Adorable Story #36: Peggy Bancroft

The original jet-setter

“The term jet-set could have been invented for her.”

Peggy Bancroft in the foyer of her Manhattan duplex, circa 1958 — Photo by Slim Aarons © Getty Images

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Margaret “Peggy” Bancroft, was born in 1932, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Frederick Henry Bedford Jr.: at the time, her father was president of Corn Products Refining Co. and one of the Directors of Standard Oil (now Exxon).

The Bedfords divided their life between their estate in Greens Farms, Connecticut (photo gallery below), and a New York apartment at the prestigious Pierre Hotel.

The Bedfords mansion in Green Farms, Connecticut — Photo (c) Architecture, 1911

Young Peggy attended school at Chapin and Miss Porter’s: while she didn’t particularly excel academically, people were naturally drawn to her warm and outgoing personality.

In June of 1950, she made her grand entrance into society with a private party held at the exclusive Creek Club in Locust Valley (photo below).

The (ultra-exclusive) Creek Club, in Locust Valley, New York, that sports a C.B. Macdonald designed golf course as well as a private boat area. Situated on the water, the most unique feature at The Creek Club is how the fluctuating tide comes into the course and creates an island green at the 11th hole — Photo © next-golf.com

At the time, the press gave her the title of one of the most sought-after debutantes of the year, and less than twelve months later she married Thomas Moore Bancroft, Jr., a senior at Princeton University and an amateur tennis player.

Their nuptials took place on April 15th, 1951, and the ceremony at St. James Church, followed by a reception in the opulent ballroom of the Colony Club in New York City (photo below).

The neo-Georgian, Colony Club, in New York City, designed by Delano & Aldrich and completed in 1916 — Photo © newyorkitecture.com

It was a union that united two of New York’s most prominent blue blood families, with Tommy himself being the grandson of Elsie Woodward, the reigning grande dame of New York society.

Following his graduation at Princeton in 1951, Tommy enlisted in the Navy, serving as a Naval Intelligence Officer in the Korean War and reaching the rank of (Navy) Lieutenant Junior Grade (LTJG).

Tommy’s military career prompted the golden couple to relocate to Santa Barbara, in California where he was stationed and it wasn’t long before their daughter, Margaret (always called “Muffie”), was born.

On the surface, Peggy embraced her role as a devoted wife and mother, but her inner restlessness soon became apparent.