The fastest woman on the water: The oil billionaire heiress who bought herself an island and lived with a doll for 70 years (16 photos)

What does an oil billionaire heiress do when she's bored in London? She buys an island in the Bahamas, builds a lighthouse there, and reigns as "queen" for 40 years. Jo Carstairs's story is about speed, freedom, and the leather doll she never parted with for 70 years.





Oil, chaos, and not a drop of parental warmth

Marion Barbara Carstairs was born on February 1, 1900, in London's Mayfair. Her family was wealthy, but her childhood was difficult. Her mother, Frances Evelyn Boswick, was the heiress of Jabez Boswick, the founder of Standard Oil. But she suffered from alcoholism and heroin addiction, constantly shuttling between drinking binges and hospital stays. Her father, Captain Albert Carstairs, left the family immediately after her birth. Rumors that Joe's real father was someone else circulated throughout her life—she readily believed them.



Marion Barbara "Joe" Carstairs in her youth

Her mother, Evelyn, had four husbands in all. In 1903, she remarried, then divorced, and remarried. Her last husband, Serge Voronoff, was a French surgeon in 1920. He became famous for transplanting monkey testicle tissue into men for "rejuvenation." Evelyn believed in his theories, funded his research, and worked as his lab assistant. She died in March 1921.





Jo Carstairs

Little Jo was left to fend for herself. In 1911, she was sent to the Low Heywood boarding school in Stamford, Connecticut. She later said that it was there that she felt free for the first time—away from the stuffiness of home. She forged her character at boarding school: she learned to rely only on herself. She took rules as a personal insult. Instead of dolls, she was occupied with motors, turbines, and pumps.

War as Salvation: The Nurse Who Wasn't Affected by a Bullet

World War I was a gift from fate for Jo. In 1916, at 16, she left for France as an ambulance driver. First with the American Red Cross, then with the Women's Legion of Mechanical Transport. She evacuated the wounded from the battlefield and cleared the remains of battlefields. Later, she worked in Dublin, transporting British officers during the height of the Irish War of Independence.



Joe Carstairs in military service. Dublin, Ireland, 1917

In Paris, Jo found herself in a lesbian bohemian circle—an apartment with other volunteer ambulance drivers, Natalie Barney's salon. There, she had her first affair with a woman. Her name was Dolly Wilde, Oscar Wilde's niece, also an ambulance driver. When her mother learned of this, she threatened to disinherit her daughter.



Joe Carstairs during the X Garage period

Joe didn't lose her composure. In January 1918, in Paris, she married her childhood friend, the French aristocrat Count Jacques des Pres. The arrangement was a cold one: the marriage gave her access to a trust fund, bypassing her mother's will. They separated immediately after the wedding. The marriage was never consummated. In 1921, after Evelyn's death, it was annulled.

X Garage: Women Behind the Wheel and Under the Hood

In 1920, after demobilization, Jo, along with three former colleagues from the Women's Legion, opened a car rental and taxi company, X Garage, in London's Kensington. The fleet consisted of Daimler Landaulettes, and the entire staff—women drivers and mechanics—was all female. Many spoke French, German, or Italian.



Carstairs conquers the waters in her speedboat

For Carstairs, this wasn't just a business. It was a powerful statement: women can drive, repair, and earn money. Dressed in men's suits, with short haircuts and cigarettes, the "X Garage girls" became legends on London's streets. The police weren't bored either: in September 1921, Jo was fined £20 for "dangerous driving" on a public holiday. Another £10 fine was given for failing to stop. Her license was revoked for two years. X Garage closed in 1928. By then, Carstairs had already found another passion.



Joe Carstairs in 1925

"The Fastest Woman on the Water"

In 1924, Carstairs received the final settlement from her mother and grandmother's wills. Her annual income was approximately $145,000. She invested the money in speed. She ordered her first seaplane, a 17-footer, from shipbuilder Samuel Saunders of Cowes. She named it "Gwen" in honor of her friend and lover, Gwen Farrar. The boat capsized during a test run. After it was recovered, Jo renamed it Newg—"Gwen" spelled backwards. In 1927, she ordered three more seaplanes from the same builder: Estelle I, Estelle II, and Estelle III.



