Alice de Janzé

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Alice de Janzé, née Silverthorne (28 September 1899 – 30 September 1941^[1]), also known as Alice de Trafford, was an American heiress who spent several years in Kenya, as a member of the notorious Happy Valley set of colonials. She was involved in numerous scandals, including her trial for attempted murder, as well as the notorious Josslyn Victor Hay murder in Kenya. Her tempestuous life was marked by her promiscuous affairs, drug abuse and several suicide attempts.

Alice de Janzé at age 20 (1919), posing for a portrait by Chicago Daily News

[edit] Biography

[edit] Early life

Alice was born in Buffalo, Erie County, New York, the only child of wealthy shoe manufacturer William Edward Silverthorne (of Scottish origin) (3 February 1867 – 30 January 1941) and his equally wealthy wife, Julia Belle Chapin (14 August 1871 – 8 June 1907), an heiress to the Armours, the family that owned one of the most well-known meatpacking companies of the time, Armour and Company. The couple were married in Chicago on 8 June 1892, the city where Alice spent most of childhood and adolescence. Her mother died of tuberculosis when Alice was only eight. Alice herself was consumptive from birth.^[2]

Alice was introduced to wild social life ever since her early adolescence. She was one of the most prominent socialites of Chicago during the late 1910s and early 1920s, frequenting the most fashionable nightclubs of the time, with the encouragement of her father. Her father also took her to several travels around Europe and further encouraged his daughter's image as a notable debutante. However, her wild adolescent years had left Alice with a chronic depression that was to accompany her for the rest of her life.

After her mother's death, she was raised by a German governess in large houses in New York, due to the fact her father was frequently absent by reason of his professional obligations. While she was still a teenager, William Silverthorne was involved in an inexplicable and mysterious accident, which was possibly owing to his chronic alcoholism. After that, her father lost custody on her and an uncle of hers assumed the role of legal guardian.

Due to her glamorous lifestyle and extraordinary life, Alice herself had grown eccentric and unconventional. Her two great passions, based on her own words, were cocktails and animals. Her temperament had also become highly unpredictable, ranging from deep melancholy to sudden fits of rage.

[edit] 1920-1927: Paris and marriage with de Janzé

The Happy Valley set in Kenya, 1926. From left to right: Raymond de Trafford, Frédéric de Janzé, Alice de Janzé and Lord Delamere.

When she was 21 years old, she travelled to Paris. There, she briefly worked as director of the model department of Jean Patou's dressmaking establishment^[3] until she met Count of Janzé alias Comte Frédéric Jacques de Janzé, a well-known French racing driver of the time (a participant in 24 Hours of Le Mans races) and heir to an old aristocratic family of Bretagne. Frédéric also used to frequent literary circles, having formed a close friendship with individuals such as Marcel Proust, Maurice Barrès and Anna de Noailles. The couple married on 21 September 1921 in Chicago and had their honeymoon in Long Island and Morocco.^[4][5] Their marriage produced two daughters, Nolwén Louise Alice de Janzé (20 June 1922 – 7 March 1989) and Paola Marie Jeanne de Janzé (1 June 1924 – 24 December 2006). Nolwén would later marry famous art historian Kenneth Clark.

Alice was conscious of the fact she often neglected her children. Her daughters were practically raised in the hands of governesses or by Frédéric's sister, in their family chateau in Normandy. After having permanently set in Kenya, Alice only scarcely visited her children in Paris. Years later, Nolwén would state that she did not feel bitterness or hostility for her mother during their brief meetings together but would actually be fascinated by this virtually unknown woman who brought with her an air of mystique, owing to her permanent stay in Africa.^[6]

Alice and Frédéric first travelled to Kenya in 1925. There, they spent some time in the so-called Happy Valley, Kenya, a community located in Wanjohi Valley, near the Aberdare Mountains that consisted mainly of British colonials. The community had become notorious among socialites in England for being a paradise for all those seeking an hedonistic lifestyle, including drugs, alcohol and various sexual affairs between the members of the community. Frédéric de Janzé documented his time in Happy Valley and all the various eccentric personalities he met there in his book, Vertical Land, which was published in 1928.^[7] In the book, Frédéric provides several non-eponymous references to members of the Happy Valley set, including a psychological portrait of his wife, Alice that alludes to her suicidal tendencies:

