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Theodore Roosevelt married Edith Carow in 1886 at St George's, Hanover Square, London

Both of them were New Yorkers being raised at Union Square.

At the time of his marriage he was just reentering NY politcs.

So why get married in London instead of NYC?

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    According to Britannica, "The wedding took place in London, where the Carow women were trying to economize by living abroad, on December 2, 1886". (It was the 3rd result returned when I searched Google for Theodore Roosevelt marriage London)
    – sempaiscuba
    Aug 28, 2020 at 2:50
  • Better results than my "why Theodore Roosevelt was married in London" query.
    – Vinicius Zolin De Jesus
    Aug 28, 2020 at 2:51
  • This question actually has a twist, because the answer has two parts: 1) Why not New York? and 2) Why London? It is therefore not a "basic" question that can be answered with a single reference. I have voted to reopen.
    – Tom Au
    Sep 1, 2020 at 21:25

1 Answer 1

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First question: Why not New York? Roosevelt was saddened by the death of his first wife, Alice, with whom he had lived in New York. He went to a ranch in the Badlands of South Dakota to get away from it all. New York was probably the last place where he wanted to get married.

Second question: Why London? Edith was living in London, some say to "economize," and others might say that it was part of the "grand tour" taken by upper class women. Their honeymoon was a long tour of Europe, from which London was a good launching pad.

Also living in London was Theodore's best man, Cecil Spring Rice. It's not clear what exactly was his relationship to Teddy, but the fact of his being the best man suggests that Teddy was close to many other Britishers.

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    Cecil Spring Rice couldn't have had anything to do with the decision to have the wedding in London. TR and Rice first met on TR's trip to London to get married (i.e. they only became friends after TR and Edith decided to get married in London.
    – Lars Bosteen
    Aug 28, 2020 at 5:46
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    The link you posted for Cecil Spring Rice actually links to the Wikipedia page for Edith Roosevelt. If it helps, The Roosevelt Center at Dickinson States University have a helpful blog post about Rice, which might also help clarify any confusion you might have about his relationship to Roosevelt in 1886.
    – sempaiscuba
    Aug 28, 2020 at 12:47
  • @LarsBosteen: I wrote, "The fact of [Rice's] being the best man suggests that Teddy was close to...many other Britishers." I haven't actually done this, never having married, but the two times I came close, I selected "prospective" best men for their relationships with the other (prospective) wedding guests.
    – Tom Au
    Sep 1, 2020 at 21:20
  • With respect, the fact that he chose a best man he only met for the first time on the boat to London (see the linked article in my comment above), would rather suggest that he really didn't know that many people in London in 1886, British or otherwise.
    – sempaiscuba
    Sep 1, 2020 at 21:45

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