Were the Van Rhijns a real family in The Gilded Age? Details explored

HBO's The Gilded Age premiered as Julian Fellowes' American Downton Abbey, which follows the lives of New York elites in the late 1800s. While Fellowes' 2010 historical drama followed the lives of the British aristocracy and their servants in 1912, her latest venture shines light on New York's elites.

HBO's American historical drama follows the late 1800s New York society, where the Old Money families fought hard to uphold their traditions against the ambitious and rising New Money baron families and their socialite wives.

The primary rivalry between the Van Rhijns and the Russell family was the real New York scene in the late 1800s, where the old money families were not ready to accept the infiltration by the 'robber barons' and their ambitious wives.

Since Fellowes' The Gilded Age was naturally inspired by real-life events, it features many real-life socialites and historical figures from the actual age, with Donna Murphy's Caroline Schermerhorn Astor being one of the most prominent.

However, the Van Rhijns were not based on a real historical family but are a symbolic representation of the real old-money families in New York. Instead, some other old-money families like the Fishes, the Astors, the Livingstons, the Roosevelts, and the Vanderbilts are all based on real-life families.

More on this in our story.

Were the Van Rhijns a real family in The Gilded Age?

While the Van Rhijns are a prominent old-money family in The Gilded Age, they are not based on a real family. However, the Van Rhijns are the only fictional old-money family in the show, as most of the family names mentioned by Mrs. Russell were based on real life.

Since The Gilded Age is a very apt representation of the rivalry between the old and the new, the characters are modeled after real historical figures, as David Crockett, the show’s executive producer, revealed in an interview with Vogue,

“Real-life historical figures are a hugely important part of our Gilded world. These characters not only serve to give a fuller sense of what it might have been like to live during this time, but also help to highlight some of the debates that real people were having.''

While the Van Rhijns in The Gilded Age are not real, their ancestors in the show (the Livingston family) were a real and prominent New York family. In the show, it is mentioned that the Van Rhijns were the descendants of the Livingston family, who trace their ancestry back to the 4th Lord Livingston. In the 17th century, they migrated from Scotland to the Dutch Republic.

In addition, the Astor and the Fish families in The Gilded Age were also descendants of the Livingston family and are thus related to the Van Rhijns' family in the show. Nathan Lane's Ward McAllister was a cousin to the Astor family who actually coined the term "The Four Hundred" and considered himself a seasoned expert on the New York gentry.

Exploring some other real-life families from The Gilded Age

While the Van Rhijns are fictional, there are many old- and new-money families from The Gilded Age, who are based on real-life families. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Fellowes discussed their real rivalry as the inspiration for her show.

"[The Old Money families] were more modest. They were living in houses in Washington Square that were not enormous. They lived respectable lives, and that was New York society at the time. But for the new arrivals...they started to build these palaces on Fifth Avenue and gradually pushed further north. So you had these great rivalries between the new families and the old."

Some notable historical figures from the show are as follows:

• Donna Murphy as Caroline Schermerhorn Astor: the queen bee of New York society and one of the most prominent old family figures
• Carrie Coon as Bertha Russell: inspired by socially ambitious Alva Vanderbilt, who entered the New York elite circle as a new money family
• Jeanne Tripplehorn as Sylvia Chamberlain: Based on Arabella Huntington, who moved to Fifth Avenue with her second husband but was barred by the Astors

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