Welsh Strawbridge
(some of the following is from Early Strawbridge History
Welsh Strawbridge (1878 - 1969) ...
While Welch Strawbridge and Margaret Ely Marshall were courting, they visited Graeme Park. Mrs. Strawbridge remembered that visit well. When they became engaged, Welch asked her, “Would you like to live here, or would you rather have a castle in Spain? Because I have an opportunity to go into the wool business in Spain. And, if we lived in Spain, you could have a castle.” Margaret replied, “I would prefer living in Pennsylvania.” Welch Strawbridge purchased Graeme Park in 1920.
The Strawbridges donated the portion of the estate now known as Graeme Park to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in 1967 to guarantee its preservation. When Welch Strawbridge died in 1969, Mrs. Strawbridge took control of the remaining 101-acre farm. In 1982 in an effort to preserve the farm and the surrounding land, Mrs. Strawbridge sold the tract to the National Lands Trust for $1.00. Part of this agreement of sale included a clause allowing Mrs. Strawbridge to live in the house until her death. Mrs. Strawbridge died in 1996. On January 8,1997 the 101 acres of the Penrose/Strawbridge farm was sold to Horsham Township by the Natural Lands Trust. The agreement of sale states the property is to be used for open space and will not be used for further development of the Township.
Dr. George Strawbridge
Welsh's father, Dr. George Strawbridge, was one of Philadelphia's most eminent physicians, his specialty being diseases of the eye and ear. Dr. Strawbridge graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 1863; from the medical department in 1866. After pursuing a course of supplemental study at the University of Berlin and in Vienna, he began practice in Philadelphia. From 1879 to 1890 he was clinical professor of diseases of the ear at his alma mater. He also served on the staffs of Wills Eye Hospital and of the Presbyterian Hospital, and was, for many years, in charge of the Pennsylvania Eye and Ear Infirmary.
Dr. Strawbridge is a member of many of the leading professional organizations, Philadelphia County Medical Society, Medical Society of the State of Pennsylvania, the German and American Ophthalmological Societies, Otological Society, etc. He was a delegate to the American Medical Association, in 1872; to the International Medical Congress, in 1876, and to other important assemblages of his profession in later years. In 1877 he was admitted to membership in the American Philosophical Society.
Throughout his busy professional life, Dr. Strawbridge has delivered numerous lectures, many of which have been published, and has also contributed extensively to the leading medical journals of the country. Dr. Strawbridge's home is on Wissahickon avenue, Germantown.
He married in 1873, Alice Welsh, a daughter of John Welsh, former Minister to the Court of St. James, and their children are as follows: John Strawbridge, Germantown; Mrs. Joseph Sailer, 1830 Spruce Street, and Welsh Strawbridge and Miss Anne West Strawbridge, Germantown.
Anne West Strawbridge
Anne West Strawbridge, Welsh's sister, never married, but was quite accomplished in several fields. She published several books, made numerous paintings, climbed mountains, and, perhaps most dramatically flew her own autogiro,
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