She was one of the two Jay Gould descendants to marry into European aristocracy.

She was the fourth of seven children born to George Jay Gould (1864–1923), a railroad executive; and Edith Kingdon (1864–1921), an actress.

[3] Her paternal grandparents were Jay Gould, a leading American railroad developer and speculator known as one of the ruthless robber barons of the Gilded Age, and Helen Day (née Miller) Gould.

[2] On February 7, 1911, Helen married John Graham Hope de la Poer Horsley Beresford (1866–1944), the 5th Baron Decies.

[4] Together they had three children: She died in February 1931 of jaundice and a heart attack in London.