In Memoriam
James Campbell Plowden-Wardlaw
1936-2026
(Photo by Dmitri Kasterine)
ONEONTA—James Campbell Plowden-Wardlaw, a retired international lawyer, died on Friday, July 31, 2026 in Oneonta, New York, his hometown. He was predeceased by his beloved wife, Angela, with whom he shared 37 happy years of marriage, spent enjoying the wonders of the world and entertaining at their residences in New York City and Cooperstown.
Plowden-Wardlaw was born on September 22, 1936, the elder son of Thomas Campbell Plowden-Wardlaw, an Oxford educated lawyer, and Eleanor Elizabeth Becker, a lawyer’s daughter and teacher. After his parents’ divorce, he gained a stepfather, Damon Lawrence Getman Sr., and stepmothers Rosamond Saltonstall Auchincloss Lee Betner and Mary Dimon Francis Stanton, as well as stepsiblings. A descendant of kings of Scotland and England, emperors of the Holy Roman Empire, and Scotland’s Campbells of Craigie, he was proud of his distinguished ancestry but wore the family tree lightly. He was a grandson of James Wardlaw, a British barrister turned Anglican vicar who, in 1901, adopted a hyphenate surname, adding Plowden, which was taken from his mother’s maiden surname of Chichele Plowden.
While growing up primarily in Cooperstown, Plowden-Wardlaw was educated in Oneonta, Cooperstown (St. Christina’s Boarding School), and the Kent School in Kent, Connecticut. He graduated from the University of Virginia and attended the University of Madrid, Columbia Law School, and the Institute of Political Sciences in Paris. He also served in the U.S. Navy.
In 1962, Plowden-Wardlaw married Catherine Poignand du Fontenioux, a daughter of a vicomte (divorced). In 1987, he married Angela Hill Weldon, an editor and the daughter of a founder of Berry-Hill Galleries.
Plowden-Wardlaw was a member of the Cooperstown Country Club and the Racquet & Tennis Club of New York City. He adored India, a country where Wardlaw ancestors were born and are buried, and talked often about history, antiques, Anglicanism, England, golf, Virginia, and family portraits.
Plowden-Wardlaw is survived by two daughters, Stephanie Caillaud (Emmanuel) of Switzerland and Lina Karman (Scott) of Seattle; a stepson, Henry L. Weldon Ill (Sarah); and grandchildren, step-grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.
My family will miss you so very much. You were kind to us, helpful, funny, close, wonderful, thoughtful, and jolly. Thank you, James, for gathering us to your bosom, and thank you for being a grandfather figure to Gemma.