Queer Places:
Virginia House, 4301 Sulgrave Rd, Richmond, VA 23221
Hollywood Cemetery
Richmond, Richmond City, Virginia, USA
Alexander Wilbourne Weddell (April 6, 1876 – January 1, 1948) was an
American diplomat. He served as United States ambassador to Argentina from
1933 to 1939 and to Spain from
1939 to 1942. He was a member of the
Horace Walpole Society, elected in 1932.
Weddell was born in Richmond, Virginia, son of Rev. Alexander Watson Weddell (1841-1883), D.D., and Penelope Margaret Wright (1840-1901). He attended George Washington University. On May 31, 1923, he married a wealthy widow, Elizabeth Virginia Atkinson Chase Steedman (1874-1948). He served as president of the Virginia Historical Society from 1943 until his death. Weddell was the author or editor of several books, including: A Memorial Volume of Virginia Historical Portraiture (1930) Richmond, Virginia, in Old Prints (1932) Introduction to Argentina (1939) Portraiture in the Virginia Historical Society (1945) Weddell and his wife died in a train accident near Otterville, Missouri on January 1, 1948. The Weddells were traveling to Arizona for the winter, accompained by their English maid, Violet Andrews. During a blinding snow storm, their Pullman car was rammed by another train, all three were killed instantly.
The Weddells' Richmond home, Virginia House, was constructed from material from an older house located in Priory Park, Warwick, England. He purchased the Warwick property in 1926 and transported it over two years later. The rebuilt house now belongs to the Virginia Historical Society and is open to the public.
My published books:
