Marion Barbara Carstairs - an eccentric champion who ruled the island and played with dolls (9 photos)
Usually, the heirs of giant fortunes quietly waste their lives and have little interest in the existence of ordinary people. But Marion Barbara "Jo" Carters is an exception. Although it is specific. 
The girl was born in 1900 in Mayfair (London) into the family of an heiress to a huge fortune. The mother did not have a pious lifestyle, but almost all the lovers honestly married Evelyn Bostwick. Therefore, the daughter became entangled in a series of numerous stepfathers. 
Marion in his youth
As she grew up, Marion began to rebel - making troubles, dressing in men's clothes, and ignoring her studies. As a result, at the age of 11, the girl refused to attend a closed private school. At the age of 18, she married her childhood friend Jacques de Pres in order to get out of her mother’s care.
But after Evelyn’s death, she quickly filed for divorce and started her own business - she opened a car rental service. What is noteworthy is that the drivers and mechanics in it were exclusively ladies. Marion herself was an excellent driver and knowledgeable about technology (being very young, she managed to work in the Red Cross during the war). 
Actually, the means allowed the girl not to work at all, but the rich heiress liked to work with her hands and delve into mechanisms. However, at the age of 25, she retired from business and devoted herself to something else - something that fascinated Carstairs for the rest of her life. She adored the sea. And everything connected with it. The passion of the eccentric rich woman was boats, speedboats and racing. Marion has won several notable awards in this field. But at the same time she did not become proud. She was friends with several male racing drivers and generously sponsored their projects.
Queen of the Island and life with a doll 
In 1934, Marion purchased the large island of Whale Cay in the Bahamas for $40,000. And in fact she became his queen. She built a huge estate there and lived the life of a pampered sybarite, surrounded by marvelous nature and luxurious things. At the same time, she became a kind and generous queen to a small population - she organized everyday life, built several enterprises, a school, and a church. Later she expanded her possessions by acquiring several more islands. 
On the island, the rich heiress was visited by prominent representatives of her era, to whom she invariably provided a luxurious reception. It was rumored that Marion had affairs with many famous women. 
But the eccentric racer’s true love was… a doll. Friend Ruth Baldwin gave Marion a toy - a leather boy with a painted smile and flexible limbs. The woman, who could afford any whim, was absolutely delighted. She named the doll Lord Tod Wedley and practically never parted with it. Partly because I saw in him my pure component of the soul, without sins and all pretense. Partly because the toy became a child for her (she categorically refused to give birth or adopt children).
Time passed. Her health made itself felt (Marion was already 60 years old). The population of the little paradise was dwindling. And in 1975, Carstairs was forced to sell the island and move. 
In recent years, the woman has lived in Florida. She bequeathed a gigantic fortune to those who remained close until her last days - friends and servants. The racer lived a long and colorful life, just short of her 94th birthday. The faithful doll, quite worn and cracked, was cremated along with its owner. 
Island today
Whale Cay died spiritually even before its former owner. It was not for nothing that Marion was so worried about her brainchild, that everything she had created would fall into decay and be destroyed. Several years ago it was put up for sale, valued at $14.5 million. Then the amount was raised to 20. Perhaps the place will be revived someday. 
But that will be a different story. Not the one written by the spontaneous, strange, but strong and open Marion - a woman who loved life and a doll.