The de Janzés were essentially among the founding members of this newly-formed community of expatriates. The house where they lived was next to the house of the founders of Happy Valley, namely, Josslyn Victor Hay, Earl of Erroll aka Lord Erroll, and his wife, Idina. According to author Errol Trzebinski, Frédéric and Alice had already met with Erroll and Idina while in Montparnasse, some time earlier, though this meeting was discrete and widely unknown to the public.^[9]

Alice caused a sensation to the people of Happy Valley, due to her wild personality, sarcastic sense of humour, natural beauty and unique sense of fashion. She would often speak passionately about animal rights or play ukulele. Alice would also soon fall in love with Erroll himself, arguably one of the most famous residents of Happy Valley and a notorious philanderer. The two of them enjoyed a secret love affair for some time. Ultimately they remained lifelong friends, although Alice possibly retained feeling for him. After Alice and Frederic returned to Happy Valley in 1926, she started another love affair, this time with British nobleman Raymond Vincent de Trafford (1900 – 1971), son of Sir Humphrey de Trafford, 3rd Baronet. Frédéric soon became aware of his wife's infidelity, though he did not became extremely preoccupied by that, as the de Janzés had already acclimated in the libertarian atmosphere that prevailed in the community. However, Alice's infatuation with de Trafford was so great that the couple attempted to elope at some point, though they promptly returned. Frédéric then returned to Paris with Alice, in a desperate attempt to save his marriage, but it was already too late. Alice, madly in love with de Trafford, soon returned to Kenya and eventually she and de Janzé divorced in Paris on 16 June 1927. Frédéric died on 24 December 1933, in Baltimore, of septicaemia.^[10]

[edit] 1927: Murder/suicide attempt and trial

Alice and her husband, Frederic, circa mid-1920s. This newspaper article reports the infamous shooting incident that would eventually sent Alice to prison

On 25 March 1927, while in Paris Raymond informed Alice that his family (of strict Catholic views) had threatened to disinherit him were he to marry her; therefore, the two of them had to part ways. A few hours later, in the Gare du Nord, while he was about to leave the city by an Express boat train to London and bidding farewell to Alice in his compartment, she kissed him, pulled a revolver from her purse, shot him and then shot herself. Raymond was gravely injured near the heart, whereas she was also gravely injured in her stomach. It was later revealed that after Raymond had announced his decision and the couple had lunched in a restaurant, they had visited a gunshop where Alice, unbeknownst to Raymond, bought the fatal revolver that she was determined to use.

Following the shooting, both Alice and de Trafford were carried to the hospital, where they spent several days in a critical condition. However, both declined to give any reasons or explanations over what happened, even though Alice - practically under arrest from the very moment of the shooting - claimed to repent shooting the Englishman, who was almost on the brink of death.^[11]

The incident made headlines all over the world. Fort Covington Sun reported the following on 14 April 1927:^[12]

America, France and England were all threatened in the tragedy in the Gare du Nord, Paris, when Countess de Janze, estranged wife of Frenchman, shot Raymond V. de Trafford, scion of a prominent British family, and then put a bullet through her own body. The countess was Alice Silverthorne of Chicago, cousin of J. Ogden Armour and well-known in American social circles. Her relations with De Trafford recently led her husband to file suit for divorce. For several days after the shooting it was believed both the countess and De Trafford would die, but latest reports are that they are out of danger.

After recuperating, de Trafford returned to London on mid-April, whereas on May Alice, who was officially charged of attempted murder since 5 April, was temporarily freed by the police pending her recovery.^[13] When she eventually described what happened in the train station, she stated the following:

Ultimately, Alice found herself imprisoned in the famous Saint Lazare, a women-only prison in Paris,^[15] held on a charge of attempted murder. Her cell had hosted several notorious female criminals in the past, including Mata Hari, Marguerite Steinheil and Henriette Caillaux. The scandal assumed enormous proportions in the United States of America, England and of course France. However, Raymond refused to testify against her in trial, attempting to alter the events to her favour:

The Paris Tribunal tried Alice on 23 December 1927 and treated her quite leniently.^[17] Public view was very sympathetic towards her. In the eyes of the crowd, she was the tragic heroine of a true crime of passion and the judge was apparently influenced by public view. During the trial, it was also revealed she had committed suicide a total of four times throughout her life. Eventually, she received a very small penalty, in analogy to her crime. She was handed down a suspended sentence of six months in prison and a fine of 100 francs (approximately 4 dollars) by the Paric Correctional Court.^[18] In April 1929 she received a full presidential pardon from President of France Gaston Doumergue.^[19][20]

