Alice de Janzé (née Silverthorne; September 28, 1899 – September 30, 1941),Reed, Frank Fremont (1982). History of the Silverthorn Family, Vol. 4, p. 550. Chicago: DuBane's Print Shop. Her birth and death date can also be found at http://www.ancestry.com/trees/awt/main.aspx. (free registration required) also known as the Countess de Janzé during her first marriage and as Alice de Trafford during her second marriage, was an American heiress who spent years in colonial Kenya as a member of the Happy Valley set. Her life was marked by promiscuity, drug abuse, and scandals, including the attempted murder of her lover in 1927, the 1941 murder in Kenya of Josslyn Hay, 22nd Earl of Erroll, and several attempts at suicide, in which she eventually succeeded.
Growing up in Chicago and New York, Silverthorne was one of the most prominent American socialites of her time. A relative of the wealthy Armour family, she was a multi-millionaire heiress. She married into the French nobility in 1921 when she wed Frédéric de Janzé, Comte de Janzé. In the mid-1920s, she was introduced to the Happy Valley set, a community of white expatriates in East Africa, notorious for their hedonistic lifestyle.
In 1927, she made international news when she shot her lover Raymond de Trafford in a Paris railway station and then turned the gun on herself; they both survived. Alice de Janzé stood trial and was fined a small amount, and later pardoned by the French state. She went on to marry, and later divorce, the man she shot.
In 1941, she was one of several major suspects in the murder in Kenya of her friend and former lover, Lord Erroll. After several previous suicide attempts, she died of a self-inflicted gunshot in September 1941. Her personality has been referenced both in fiction and non-fiction, most notably in the book White Mischief and its film adaptation, where she was portrayed by Sarah Miles.
Early life
Alice Silverthorne was born on 28 September 1899 in Buffalo, Erie County, New York, the only child of textile industrialist William Edward Silverthorne and his wife Julia Belle Chapin (August 14, 1871 – June 2, 1907).Reed, Frank Fremont (1982). The History of the Silverthorn Family, Vol. 4. Chicago: DuBane's Print Shop, p. 434 Julia was the daughter of Marietta Armour Chapin, whose brothers Philip Danforth Armour and Herman Ossian Armour founded the Armour & Company meatpacking brand, at that time the largest food products company in the world.The New York Times, 18 November 1897. "Mrs. Chapin Leaves $500,000", p. 1
William and Julia were married on June 8, 1892 in Chicago,Illinois Statewide Marriage Index, 1763–1900 Chicago Tribune, 29 May 1892. "Month of Weddings", p. 10 the city where Alice spent most of her childhood and adolescence, living with her parents in the affluent Gold Coast district.Chicago Tribune, Sunday Magazine, 26 May 1996. "Hey Lady! Britain's Beleaguered Princess Ain't Seen Nothin' Yet – Chicago's Rendition", p. 14 Alice became a favourite of her cousin, J. Ogden Armour. Her family's great wealth prompted her childhood friends to take a cue from her surname and give her the nickname "Silver Spoon".Coughlin, Gene (27 June 1948) "Battered Brides: Unhappy Hunt of the Golden Girl". The Milwaukee Sentinel, p. 32]
Her mother died of complications from tuberculosis when Alice was eight years old, although biographer Paul Spicer argues that her death was a result of being locked out of the house by her husband during a freezing night six months earlier. Alice, who inherited a large estate from her mother, was herself an asymptomatic consumptive from birth.Fox James (1983). White Mischief. Random House, p. 39 Following her mother's death, Alice was raised by a German governess in large houses in New York; her alcoholic fatherFox, James (1982). White Mischief. Random House, p. 40 was frequently absent due to his professional obligations.
Contrary to her wishes, William Silverthorne quickly remarried in 1908 and had five children with his second wife, Louise Mattocks. Many of their children did not survive, Alice's half-siblings included William Jr. (1912–1976), Victoria Louise (died in infancy in 1914), Patricia (1915–?), Lawrence (1918–1923), and an unnamed girl who died in infancy in 1910.Reed, Frank Fremont (1982). History of the Silverthorn Family, Vol. 4. Chicago: DuBane's Print Shop, p. 562 William later divorced Mattocks and married twice more.
With her father's encouragement, Alice was introduced to wild social life in her early adolescence. She was one of the more prominent socialites of Chicago, frequenting the fashionable nightclubs of the time. Her father also took her on several European tours and encouraged her image as a prominent debutante. These years of wild youth left Alice with a chronic melancholia; it is possible that she suffered from cyclothymia, a strain of bipolar disorder.Telegraph. 27 April 2010. Grice, Elizabeth. "Is This the Happy Valley Murderer?"
Her father soon lost custody of her. An uncle from her mother's side assumed the role of her legal guardian and then proceeded to place her at a boarding school in Washington, D.C. Journalist Michael Kilian believes this was because William Silverthorne had an incestuous relationship with his adolescent daughter, in which she lost her virginity to her father,Chicago Tribune, 1 June 1988. Kilian, Michael. "Making Mischief Take It from the Brits: After Decades of Civility, America is Due for Some Decadence", p. 10Chicago Tribune, 16 September 1987. Kilian, Michael. "Shrink to Fit? What Ever Happened to Good, Old-Fashioned Lunacy? Now, Even New Yorkers are Buying into the Therapy Fad", p. 6 until one of her uncles intervened and took the case to the court.Chicago Tribune, Sunday Magazine, 20 August 1986. Kilian, Michael. "Unhappy Endings When Chicago and Europe Play at Love, the Consequences Can be Disastrous", p. 14 Paul Spicer disagrees that her relationship with her father was improper.The Times Online, The Sunday Times, 2 May 2010. Wilson, Frances. "The Temptress: The Scandalous Life of Alice, Countess de Janze Review". Regardless of the court decision, after 14-year-old Alice came to live with the Armours in New York, she then openly traveled with her father to the French Riviera, where Kilian claims William Silverthorne openly sported her as his mistress and allowed her to keep a black panther as a pet. In later years, she was famous for parading the animal up and down the Promenade des Anglais in Nice.
1919–1927: Marriage and the Happy Valley set
In 1919, Alice moved back to Chicago to live with her aunts, Mrs Francis E. May (née Alice Chapin) and Mrs Josephine Chapin.Chicago Tribune, 1 October 1941. "Chicago Tragic Countess Slain in East Africa", p. 1 Two years later, Alice moved to Paris, where she briefly worked as director of the model department in Jean Patou's atelier,The New York Times, 16 June 1927. "De Janzés Divorced by Paris Tribunal", p. 56 until she met Frédéric de Janzé, a well-known French racing driver and heir to an old aristocratic family in Brittany. A participant in the 24 Hours of Le Mans and other races, Frédéric also frequented literary circles and was close friends with Marcel Proust, Maurice Barrès, and Anna de Noailles.Fox, James (1983). White Mischief. Random House, p. 35
Unlike many other American heiresses of the period, Alice had not allowed her family to arrange an advantageous match for her, choosing to take the initiative and pursue a romance with Frédéric de Janzé on her own. After a romance of three weeks,The New York Times, 27 March 1927. "Chicago Relatives Amazed", p. 9 the couple married on 21 September 1921 in Chicago, with her new husband reportedly finding her 'Silverthorne' surname so charming that he regretted their marriage would take it away from her.The Milwaukee Sentinel, 26 October 1941. "Killed Herself Where She Lost Her Honor 15 Years Before", p. 30
Following the ceremony, Alice's aunt, Mrs J. Ogden Armour, turned over the Armour estate on Long Island to the couple, where they spent two weeks before deciding to permanently settle in Paris, in the Champs-Élysées quarter.Los Angeles Times, 20 April 1922. "Wedding of Mary Baker is Delayed" They had two daughters, Nolwén Louise Alice de Janzé (June 20, 1922 – March 7, 1989) and Paola Marie Jeanne de Janzé (June 1, 1924 – December 24, 2006). Alice was a neglectful mother and Frédéric was a neglectful father; the children were primarily brought up in their family's chateau de Parfondeval in Normandy by governesses and Frédéric's sister.
In 1925, the couple first met and became good friends with Josslyn, 22nd Earl of Erroll, and his wife, Idina, Countess of Erroll, in Montparnasse. Some time later, the young Lord and Lady Erroll invited the de Janzés to spend some time in their home in the so-called 'Happy Valley' in the British Colony of Kenya, a community of British colonials living in the Wanjohi Valley, near the Aberdare Mountains. This enclave had become notorious among socialites in the UK for being a community for those seeking a hedonistic lifestyle, including drugs, alcohol, and sexual promiscuity. Noticing that Alice had become restless, Frédéric decided to distract her and agreed to the trip.Trzebinski, Erroll (2000). The Life and Death of Lord Erroll, p. 76. Fourth Estate"She Loved Him, Shot Him, Married Him, Divorced Him", The Oakland Tribune, 12 December 1937
In the Happy Valley, the de Janzés were neighbours to the Errolls. Frédéric de Janzé documented his time in Happy Valley and all the eccentric personalities he met there in his book, Vertical Land, which was published in 1928. He provided several non-eponymous references to members of the Happy Valley set, including a psychological portrait of his wife that alludes to her suicidal tendencies:
Even among the scandalous residents of Happy Valley, Alice was soon known as "the wicked Madonna"Morrow, Anne. Picnic in a Foreign Land: The Eccentric Lives of the Anglo-Irish. Grafton: 2003, p. 54 for her beauty, sarcastic sense of humour, and unpredictable mood swings. She was known for speaking passionately about animal rights as well as playing the ukulele,White Mischief, p. 41 and soon she began an affair with Lord Erroll, openly sharing him with Idina.Osborne, Frances (2009). The Bolter, p. 132. Knopf
The de Janzés later returned to Happy Valley in 1926. While Frédéric distracted himself with lion hunting, Alice began a love affair with British aristocrat Raymond Vincent de Trafford (January 28, 1900 – May 14, 1971), son of Sir Humphrey de Trafford, 3rd Baronet. Alice's infatuation with de Trafford was so great that the couple attempted to elope, although they promptly returned. Frédéric was aware of his wife's open infidelity but did not become preoccupied by it, although years later he would refer to the love triangle with de Trafford as "the infernal triangle".The Life and Death of Lord Erroll: The Truth Behind the Happy Valley Murder, p. 86
That autumn, in an attempt to save his marriage, Frédéric returned to Paris with Alice. He was unsuccessful. Alice visited Frédéric's mother; revealing that she was in love with de Trafford, she asked her help in obtaining a divorce. Her mother-in-law advised her to think of her two daughters and do nothing she might later regret. Alice soon returned to Kenya and her lover. Hoping to keep the extramarital affair from becoming a scandal, her mother-in-law loaned Alice a furnished flat in a quiet street in Paris to use as a "love nest" with de Trafford."Chicago Countess and Dashing Briton She Shot Are Near Death in Paris", Chicago Tribune, 28 March 1927 Under pressure from his family, Frédéric sued for divorce.
1927: The Gare du Nord shooting incident