William du Pont Jr.

William du Pont Jr. (February 11, 1896 – December 31, 1965) was an English-born American businessman and banker, and a prominent figure in the sport of Thoroughbred horse racing. He developed and designed more than 20 racing venues, including Fair Hill at his 5,000-acre estate in Maryland. A member of the Delaware Du Pont family, he was the son of William du Pont and Annie Rogers Zinn, and brother to Marion duPont Scott, a noted horsewoman and breeder.

William (also called Willie) was born at Loseley Park, a 16th-century manor in Surrey, England. He was the second child and only son of Annie Zinn (née Rogers) and William du Pont. His older sister was Marion, and they grew up at Montpelier, the historic home of President James Madison, which their parents had bought and expanded.

They both were educated in private schools and became interested in the world of thoroughbred horse racing, including steeplechase, hunts, and horse shows. William specialized in thoroughbred racing and breeding. Marion also became known for her contributions to horse racing and breeding.

On January 1, 1919, du Pont married Jean Liseter Austin. Their marriage celebration in Rosemont, Pennsylvania, was billed as the "Wedding of the Century" in media accounts because of the wealth of each family. Jean's father, William Liseter Austin, was a railroad baron at the Baldwin Locomotive Works. He gave the couple more than 600 acres (2.4 km²) of land as a wedding gift. William's father built Liseter Hall for them on the property in 1922. The three-story Georgian mansion was a replica of Montpelier, where du Pont had grown up.

Du Pont was elected to the board of directors of the Delaware Trust Company, where his father was president (and later chairman of the board), in 1921. His career with the bank would continue until his death. In 1928, William inherited the Bellevue Hall estate in Delaware upon the death of his father. The estate featured a Gothic Revival castle built in 1855, which du Pont had remodeled into another replica of his boyhood home of Montpelier. His father's death also created a vacancy in the presidency of the Delaware Trust Company, and William ascended to the position.

Du Pont and his wife developed a notable horse farm on their property. In the 1920s and 1930s, Liseter Hall Farm was considered the ne plus ultra of Mid-Atlantic horse facilities. In addition to the indoor galloping track, the first in the United States, the farm featured a large barn for race horses; a 40-foot (12 m)-wide by 120-foot (37 m)-long indoor riding ring, used by trainers for schooling young horses; the half-mile training track and its adjacent combination viewing stand/water tower; a breeding shed; a hunter barn; a show horse barn; a loading barn with ramps, for transporting horses to competition; and a grassy, half-mile chute that connected the training track with the race horse, hunter and show horse barns. Similar facilities were built at the Bellevue Hall estate, including a hunting barn, two indoor training tracks, and an outdoor track.

Du Pont and Jean had four children together, two girls and two boys. They divorced in February 1941, when the youngest, John, was 2 years old. Jean Liseter du Pont retained the property her father gave her. Following the divorce, du Pont moved his permanent residence to Bellevue Hall.

Du Pont remarried in 1947 to Margaret Osborne, a tennis champion. He built both an indoor and outdoor tennis court at Bellevue for the benefit of his wife. They had a son, William du Pont III, born July 22, 1952. That same year, du Pont was made chairman of the board at the Delaware Trust Company, retaining his position as president as well. Osborne and du Pont divorced in 1964. Their son William du Pont III also was active with thoroughbreds and later owned Pillar Stud in Lexington, Kentucky.