[edit] 1928-1941: Second marriage and return to Kenya

On early 1928, Alice returned to Kenya but only briefly, as she was ordered by the Government House to pack her things and leave the country as an undesirable alien.^[21] Meanwhile, on the aftermath of the shooting scandal, her divorce with de Janzé was followed by an annulment by the Holy Rota on 6 August 1928.^[22] A few years later she caused a new sensation when it became known that she had resumed her affair with Raymond de Trafford. The couple married on 22 February 1932 in Neuilly-sur-Seine and had plans of buying a house in London. However, the pair split only three weeks after the wedding, following a public fight in a café. They never saw or spoke to each other again. The divorce was not finalized until 27 October 1937 in London. Alice won an uncontested suit, as the divorce was granted decree nisi on her on the grounds of adultery.^[23] Alice commented on her second husband: "An idler, who associates with disreputable women".^[24]

After permanently splitting with Raymond, Alice was re-admitted to Happy Valley where she settled on a permanent basis. On November 1932 she was involved in yet another scandal. Infamous British politician Oswald Mosley was on holiday in Happy Valley, visiting his friend, Lord Erroll. Apparently, Mosley and Alice were caught by a reporter making love and the scandal made the front pages in British tabloids. Churches in England attacked Mosley for his "immorality", although the scandal was toned down by the government.^[25] Alice spent the following years taking care of her animals (including lions, panthers and antilopes) and reading a lot. She had also become heavily addicted to drugs by now, particularly morphine. She was almost feared by certain members of the community due to her rapid changes of mood and the aforementioned shooting incident.

[edit] 1941: The Lord Erroll murder and final suicide attempt

Alice de Janzé in obituary photo in The Vidette Messenger, shortly after her death

On 24 January 1941, Lord Erroll was found murdered (shot) in his car, in an intersection outside Nairobi. Police started investigations in order to solve the crime and questioned all of Erroll's closest acquaintances, including Alice. Even though she had an alibi, having spent an intimate night with a fellow member of the community, Dickie Pembroke, she was immediately regarded as a major suspect by the rest of the community, being one of Lord Erroll's former mistresses and, most importantly, burdened with the epithets of "half-mad" and "drug-addict" and with a notable former assassination attempt aimed at a lover.^[26][27] Alice went on to become emotionally attached to Pembroke and start a regular relationship with him, although he was never committed to this affair as much as Alice. He would later be transferred by the military service he worked for in Cairo and Alice would keep on sending him letters in the following months.

On the morning after Erroll's corpse was discovered, Alice went to the morgue with a friend of hers, Julian Lezzard, also a member of the community. According to eyewitnesses, Alice shocked everybody when she left a tree branch on Erroll's body and subsequently smeared her vaginal juices over Hay's lips and whispered the words: "Now you are mine forever"^[28](the notorious scene was also included in the White Mischief film). After this story was circulated, many people considered Alice as being Erroll's murderer, having committed yet another crime of passion. It was also rumoured that Alice herself had admitted to the killing.^[29]

Eventually, it was Sir Henry John "Jock" Delves Broughton who was accused of Erroll's murder. Sir Jock was the most obvious suspect, since it was quite known that his young wife, Diana, was openly Erroll's mistress, an affair that was humiliating for Delves Broughton, to say the least. Eventually, Delves Broughton was acquitted due to lack of evidence (following testimonies that reportedly involved a great deal of perjury). Years later, White Mischief author James Fox claimed that Jock Delves Broughton was in fact the murderer and that he had confessed the murder to a 15-year old girl, Juanita Carberry, whose parents were friends with Erroll, though the girl did not admit the story until decades later.

Alice paid regular visits to Delves Broughton in prison. On August 1941, she was submitted to hysterectomy, after being diagnosed with uterine cancer. Shortly afterwards, she attempted suicide by overdosing on Pentobarbital but was rescued by a friend of hers, who called on a doctor to perform gastric lavage. On 30 September 1941 she again attempted suicide. She shot herself. This time she was successful. She was found dead in her farmhouse in Gilgil, Kenya, two days after turning 42.^[30] She left three suicide notes, one aimed to the police (whose content was never disclosed), one to her daughters and one to Pembroke. She reportedly asked her friends to throw a cocktail party above her grave. Delves Broughton also committed suicide on 5 December 1942.

