james henry de la falaise was born on february 11, 1898 in (saint-cyr-l'école, france, the eldest son and second child of louis gabriel venant le bailly de la falaise, ecuyer (1866–1910), a three time olympics gold-medallist in fencing and former army officer. his mother was the former henriette frédérique hennessy (1873–1965), scion of the cognac family. after his father died in 1910, his widowed mother married her second husband, count antoine hocquart de turtot (1872—1954), a cavalry officer and major french horse-racing figure, in 1912. his mother and father had four children together: