Marmaduke Furness, 1st Viscount Furness

Marmaduke Furness, 1st Viscount Furness (29 October 1883 – 6 October 1940) was a British shipping magnate and during his lifetime one of the richest men in the world.

Early life Furness was born on 29 October 1883 at West Hartlepool, Durham, England. He was the son of Christopher Furness, 1st Baron Furness and Jane Annette Suggit.

His father was the seventh son of John Furness of West Hartlepool, and Averill Eastor Furness (née Wilson).

Career He served as Chairman of Furness Withy, the shipbuilding firm, and was also involved in the steel and iron business. After his father's death, when in London he lived at 21 Grosvenor Square until 1933 when he moved his London residence to Lees Place, also in Mayfair.

Personal life Lord Furness was married three times. She and Lord Furness had two children:

Hon. Averill Furness (1908–1936), who married Andrew Rattray in 1932; he died in 1933. Hon. Christopher Furness, VC (1912–1940)

Second marriage Lord Furness married secondly, in 1926, Thelma Morgan Converse, the former Mrs James Vail Converse and a daughter of Harry Hays Morgan Sr., an American diplomat. They divorced in 1933 as a result of Lady Furness's affairs with Aly Khan and Edward, Prince of Wales (later Edward VIII). They had one son: William Anthony Furness, 2nd Viscount Furness, aka Tony (1929–1995)

In June 1921, Lord Furness was engaged to Julie Thompson (née Julie Francis Eleanor Phillips, died 15 April 1967), an American socialite and former wife of stockbroker George Lee Thompson. She had previously turned down offers of marriage by other nobles including Grand Duke Nicholas of Russia and his cousin Grand Duke Alexander Michaelovitch. and Frederick Caryll Philip Cavendish, 7th Baron Waterpark (1926–2013).

Lord Furness died on 6 October 1940, aged 56, 5 months after his son Christopher was killed in the Battle of Arras. He was succeeded by his younger and only surviving son, Tony, as second viscount.

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