Gazlay Family History
 

FamilyJean Gazlay Donaldson

DIRECT DESCENDANT OF JOHN GAZLAY (from England c.1715)
Jean Gazlay Donaldson6 (Emma Gazlay,5 Theodore Gazlay,4 James Gazlay,3 John Gazlay,2 John Gazlay1)

Parents

FatherAndrew Donaldson (September 1845 - 10 January 1904)
MotherEmma Jane Gazlay (11 November 1855 - 15 November 1951)

Personal Information

Record Created: 8 July 2012; Last Edited: 3 February 2022 
Person ID3867
NameJean Gazlay Donaldson
GenderFemale
Born 12 March 1893 in Nutley, Essex County, New Jersey1, 2, 3, 4
Married 11 February 1910 in Jersey City, Hudson County, New Jersey to John Stanislaus Kirwan5
Annulled April 1913 from John Stanislaus Kirwan5
Married 30 July 1913 in Milburn, Essex County, New Jersey to Winfield Burrows Sifton5, 6
Divorced 7 July 1919 in Canada from Winfield Burrows Sifton7
Married 12 July 1919 in London, England to Captain John Victor Nash5
Divorced 24 March 1923 in London, England from Captain John Victor Nash8
Married 1 February 1925 in Cairo, Egypt to Prince Mohammed Sabit Bey9
Divorced 2 March 1925 from Prince Mohammed Sabit Bey
Married 15 October 1926 in Paris, France to Paul Dubonnet10
Divorced 8 July 1948 in Paris, France from Paul Dubonnet5
Married 27 May 1950 to Guy Douglas Bridge Puckle5
Died 9 February 1956 in Paris, France2, 11
Buried in Spring Grove Cemetery, Cincinnati, Hamilton County, Ohio2

Biography

Much has been written about Jean Gazlay Donaldson, known mostly by her third married name, Jean Nash, and her six marriages, her celebrity as the “world’s best dressed woman,” and her other social adventures that captivated the imagination of the media and the public, such as gambling among the rich and famous. Jean fostered her own renown by authoring a series of 15 weekly chapters of autobiographical articles from 1 February through 10 May 1925 that were carried in newspapers nation-wide, among them the Milwaukee Sentinel and the Pittsburgh Press. In the articles, Jean recounts numerous anecdotes that provide fascinating insight into her life and the high style to which she was accustomed.12

Jean was born in Nutley, New Jersey, and was raised by her mother after her father died in 1904. While attending school in Dobbs Ferry, New York, Jean met and formed a relationship with John Stanley Kirwan. Her mother objected to the relationship, and so proceeded to make plans to move Jean to a school in Europe. Jean discovered the plan, and quickly eloped with Kirwan in New Jersey, which naturally shocked her mother. Their marriage was annulled in April 1913, aided by Jean’s eventual second husband, Winfield Sifton, when he engaged the services of a lawyer in New York. Jean’s marriage to Kirwan produced a son, Andrew, born in the fall of the 1910.5, 12

Jean met her second husband, Winfield Burroughs Sifton, at an embassy ball in London. Winfield was the son of Sir Clifford Sifton, who was Attorney General, Provincial Lands Commissioner and Member of Parliament of Canada. Despite Jean’s initial rejections, Winfield persisted in his desire to marry Jean, and in July 1913 he and Jean slipped away from Jean’s mother, sailing across the ocean from Europe to New York. They were married in “the oddest wedding last night that Milburn [New Jersey] had ever seen,” being married in a motor car, under the light of a street lamp, in the presence only of the reverend and two of Winfield’s friends. The wedding supper consisted of chocolate ice cream sodas served in Newark before setting out for Milburn, where they able to obtain the marriage license. Jean and Winfield’s daughter Elizabeth was born in London when the couple lived there, and Elizabeth lived with the Siftons until she died in 1950. Jean never got along with her mother-in-law, Lady Sifton, mostly over Jean’s taste in fashion.5, 6, 12, 13

Her mother Emma could never control Jean. In March 1914, Jean locked her mother in a closet and refused to let her out until Emma signed a deed of trust to the Knickerbocker Trust Co., conveying Emma’s interest in several pieces of property in Cincinnati to Jean. Emma, aided by a relative, Oscar W. Kuhn, filed suit against Jean, then Mrs. Jean Sifton, her husband Winfield, and the trust company to recover the deeded property. The suit was eventually dismissed in October 1914 on motion of counsel when the property was re-conveyed back to Emma.5, 14

Jean met her third husband John Victor Nash toward the end of her marriage with Winfield Sifton. Needing a divorce from Sifton, Jean filed for divorce in Canada since the marriage was recorded there. The divorce was finalized on 12 July 1919, and five days later Jean and John Nash were married in London. Jean’s extravagant lifestyle eventually overwhelmed John’s modest salary as a captain in the British army. Eventually he sued for divorce, which was made final in March 1923.12

