# John Arthur Chandor

John Arthur Chandor (January 18, 1850 – June 1, 1909) was an American businessman, journalist, inventor, minor U. S. diplomat, and bigamist. According to historian Michael Hagemeister, sources contemporary with John described him as "an adventurer of the most dangerous character", an "inveterate liar", and a "scoundrel in money matters".
John was born in New York City. His parents were the Hungarian inventor and entrepreneur Lasslo (Laslo) Philip Chandor (1815/1817 – October 7, 1894) and Laura Mannabourg (Mannaberg) (September 28, 1827 - April 14, 1878).
John attended Harvard Law School, but left the school without obtaining a law degree. The records indicate that he entered the Junior Class (the lowest class) of Harvard Law School on October 1, 1868, and left the law school, without graduating, sometime in 1869.
In the 1870s and 1880s, John lived in Paris, with his wife Adeline and his mistress Elizabeth Fry Ralston, partly on the proceeds of investments from his father's career.

## Family #1 - Wife Adeline Augusta Dickinson

John married Adeline Augusta Dickinson (1850-1947) on April 1, 1874 in New York City, and they had six children:
* Valentine Laura Chandor (February 14, 1875 – October 25, 1935)
* Jack Arthur Feucheres Chandor (October 22, 1876 – September 20, 1935)
* Alice Marie (Mary) Chandor (July 30, 1880 – February 5, 1956), married George Edward Dickinson (1863–1938)
* Harold Alvin Chandor (February 23, 1882 – May 25, 1952)
* Reginald Mortimer Chandor (March 1, 1884 – October 5, 1936)
* Roland Giles Chandor (October 19, 1886 – January 27, 1903)

## Family #2 - Mistress (Possible Wife) Elizabeth Fry Ralston

In December 1875, John met Elizabeth "Lizzie" Fry Ralston (née Red) (November 9, 1837 – November 30, 1929), the widow of San Francisco businessman and financier William Chapman Ralston (1826–1875), on a ship travelling from New York City to Europe. Although he claimed to be single, in reality John already had a wife and daughter (wife Adeline A. Dickinson, and daughter Valentine Laura Chandor) in New York City.

### Famous daughter Louise A. Chandor (Paquita de Shishmareff) (L. Fry)

About 5 years after they had first met, John and Elizabeth had one child (probably out of wedlock), Louise A. Chandor (February 16, 1882 – July 15, 1970), who was born in Paris, France. At the time Louise was born in 1882, John was employed as Second Secretary at the U. S. Embassy in Paris, a position that qualified him to be classified as a minor diplomat in the U. S. diplomatic corps. On May 26, 1906 (Old Style) Louise married Captain Feodor Ivanovich Shishmarev (August 16, 1876 - 1917) (of the Czarist Russian Imperial Army) in St. Petersburg, Russia, and subsequently she was usually referred to by her married name: Paquita Louise de Shishmareff. After emigrating from Russia to the United States in 1917 with her 2 sons - Kyrill (April 11, 1907 - 1975) and Misha (Michael) (January 17, 1910 - 1983) - Paquita became an antisemitic, pro-fascist author who wrote articles and books under the pen name L. Fry (Leslie Fry). Her most famous book is titled Waters Flowing Eastward (Paris: Éditions R.I.S.S., 1931), which includes an account of her provocative original research on the origin of the infamous Protocols of the Elders of Zion (see Waters Flowing Eastward, Part Two, Chapter I, titled How the Protocols Came to Russia, pp. 95–100). Louise was co-author, along with Edith Starr Miller (Lady Queenborough) (1887-1933) and others, of the famous conspiracy classic titled Occult Theocrasy (2 vols.) (Abbeville, France: Imprimerie F. Paillart, 1931-1933).

## Family #3 - Mistress (Possible Wife) Lucy May Newton

John and Lucy May Newton (1867 – July 1912) had three children:
* Violet May Chandor (1886 – March 1916)
* Colonel Hugo Henry Chandor OBE (1895 – October 22, 1966), married Daphne Rachel Mulholland (previously married to Esme Bligh, 9th Earl of Darnley)
* Douglas Granville Chandor (August 20, 1897 – January 13, 1953), famous portrait painter and garden designer.

## Family #4 - Mistress (Possible Wife) Mary Clarke Albert

John's last-known mistress (or possible wife) with whom he had a child (or children) was Mary Clarke Albert (1875-1924). John Arthur Chandor and Mary Clarke Albert had a son named Peter France Chandor (1904-1969).

## John's Death, and Probate of his Estate

John Arthur Chandor died in Kensington, Middlesex, London, England on June 1, 1909. His date of death, and details of the probate of his estate, are officially recorded in the Principal Probate Registry. Calendar of the Grants of Probate and Letters of Administration made in the Probate Registries of the High Court of Justice in England (London, England - Crown copyright), in the volume for year 1912, surnames Aanonson-Czerny, p. 355. The complete statement on p. 355 reads as follows: "Chandor, John Arthur - Of 5 Abingdon Court, Kensington, Middlesex, died on 1 June 1909. Administration (limited): London, 11 November [1909] to Reginald Mortimer Chandor, publisher, and attorney of Adeline Augusta Chandor (John's widow). Effects: 1317 (pounds sterling) and 10s."