Virginia Loney

Virginia Bruce Loney (May 19, 1899 – April 4, 1975) was a member of American high society, primarily in the state of New York. She came from the long-established, wealthy Loney and Brown families, which produced large landowners and lawyers.

Loney became known in 1915, age 15, as one of the youngest heiresses in United States history, when she inherited her parents' entire fortune after their death. The American media shaped Loney's image as a "poor little rich girl," a title otherwise more commonly applied to Shirley Temple, Mary Pickford, and Gloria Vanderbilt. Later, her marriage to aviator Robert H. Gamble, and especially the protracted divorce battle, which included the kidnapping of her two children by their own father, made headlines.

Family and origins Virginia Loney (r) with Elise Bouteiller (l), her nurse, c. 1902 Virginia Loney was the only child of Allen Donellan Loney (born October 20, 1871) and Catharine Wolfe Brown (born April 30, 1877). The lived in New Rochelle, New York with eight servants. Allen was a wealthy stockbroker, landowner, and horse breeder, originally from Baltimore, Maryland. He was the son of William Amos Loney (1822–1914), who had made a fortune as a wholesale trader and real estate agent, and his wife, Alice Louise Allen (1844–1907). Catharine was the daughter of George Bruce Brown and Virginia Greenway McKesson. Virginia's cousin was motor racing driver David Bruce-Bown and a great-niece of lawyer Henry Donellan Loney. There, they lived on the Roseleigh estate, which Virginia's paternal grandparents had built. Virginia Loney learned to swim in Skaneateles Lake. All three were skilled horsemen. When in New York City, the family stayed at the Gotham Hotel.

Virginia's mother's will named Mary Bose Chamberlaine, a single cousin of Allen Loney, as her godmother and legal guardian. Mary took charge of Virginia's upbringing and went to court to claim the expenses she believed Virginia was entitled to. Before the United States Supreme Court, presided over by Justice Pendleton, she requested $25,000 annually in October 1915 to "guarantee Virginia the lifestyle she had been accustomed to from birth as a member of a higher social class." This sum represented one-third of her parents' annual income and included expenses for education, furnishings, household duties, summer vacations and travel, as well as the costs of a maid, three servants, and a car with a chauffeur.

First marriage and divorce scandal In December 1917, the engagement of 18-year-old Virginia to Robert Howard Gamble, ten years her senior, a Yale graduate, stockbroker, and aviator from Jacksonville, Florida, was announced. He was a member of the Naval Aviation Corps in Jacksonville and served in the United States Navy Reserve. The wedding took place on April 27, 1918, in New York City. The couple subsequently settled in Chevy Chase, Maryland, and had two children: Robert Howard Gamble, Jr., and Catharine Bruce Gamble.

Virginia's husband, Paul, died in April 1971. She herself died four years later at the age of 75 in Southampton, New York. Catharine, her daughter, died before Virginia did.