Carstairs in a motorboat

Jo won cups in Southampton and Cannes. In 1925, she competed in the Duke of York's Cup race on the Thames. It was then that the press dubbed her "the fastest woman on the water." She finished fifth because her propeller clogged. But a first place start and several brilliant runs were enough—the future King George VI asked to be introduced to this "river girl." Her greatest dream remained the Harmsworth Cup, the premier motorsport race in the world. Jo attempted to win it three times, losing each time to American Gar Wood. The cup remained elusive—the one thing in her life that money couldn't buy.



Jo Carstairs, her friend Joe Harris, and the family cat. May 31, 1928

Jo's body was adorned with tattoos. Her arms were covered in machine oil up to the elbows. Her personal life was the subject of gossip. Among her lovers were Marlene Dietrich, actresses Greta Garbo and Tallulah Bankhead, and Dolly Wilde, Oscar Wilde's niece. Carstairs's personal photo album listed over 120 women. She wore Savile Row suits and was genuinely delighted when people mistook her for a man.

Lord Tod Wadley: The Doll Who Survived It All

At the end of 1925, Joe and Ruth Baldwin went to the Swiss Alps for Christmas. Ruth was an American socialite—biographers call her Carstairs's greatest love. In the mountains, she gave Joe a leather doll made by the German company Steiff. It stood just over a foot tall, had movable joints, and a sculpted face. Jo named it Lord Tod Wadley.



Carstairs and her Lord Tod Wadley

From that moment on, they were inseparable for almost 70 years. Lord Tod had a Savile Row wardrobe and Italian leather shoes. The nameplate at the entrance to Carstairs's house in Chelsea, London, read: "Marion Barbara Carstairs and Lord Tod Wadley." As if he were a living partner. Jo didn't take him to the races – she was afraid the boat would capsize and the doll would drown. Ruth Baldwin died suddenly on August 31, 1937. It was a terrible blow for Jo. But Lord Tod remained by her side for another 56 years.

Whale Cay: An Island Ruled by a Woman

In 1934, Carstairs came across an ad in an American newspaper for an island for sale. Whale Cay, in the Berry Islands archipelago of the Bahamas, was about a thousand acres and nine miles long. She bought it for $40,000. The island's only infrastructure was a single lighthouse.



Whale Cay Island

Within a few years, Carstairs transformed it into a real state. She paved 26 miles of roads and built a lighthouse, a radio station, a school, a church, a cannery, a museum, and a power plant. She established an agricultural enterprise—the grain storage facility became one of the largest in the Bahamas. Hundreds of Bahamians found employment. Carstairs considered herself the island's rightful ruler—strict but fair. Over time, she acquired neighboring islands: Bird Cay, Devil's Cay, and a stake in Hoffman's Cay.



Carstairs inspects her private army on Whale Cay

On the island, she hosted the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, Marlene Dietrich, and other celebrities. She rode barefoot around the island on a motorcycle and in the bay on a speedboat. She had a tiny "army" of locals armed with poles. They say she once offered Marlene Dietrich an entire island as a gift, but she refused.



Carstairs raced along the road that encircled her island on a motorcycle.



Carstairs at her island home

Finale: Florida, 93, and the faithful Lord Todd

In 1975, Carstairs sold Whale Cay for $1 million and moved to Florida. She first lived in Miami, then in Naples. I traveled to New York and London, hosting old friends. Lord Todd Wadley was always nearby—impeccably dressed, always at hand.



Carstairs and the doll Lord Tod Wadley were inseparable for nearly 70 years.

Jo Carstairs died on December 18, 1993, in Naples, Florida, at the age of 93. Her vast fortune was left to friends and servants. In her will, she left a final request: that Lord Tod Wadley, the doll she had lived with for nearly 70 years, be cremated. Her ashes and those of Ruth Baldwin were buried together in Oakland Cemetery in Sag Harbor, New York, by the sea. They passed away together.

A Lifelong Rebellion

Jo Carstairs's life isn't a story about money and whims. It's a manifesto of someone who refused to live by someone else's blueprint. She didn't ask permission to be herself. She donned a man's suit, took the helm, and raced faster than anyone else. Wealth provided protection—she always made her own choices.



Whale Cay Lighthouse

Some see her as an icon of freedom and feminism. Others, a self-centered rich woman who bought her own impunity. The truth, as usual, is more complicated: Carstairs was both. But she lived to be 93. And never lived a single day as someone else.

What do you think: is buying your own island and escaping the world the ultimate expression of independence? Or is it simply an escape available only to a select few?