CHISWELL DABNEY LANGHORNE (1843-1919), known as “Chillie,” pronounced “Shilly”; patriarch of the Langhorne family; railroad entrepreneur, sometime tobacco auctioneer. Husband of Nanaire.
NANCY WITCHER KEENE LANGHORNE, “Nanaire” (1848-1903), wife of Chillie Langhorne, whom she married in 1864.
Their children in order of age:
LIZZIE (1867-1914) married Moncure Perkins in 1885; three children: Chiswell (Chillie), Nancy, Alice.
KEENE (1869-1916), married Sadie Reynolds.
IRENE (1873-1956) married the artist Charles Dana Gibson (1867-1944), creator of the Gibson Girl; two children: Irene (Babs) and Langhorne.
HARRY (1874-1907) married Genevieve Peyton.
NANCY (1879-1964) married Robert Gould Shaw II of Boston (1871-1930), divorced 1903; one child: Bobbie Shaw. Married Waldorf Astor, later 2nd Viscount Astor (1879-1952); five children: Bill, Phyllis (Wissie), David, Michael, John Jacob (Jakie).
PHYLLIS (1880-1937) married Reginald (Reggie) Brooks November 1901; two children: Peter and David (Winkie); separated in 1912, divorced 1915. Married Robert Henry Brand (Bob) in 1917; three children: Virginia, Dinah, Jim.
WILLIAM (Buck) (1886-1938) married Edith Forsyth; five children: Dabney, Phyllis, Harry, Keene, Douglas.
NORA (1889-1955) married Paul Phipps in 1909; two children: Joyce (later Grenfell) and Tommy; divorced 1931. Married Maurice Bennet Flynn (“Lefty”) in 1932.
Other main characters, in the order that their names first appear in the book:
ALICE WINN (b. 1902), younger daughter of Lizzie.
BOB BRAND (Robert Henry Brand) (1878-1963), later 1st Lord Brand of Eydon. Member of Milner’s Kindergarten and the Round Table, economist and banker, married Phyllis in 1917. Grandfather of the author.
BOBBIE SHAW (Robert Gould Shaw) (1898-1970), only son of Nancy and Robert (“Bob”) Shaw of Boston.
CHARLES DANA GIBSON (1867-1944), artist and illustrator, creator of the Gibson Girl, married Irene in 1895.
DAVID ASTOR (b. 1912), Nancy and Waldorf’s second son, later editor of the Observer.
DINAH BRIDGE (1920-1998), younger daughter of Phyllis; mother of the author.
HENRY DOUGLAS PENNANT (1876-1915), the “Captain.” Soldier and trophy shooter, younger son of Baron Penrhyn.
JIM BRAND (1924-1945), only son of Phyllis and Bob Brand.
LEFTY FLYNN (1880-1950), former Yale football star, silent screen actor, and Nora’s second husband.
MICHAEL ASTOR (1916-1980), Nancy and Waldorf’s third son, author of Tribal Feeling.
MONCURE PERKINS (1861-1914), Lizzie’s husband, father of Nancy Lancaster and Alice Winn.
NANCY LANCASTER (1897-1994), Lizzie’s eldest daughter, gardener and decorator, who married (1) Henry Field, (2) Ronnie Tree, and (3) Juby Lancaster.
PAUL PHIPPS (1880-1953), Nora’s first husband, father of Joyce Grenfell and Tommy Phipps.
PETER BROOKS (1902-1944), eldest son of Phyllis and her first husband, Reggie Brooks.
PHILIP KERR (1882-1940), later 11th Marquis of Lothian. Member of Milner’s Kindergarten and the Round Table; British Ambassador to the United States, 1939-1940.
REGGIE BROOKS (1876-1945), Phyllis’s first husband; father of Peter and Winkie Brooks.
WINKIE BROOKS (1910-1936), Phyllis’s second son with Reggie Brooks.
WISSIE (PHYLLIS) ASTOR, later Countess of Ancaster (1909-1975), only daughter of Nancy and Waldorf.