[edit] References in fiction and non-fiction

[edit] Out of Africa

Danish writer Karen Blixen had personally met and befriended Alice during the 1920s, when she resided in Kenya. The two women had met through their common friend, Lord Erroll. In her novel Out of Africa (1937), Blixen makes reference to the cocktail party thrown in Alice's funeral, at her request. This scene is also shown in the 1985 film adaptation. Blixen also mentions Alice in her collection of letters Letters from Africa: 1914-1939.

[edit] Tender Is the Night

The railway station incident which became an international scandal also inspired F. Scott Fitzgerald in his novel Tender Is the Night (1934). In Book 1, Chapter XIX, a character, Maria Wallis, who is an acquaintance of the Divers (the protagonists in the novel) is talking to a man who is about to depart from Paris by train. While on the platform, Maria takes a distance from the man, pulls a revolver from her purse and shoots him. The train stops and, minutes later, the man is carried away on a stretcher whereas the woman is taken away by gendarmes. Dick Diver, who rushes to the crime scene to help, announces to his company that Maria Wallis has shot an Englishman. The whole sequence (which doesn't play an important part in the novel) was inspired by the 1927 incident, with Maria modelled after Alice.^[31] The railway station where the event takes place is chosen to be Gare Saint Lazare.

[edit] White Mischief

Actress Sarah Miles as Alice de Janzé in White Mischief (1987)

The events surrounding the murder of Lord Erroll were the basis of the non-fiction book White Mischief, written by James Fox and published in 1983. The book investigates the murder of Lord Erroll and consists of a large gallery of characters, mainly members of the Happy Valley set, including Alice. The book was later made into a 1987 movie by Michael Radford, starring British actress Sarah Miles as Alice. The film adaptation focuses heavily on Alice's eccentric traits. As such, Miles' role was among the most memorable of the film. Miles generally received positive reviews. There are numerous memorable scenes involving Alice's character, such as watching polo match with a python draped around her shoulders or the encounter with Lord Erroll's corpse, as well as (arguably the most famous line of the movie) "Oh God, not another f*****g beautiful day").

[edit] Sinful Safari

Alice is also one of the prominent characters in Michael Kilian's whodunit mystery novel, Sinful Safari (2003). The novel is set in 1920s Kenya and encompasses a set of real-life historical figures, mainly members of the Happy Valley set and other colonials, including Lord Erroll, Idina Hay, Beryl Markham, Karen Blixen, Denys Finch Hatton, Lord Delamere and Alice herself. However, as with other Kilian novels that employ real people as heroes in fictitious situations, the plot here is also fictitious and revolves around the murder of a character named "Lord Ramms". Kilian's novel seems inspired by the White Mischief book and the real-life Lord Erroll murder mystery, as most of the characters, including Alice, are considered as suspects for the murder, like in the actual murder case in 1941.

[edit] Miscellanea

• Alice's oldest daughter, Nolwén, was born in Paris but also spent several years in London. She became a fashion designer and was president of the Incorporated Society of London Fashion Designers in the 1950s.^[32] Nolwén was married three times and had two children, a daughter and son. Later she and well known art historian Kenneth Clark exchanged nuptials. He died in 1983. Nolwén herself died on 7 March 1989 in France, at the age of 67, after undergoing a heart surgery.

• Her second daughter, Paola, died in Normandy, near the family property, at Dieppe on 24 December 2006 at the age of 82.

• Following the death of Alice's mother, her father consoled himself in remarriage. He had five children with his second wife, many of which died at infancy. At the time of her death, only two of Alice's half-siblings were alive: William Edward Silverthorne Jr (1912 – 1976) and Patricia Silverthorne (born 1915).

• Alice was cousin to meatpacking magnate J. Ogden Armour.

[edit] See also

• White Mischief
• Happy Valley set
• Josslyn Hay, 22nd Earl of Erroll

[edit] Bibliography

• de Janzé, Frédéric (1928). Vertical Land. London: Duckworth.
• Fox, James (1983). White Mischief. New York: Random House.
• Trzebinski, Errol (2000). The Life and Death of Lord Erroll: The Truth Behind the Happy Valley Murder. London: Fourth Estate Ltd.

[edit] References