George A. “Frolic” Weymouth, visionary conservationist, philanthropist, artist, and sportsman, died on April 24, 2016. In 1967, Weymouth and two friends purchased two parcels of land in Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania totaling forty-seven acres that were threatened with industrial development. That act of preservation marked the start of the organization that was to become the Brandywine Conservancy. That conservancy, led by Weymouth, and the nearby Mr. Stewart’s Cheshire Foxhounds, led by Mrs. John B. Hannum, MFH, saved the Cheshire hunting country when the King Ranch was sold off. Their success served as a model and inspiration for other conservation-minded foxhunting clubs across North America to preserve their open space and educate their juniors.
Today, the Brandywine Conservancy is one of the leading land trusts in country, with 62,000 acres of land permanently protected in Pennsylvania and Delaware. Weymouth received the MFHA/Chronicle of the Horse Conservation Award in 2013, just one of numerous other awards received for his contributions to land preservation and the arts.
For more than forty years, Frolic was a well-known figure in coaching circles. He exhibited his four matched bay Standard-bred horses and antique carriages annually in the country’s leading shows. One of only two Americans to be a member of The Coaching Club (England), he was the current president of the Four-in-Hand Club. Weymouth coached regularly at the Devon Horse Show and permanently retired a trophy. He founded the Vicmead Coaching Club and was past Chairman of the Board of the Brandywine Polo Club. His annual carriaging weekend each May at The Big Bend, his home in Chadds Ford, PA, drew participants from around the country and included a scenic drive to Winterthur, six miles away. This custom became part of the tradition of the Point-to-Point races, initiated in 1979.
Born in 1936 in Wilmington, Delaware, to George and Dulcinea (du Pont) Weymouth, Frolic Weymouth grew up in Greenville, Delaware and spent the greater part of his life living in the Brandywine Valley. The nickname “Frolic,” given to him in childhood, perfectly embodied the joy with which he lived his life and his irrepressible sense of humor.
Encouraged by his artistic mother, Weymouth began painting as a child and continued at St. Mark’s School (class of ’54) and Yale University (class of ’58). As a teenager, he was introduced to Andrew Wyeth, who became an artistic mentor and lifelong friend. It was Wyeth and his brother-in-law, Peter Hurd, who suggested Weymouth experiment with tempera, a technique he mastered. Over a six-decade career as an artist Weymouth exhibited the landscapes, flower studies, and portraits for which he was known, including paintings of friends and family as well as international notables such as Luciano Pavarotti and His Royal Highness Prince Philip, in numerous exhibitions including those at the Brandywine River Museum of Art. His paintings are in major private and museum collections such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
He was appointed by President Nixon to the Commission of Fine Arts, on which he served from 1972 to 1977. In 1974 he served on the Visual Arts Panel of the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts. He was the recipient of the University of Delaware’s Merit Award for Community Service, the National Arts Club’s Annual Award and the Cliveden Heritage Award. He received an honorary Doctor of Humane letters from the University of Delaware and the Henry Francis du Pont Award from Winterthur Museum & Country Estate in recognition of his lifelong dedication to preserving the beauty, history and unique heritage of the Brandywine Valley. Weymouth was also awarded a Special Citation from The Garden Club of America and the Lifetime Conservation Leadership Award from the Pennsylvania Land Trust Association.
When Weymouth constructed a chapel on his property, he inscribed the following words: “This chapel was built to thank God for a wonderful life filled with fun, humor, work, sport and beauty. A close loving family; loyal and unique friends, and a fabulous son, Mac.” G.A.W. 1995. Each time he would talk to his son Mac Weymouth he would remind him to “look for something beautiful every day.”
George A. Weymouth is survived by his son, McCoy “Mac” du Pont Weymouth and his wife Toni Toomey- Weymouth; their children, Sophie Tyler Brown and Misha Kai Toomey-Brown; his brother, Eugene E. Weymouth and sister, Patricia Weymouth Hobbs. He is also survived by Anna Brelsford McCoy, to whom he was married until 1979, and his companion, Carlton Cropper. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorial contributions be made to the Frolic Weymouth Endowment Fund of the Brandywine Conservancy & Museum of Art.
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Posted May 5, 2016