10th baronet, Sir William Neil Young, reportedly lived in London. When he did not answer my letter (which had been forwarded to his new home in Edinburgh), I rang him at the Saudi International Bank.
T hey told me he had moved to Coutts Bank, which put me right through to him. Sir William was in the midst of his work but, like the Earl of Minto, was fascinated by his great-aunt and disposed to chat about her. He described her extravagance, her alcoholism, her mythomania and her wooden leg.Most importantly, he put me in touch with Gillian Plazzota, the former wife of Bijou's son. Mrs. Plazzota told mc more about Bijou's striking appearance and bohemian character, and about Bijou's son, Michael O'Conor. He had been abandoned ..

[TABLE="class: table tableHorizontal tableHorizontalRuled"]
[TR]
[TH]Name:[/TH]
[TD]David H Strier[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TH]Spouse:[/TH]
[TD] Gilliam A H Oconor [/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TH]County of Marriage:[/TH]
[TD]Dade[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TH]Marriage Date:[/TH]
[TD]Feb 1957[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TH]Volume:[/TH]
[TD]1650[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TH]Certificate:[/TH]
[TD]2460[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TH]Source:[/TH]
[TD]Florida Department of Health[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]



https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VK7L-S59
Florida Divorce Index

Gillian and David H Strier were divorced one year later, in 1958.

http://articles.latimes.com/2001/jan/27/local/me-17819
Clayton Fritchey; Political Advisor and Columnist

January 27, 2001|From The Washington Post

...............
When he was 19, he joined the staff of the Baltimore American. He was an editor at the Baltimore Post and the Pittsburgh Press before returning to the Baltimore Post as managing editor in the early 1930s.
He became a writer at the Cleveland Press in 1934, when Cleveland was known as one of the most corrupt cities in the country. A frequent subject of his articles was the city's crusading public safety director, former Treasury agent Eliot Ness, who became a friend.
Fritchey went to work for the New Orleans Item in 1944. In 1950, his final year with the paper, the Louisiana Senate voted to rebuke him for an editorial describing state legislators as having as much independence as "trained seals."
His first wife, Naomi Williamson Fritchey, died in 1942. In 1975, he married Polly Wisner.


Smith, Frances Scott "Scottie" Fitzgerald Lanahan (VC 1942 ...

specialcollections.vassar.edu/collections/findingaids/s/smith_scottie.html


Guide to the Scottie Fitzgerald Smith Papers, 1858-1995 (bulk 1921-1986) ..... 1960s, also her relationship with Clayton Fritchey and family life with Grove Smith ...

specialcollections.vassar.edu/collections/findingaids/s/smith_scottie.html
Guide to the Scottie Fitzgerald Smith Papers, 1858-1995 (bulk 1921-1986) .... Folder 1.14, Travel journals from Europe trip with Mary Janney and Dede Goodhue ..

OK, here's some Crump change……. I spoke to the late Henry Wiggins, who ended up owning the ESSO station on 'M' Street,(you know, the one that burned down when I asked to find out who called in the….. Rambler? They saved all of their receipts, stored in the attic there) and he told me that Bill Branch was the real 'witness' to this horrible crime. 2 cents ?