Ava Lowle Willing

Ava Lowle Willing (September 15, 1868 – June 9, 1958) was an American socialite. She was the first wife of Colonel John Jacob Astor IV and later married Thomas Lister, 4th Baron Ribblesdale. Early life Ava Lowle Willing was born on September 15, 1868, in Newport, Rhode Island, to Edward Shippen Willing (1822–1906) and Alice Caroline Barton (1833–1903). She had one older sister and two older brothers: (1) Susan Ridgway Willing (1862–1940) who married on November 3, 1899, Francis C. Lawrance Jr. (1858–1904), they had one daughter; (2) John Rhea Barton Willing (1864–1913) he died from pneumonia unmarried with no issue; and (3) Edward Shippen Willing Jr. (1867–1873) he died at age six. Personal life First marriage On February 17, 1891, she married Colonel John Jacob "Jack" Astor IV (1864–1912), son of William Backhouse Astor Jr. (1829–1892) and Caroline Webster "Lina" Schermerhorn (1830–1908), at her parents' mansion at 510 South Broad Street in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They went on a 5-week honeymoon in Europe. The newlywed couple was given, among many lavish gifts, a furnished townhouse on Fifth Avenue in New York City. Though the marriage was tumultuous, the Astors had two children: William Vincent Astor (November 15, 1891 – February 3, 1959) Ava Alice Muriel Astor (July 7, 1902 – July 19, 1956) The family lived in their New York townhouse at 840 Fifth Avenue, their 2,000 acre country estate, Ferncliff in Rhinebeck, New York, and Beechwood, their Newport, Rhode Island, mansion. By 1896, Mrs. Ava Astor had become socially active in England. She had a country estate near the capital, Regent Lodge, Regent's Park, and a townhouse on Grosvenor Square in Mayfair, London.