Ava Ribblesdale
- Bobby Kelley
- Sep 23
- 3 min read
Updated: Sep 28
Ava Lowle Willing was born on September 15, 1868 in Newport, Rhode Island, the daughter of Edward Shippen Willing and Alice Caroline Barton. She came from an old and distinguished Philadelphia family with deep colonial roots. Through her father she descended from Thomas Willing, Revolutionary era mayor of Philadelphia and president of the First Bank of the United States, while her mother's family, the Bartons, were also prominent in Pennsylvania society. She grew up with her siblings John Rhea Barton Willing, Susan Ridgway Willing, and Edward Shippen Willing Jr.
On February 17, 1891 she married Colonel John Jacob Astor IV, heir to one of the greatest fortunes in America. Their wedding was held at her parents' home in Philadelphia and was followed by a honeymoon in Europe. The couple were given a grand townhouse on Fifth Avenue in New York as a wedding gift from his parents. In 1896 they moved into the newly completed Astor double mansion on Fifth Avenue. After the death of his father William Backhouse Astor Jr., John Jacob inherited Ferncliff, the family's estate at Rhinebeck, and following the death of his mother Caroline Astor he came into possession of Beechwood, the Astor summer mansion in Newport. Together they had three children, William Vincent Astor, born in 1892, an infant son born and died in 1896, and Ava Alice Muriel Astor, born in 1902.
By the later 1890s Ava had established herself as a presence in London society, often renting furnished houses during extended stays abroad.
Although surrounded by wealth and luxury her marriage was not a happy one. In 1909 Ava filed for divorce on the grounds of desertion. The divorce was finalized in March 1910 with a settlement of ten million dollars, an extraordinary sum for the time. Custody of their children was divided, with Vincent remaining largely with his father and Muriel with her mother.
In 1911 Ava returned to England with her daughter and settled there more permanently. At this time she leased Sutton Place, a Tudor country estate near Guildford, Surrey, which she maintained until 1919. In January 1912 she prepared to take up residence at 18 Grosvenor Square, her first permanent London townhouse after years of renting furnished properties; it was extensively redecorated to her specifications.
On April 15, 1912, only a few months after she acquired her new London home, tragedy struck when her former husband, Colonel John Jacob Astor IV, lost his life in the sinking of the RMS Titanic. Their son Vincent, then only twenty years old, inherited the majority of his father's estate and responsibilities. Though living in England, Ava returned to America at intervals to support her son while continuing to raise Muriel in London society.
During the First World War she served with the American Women's War Relief Fund in Britain, holding the post of vice president and supporting hospitals and relief work.
On June 3, 1919 she married Thomas Lister, 4th Baron Ribblesdale. By this marriage she was known as Lady Ribblesdale. The couple resided at her Grosvenor Square townhouse until his death in 1925. There were no children of the marriage.
In the years that followed she divided her time between England and America. In 1935 she was reported in New York visiting from England and staying at her townhouse on East 38th Street. In 1938 she placed her large London home by Regent's Park, known as Regent's Lodge, on the market and that same winter was noted as a Palm Beach hostess at the Everglades Club.
The Second World War brought her back to the United States for good. In June 1940 she arrived in New York aboard the SS President Roosevelt as a war refugee. In July 1940 she formally resumed American citizenship, renouncing the use of her British peeress title and taking the name Mrs. Ava Willing Ribblesdale. That December she was again in New York society, hosting dinners at the Iridium Room of the St. Regis attended by members of the Astor and Vanderbilt families. In November 1941 she leased an apartment at 420 Park Avenue, later making her home at 720 Park Avenue, where she continued to entertain and was remembered for quiet charitable work carried on without publicity.
Ava Lowle Willing Ribblesdale died on June 9, 1958 in New York City at the age of 89. She was buried at Locust Valley Cemetery in Nassau County, Long Island.