Following her divorce from Nash, Jean was courted by several suitors, including Mohammad Sabit Bey, an Egyptian prince, whom she met in a casino in Cannes. Sabit pursued Jean’s affections, and they were engaged to be married. Jean broke the engagement, but eventually she agreed to marry him. She was required to adopt the Moslem faith, and she took the Moslem name of Dowlett. Jean and Sabit were married on 1 February 1925 in a Moslem church in Cairo, with only three witnesses present. Very soon, Jean learned that Sabit had incurred many debts all over Europe, and so may not be able to support her high lifestyle. Also, she and Sabit could not agree on the degree of freedom that she should be allowed. Jean was accustomed to the independence customarily allowed to American married women, whereas Sabit could not disregard the Egyptian habits of the harem and the centuries-old traditions where women are shut out from the world. They were divorced a month after they married.12, 15

Shortly after their divorce, Sabit was arrested in Paris on three charges of swindling cash, jewels, and motor cars, valued at $75,000. He pawned his first wife’s jewels that, it was claimed, were not paid for. Jean was also implicated in the alleged crime but was not arrested. Sabit was acquitted after spending a month in jail.16

In a secret Paris wedding in 1926 with only two witnesses present, Jean married Paul Dubonnet, of the Dubonnet apéritif wine family. Jean maintained her image as the “world’s best dressed woman,” living in Paris and on the Riviera. Her choices in the latest clothing styles still captured the attention of the media wherever she went. Jean frequented the great gambling resorts of the Continent, including Monte Carlo, Deauville, and Cannes, and her winnings were especially newsworthy. Eventually, she settled into a more quiet life than she had previously known, raising her and Paul’s daughter.10

Jean, Paul, and Jean’s mother Emma, stood by Jean’s son Andrew (from her first marriage) during his 1934 trial and eventual acquittal for murder. Paul, in fact, was the only witness who testified for the defense.

Although Jean’s marriage to Paul Dubonnet was her longest, nearly 22 years, it too ended in divorce, in 1948.5

In 1950, Jean married Guy Douglas Bridge Puckle, a British stock broker who traded in London and New York. Jean died on 9 February 1956 in Paris, and is buried as Jean G. D. Puckle in the Donaldson plot in Spring Grove Cemetery, Cincinnati.2, 5, 11

Person/Family

Spouse 1FamilyJohn Stanislaus Kirwan (son of John P. Kirwan and Julia M. _____)
Born 23 July 1891 in New York, New York
Married 11 February 1910 in Jersey City, Hudson County, New Jersey to Jean Gazlay Donaldson
Died 5 July 1921 in New York, New York
  
Children of Jean Gazlay Donaldson and John Stanislaus Kirwan:
  
1.FamilyAndrew Donaldson Kirwan
Born 29 October 1910 in New York, New York
Died 14 April 1973 in New York, New York
  
Spouse 2FamilyWinfield Burrows Sifton (son of Sir Clifford Sifton and Lady Elizabeth Armanella Burrows)
Born 21 January 1890
Married 30 July 1913 in Milburn, Essex County, New Jersey to Jean Gazlay Kirwan (née Donaldson)
Died 13 June 1928 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada
  
Children of Jean Gazlay Donaldson and Winfield Burrows Sifton:
  
1.FamilyElizabeth Arma Burrows Sifton
Born 2 May 1915 in London, England
Died 24 February 1950 in New York
  
Spouse 3FamilyCaptain John Victor Nash (son of _____ Nash and Elene _____)
Born 14 June 1891 in Carcarana, Province of Santa Fé, Argentina
Married 12 July 1919 in London, England to Jean Gazlay Sifton (née Donaldson)
  
Spouse 4FamilyPrince Mohammed Sabit Bey (son of Salel Sabit Pasha and Princess Gulsen Hanem)
Born 1893
Married to Ismat Hasan Moshen
Married 1 February 1925 in Cairo, Egypt to Jean Gazlay Nash (née Donaldson)
Died 1965
  
Spouse 5FamilyPaul Dubonnet (son of Marie Aimé ‘Joseph’ Dubonnet and Florence LeBlanc)
Born 6 September 1900 in Paris, France
Married 1920 to Christiane Yvonne Coty
Married 15 October 1926 in Paris, France to Jean Gazlay Nash (née Donaldson)
Married 16 April 1949 in Paris, France to Muguette Baroin
Died 8 July 1961 in Nuillé, Pays de la Loire, France
  
Children of Jean Gazlay Donaldson and Paul Dubonnet:
  
