The Vestey Family

William Vestey, 1st Baron Vestey 1859 – 1940

Evelene Brodstone, later Evelyn Vestey, Lady Vestey 1875 – 1941

Owner 1919 - 1940

Samuel Vestey 1882-1954 (Samuel never lived in Kingswood House)

Owner 1940 - 1954/55

Baron Vestey, of Kingswood in the County of Surrey, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1922 for the shipping magnate Sir William Vestey, 1st Baronet. He was the co-founder of the Blue Star Line. Vestey had already been created a baronet, of Bessémer House in the Metropolitan Borough of Camberwell, in 1913.

As of 2021, the titles are held by the fourth Baron, who succeeded his father in 2021 and is the eldest grandson of the Hon. William Vestey (who was killed in action in Italy during the Second World War in 1944), the only son of the second Baron. The current holder's father, the 3rd Baron Vestey, served as Master of the Horse from 1999 to 2018.

Sir Edmund Vestey, 1st Baronet, co-founder of the Blue Star Line, was the younger brother of the first Baron Vestey.

The family seat is Stowell Park, in the Cotswold Hills, Gloucestershire.

Barons Vestey

William Vestey, 1st Baron Vestey (1859–1940)

Samuel Vestey, 2nd Baron Vestey (1882–1954)

Captain Hon. William Howarth Vestey (1912–1944)

Samuel George Armstrong Vestey, 3rd Baron Vestey (1941–2021)

William Guy Vestey, 4th Baron Vestey (born 1983)

The heir apparent is the present holder's son, the Hon. Samuel Oscar Mark Vestey (born 2018).

Eveline Broadstone, later Evelyn Vestey, Lady Vestey (August 1, 1875 – May 23, 1941) was an American businesswoman known for being one of the highest-paid woman executives of the 1920s. Beginning as a stenographer for the Vestey Cold Storage Company in Chicago, Illinois, she rose through the ranks to become the chief auditor and troubleshooter for Vestey Brothers. In 1924, she married William Vestey, 1st Baron Vestey.

In 1895, Broadstone moved to Chicago in search of work. There, she obtained a job as a stenographer with the Vestey Cold Storage Company, earning $12 a week.[2] The company was owned by the Vestey Brothers of Liverpool; it had been founded at his father's behest by William Vestey in 1876 and had been run by his brother Edmund Vestey since 1882. Brodstone's competence and demeanour impressed Edmund Vestey, who made her his personal stenographer and raised her pay to $20 a week.

Broadstone rose rapidly through the ranks of the growing company, becoming auditor, then manager of Vestey Brothers' American branch, and finally travelling auditor for the entire Vestey firm, at an annual salary of $250,000.[3] Her work took her to the interior of China; to the upper Orinoco River in Venezuela; to Russia, where her hotel was dynamited, killing all within, while she was visiting the Vestey plant;[1] to Australia, where she purchased 6,000,000 acres (2,400,000 ha) for the company;[3] and to many other parts of the world. When the manager of a Vestey plant in South Africa absconded with the company's funds, Broadstone followed him halfway around the world before catching him.

The Blue Star Line was founded by the Vestey family; at the time of World War I, its twelve vessels all had names starting with "Brod‑" after Brodstone,e.g. Brodholme, Brodland, Brodlea.

In 1922, William Vestey was elevated to the peerage, as the first Baron Vestey. In 1923, his wife died; a year later, Lord Vestey married Brodstone, who at his behest changed her given name to "Evelyn".

Sprawling two-story brick building, apparently of fairly modern date

Broadstone Memorial Hospital in Superior

Lady Vestey retained her close connection to Superior, where her mother and brother lived until their deaths in 1924 and 1936 respectively.[3] With Lewis Brodstone, she gave the city land and funds for a hospital in memory of their mother; the text of the dedicatory plaque was written by Willa Cather, who had known the Brodstones during her youth in Red Cloud, Nebraska.[3] After Lewis's death, she gave Superior two blocks as a bird sanctuary and children's park in his memory. She sent Christmas gifts to the school children of the city, and contributed a large collection of relics of her early life, of her travels, and of her time in England to the Superior Museum..

Lord Vestey died in 1940. On May 23, 1941, Lady Vestey died at her home in London. Her ashes were sent to Superior for interment, making her the only member of the British nobility who is buried in Nebraska.

Legacy

In honour of Lady Vestey, Superior holds an annual Victorian Festival every Memorial Day weekend. The city bills itself as the "Victorian Capital of Nebraska"

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