+1.FamilyAnne Patricia Dubonnet
Born 20 February 1931 in Cannes, France
Married 10 June 1954 to Claude Foussier
Married January 1962 in Paris, France to Philip Uzielli
Married to Victor Shaio
Died 27 February 2016 in New York, New York
  
Spouse 6FamilyGuy Douglas Bridge Puckle (son of Walter Bridge Puckle and Helen Elizabeth White)
Born 13 November 1890 in Hove, Brighton, Sussex, England
Married 27 May 1950 to Jean Gazlay Dubonnet (née Donaldson)
  

Sources

  1. New Jersey, Births and Christenings Index, 1660-1931, Jean Donaldson, born 12 March 1892 in Essex [County], New Jersey; father: Andrew Donaldson, age 47; mother: Emma J. Geglay [sic], age 35. [The birth year is 1893 in other records and is probably a transcription error here, as is the surname of her mother, known to be Gazlay.]
  2. Cemetery Record, Spring Grove Cemetery, Cincinnati, Ohio (website); Puckle, Jean Donaldson, card no. 142683, born 12 March 1893 in Nutley, NJ, died 9 Feb 1956 in Paris, France, wife of Guy B. Puckle, parents: Andrew & Emma J. Gayley [sic], Sec 86 Lot 25.
  3. U.S. Federal Census, 1900, New York, New York County, New York City, Enumeration District 458, Sheet No. 17B, family of Andrew Donaldson (54, Ohio, Sep 1845, accountant); wife of 9 years Emma G. Donaldson (43, Indiana, Nov 1856, 1 child, 1 living); daughter Jean G. Donaldson (7, New Jersey, Mar 1893); servant Annie Waehole (21, Germany, Aug 1878).
  4. U.S. Federal Census, 1910, New York, New York County, New York City, Enumeration District 823, Sheet. No. Supp 11A, family of Emma G. Donaldson (50, Indiana, widow, 1 child, 1 living); Jean G. Donaldson (17, New Jersey). They are lodgers in a hotel.
  5. Gazlay History, written by Spencer G. Kuhn, a grandchild of Theodore Gazlay; undated. This is a typewritten re-compilation of the earlier Genealogy of the Gazlay Family, compiled by Theodore Gazlay in 1890, including the 1852 statement of the family history by Reverend Sayers Gazlay, an elder brother of Theodore. This document re-formats the information in the 1890 work. For example, facts originally shown in list form, such as birth and death dates, are incorporated in the narrative of this later work. Two post-1890 sections are unique to this document: one with additional details about Theodore Gazlay’s family, with dates as late as 1951; and another on the Donaldson family, featuring Jean Gazlay Donaldson and her six marriages, with several dates in 1965.
  6. Marriage Announcement, New York Times, New York, New York, 1 August 1913, Jean Donaldson Kirwan and Winfield Burrows Sifton, married 30 July 1913 in Milburn, New Jersey. The article provides an interesting account of their secret wedding, and other biographical details.
  7. Journal of the Senate of Canada, Volume 55, page 411-413, 7 July 1919, Royal Assent to the petition of Jean Donaldson Sifton to dissolve her marriage to Winfield Burrows Sifton [among other Bills].
  8. The Glasgow Herald, 24 March 1923, divorce of Captain John Victor Nash and Mrs. Jean Nash, in London.
  9. Marriage Announcement, Rochester Journal and The Post Express, Rochester, New York, 2 February 1925; marriage of Mrs. Jean Nash and Mohammed Sabet Bey in Cairo, Egypt.
  10. Marriage Announcement, The Milwaukee Sentinel, 16 October 1926, marriage of Paul Dubonnet and Mrs. Jean Nash in Paris on 15 October. The article mentions that Paul’s divorce was final the previous day.
  11. Obituary, Chicago Tribune, Chicago, Illinois. 10 February 1956; Jean Nash Dies at 60; Heiress Wed Six Times. In Paris on 9 February 1956.
  12. Milwaukee Sentinel, and Pittsburg Press, both available at Google News. These newspapers, among others, carry the series of 15 weekly chapters of autobiographical articles from 1 February through 10 May 1925 by “Mrs. Jean Nash” (search term in the Google News Archives).
  13. Clifford Sifton in Relation to his Times, by John Wesley Dafoe, 1931, reprinted 1971 by Ayer Publishing. Available at Google Books.
  14. The New York Times, 21 March 1914, Cincinnati, Ohio: ‘Accuses Daughter and Bank of Fraud,’ and 1 October 1914, Cincinnati, Ohio: ‘Mrs. Donaldson Ends Suit.’ Both articles available at query.nytimes.com (website).
  15. The Sioux City Journal, Sioux City, Iowa, 2 February 1925. Available at Google News.
  16. The Southeast Missourian, Cape Girardeau, Missouri, 3 June 1925. Available at Google News.