Who Are The Boston Brahmins? Astronomer HR Head Kristin Cabot's 'Elite Connection' Explained
Kristin is married to Andrew Cabot, the owner of Privateer Rum, and part of one of Boston's most elite families. Andrew is the descendant of the Caboot family, which is part of America's elite class, commonly known as the "Boston Brahmins".
What are Boston Brahmins?
Oliver Wendell Holmes coined the term in his 1861 novel Elsie Venner, calling Boston's elite families "the Brahmin Caste of New England", according to a PBS report. Brahmins are the highest priestly caste in India, and Mr Holmes borrowed the term to describe Boston's upper-class, Anglo-Saxon Protestant families, which has stuck since then.
The Boston Brahmins were the descendants of Puritans, having made their fortune as American merchants. They were the closest thing the United States has ever had to a true aristocracy.
Mr Holmes described Boston Brahmins as a group who believed they were destined to build a "shining city on a hill", rooted in the Puritan ideals of discipline, thrift, education, and cultural refinement, as per New England Historical Society.
The Brahmins were known for their philanthropy but also for their exclusivity, often resisting the integration of immigrants, as seen in their founding of the Immigration Restriction League in 1894. When immigrants did move in to the newly fashionable Old South End, the Brahmins moved out.
Who are the popular Boston Brahmins?
Some of the popular Boston Brahmin family names are Adams, Cabot, Coffin, Eliot, Emerson, Endicott, Forbes, Gardner, Holmes, Lawrence, Lowell, Otis, Parkman, Peabody, Phillips, Putnam, Quincy, Weld, Wigglesworth, and Winthrop.
How rich are the Cabots?
The Cabots are part of a class so rarefied that, for decades, even the Kennedys were considered outsiders. Their business ventures spanned shipping, carbon black manufacturing (a critical component in tire production), and various other enterprises across the region.
The family is so well known in Boston, it's said locally that the "Cabots speak only to God". As a local poem goes, "And this is good old Boston/ The home of the bean and the cod/ Where the Lowells talk only to Cabots/ And the Cabots talk only to God".
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
NDTV
3 hours ago
- NDTV
Astronomer's Andy Byron, Kristin Cabot's PDA In New Video At Coldplay Concert
A new video from a recent Coldplay concert shows former Astronomer CEO Andy Byron embracing HR chief Kristin Cabot moments before they found themselves on the giant screen at the Gillette Stadium in Boston. Shared by a concertgoer on TikTok, the circulated clip shows Mr Byron wrapping his arms around Ms Cabot's waist at a balcony. The fan, trying to film Coldplay frontman Chris Martin performing, inadvertently caught the couple in the background, according to a report in Page Six. 'POV: Trying to get the best of Coldplay, but you end up getting this viral affair as well,' the user captioned the new video, which has since gained traction online. The footage has Chris Martin in the foreground and the couple in the background. They were seen in the same position as during the 'Jumbotron segment', which catapulted them to global popularity for all the wrong reasons. That moment, broadcast live at the venue, saw Chris Martin himself comment on the couple's PDA. 'Whoa, look at these two,' said Mr Martin, as the camera zeroed in on them. The couple appeared startled, with Ms Cabot shielding her face and Byron quickly ducking away. 'Either they're having an affair or they're just very shy,' Mr Martin joked. The moment quickly went viral, triggering swift fallout. Astronomer initially placed both Andy Byron and Kristin Cabot on leave and launched a formal internal investigation. Days later, Mr Byron stepped down from his post. Now, Ms Cabot has also resigned. In a statement to the BBC, Astronomer confirmed that Ms Cabot was no longer with the company. Astronomer co-founder and chief product officer Pete DeJoy has taken over as interim CEO. Mr Byron's wife, Megan Kerrigan Byron, removed her surname from her social media profiles and deleted her Facebook page after being flooded with comments about her husband's alleged affair. She has reportedly secluded herself in a $2.4 million mansion in Maine. As for Ms Cabot, she separated from her ex-husband, Kenneth Thornby, in 2018, with their divorce finalised in 2022. But according to The New York Post, she now appears to be married to Andrew Cabot, CEO of Massachusetts-based Privateer Rum. Property records reviewed by the outlet show that 52-year-old Cabot, whose maiden name is Stanek, has shared a Rye, New Hampshire, address with Andrew Cabot since at least 2023.
Hindustan Times
4 hours ago
- Hindustan Times
Rude Food by Vir Sanghvi: A tour of the kingdom
There are, wrote F Scott Fitzgerald, no second acts in American lives. I was reminded of this and about how it clearly did not apply to Indian lives when I had lunch recently with Ranjit Mathrani at Amaya, one of the many successful restaurants he runs in London. Amaya, by Ranjit Mathrani, and Namita and Camellia Panjabi, is London's chicest Indian restaurant. Mathrani has had many acts in his distinguished career. After he got his degree in Physics and Mechanical Engineering at Cambridge, he decided not to come back to India, joined the British civil service and then moved to the City of London, where he became the first person of Indian origin to become a director of a merchant bank. That's a distinguished resume to begin with. But everything changed when he met Namita Panjabi on a visit to Mumbai. They married and Namita moved to London, a city she already knew well. Namita was in fashion when they married (her background is also Cambridge, followed by management consulting before she went into international fashion) and continued with that in London until Ranjit had an idea. They were both interested in food and Camellia, Namita's sister, was already a legend at the Taj group in India. So, why not start a high-end Indian restaurant? A British friend who was in the restaurant business advised them on how to begin. Other friends chipped in with suggestions. Namita wanted to call the restaurant Indian Summer, but the author Gita Mehta suggested Chutney Mary and the Mathranis liked the name. For all that, says Ranjit now, they made many mistakes. One of them was choosing a site on the wrong side of the King's Road. ('We heard King's Road and thought that was it! We really knew nothing!' Ranjit laughs now.) Namita and Camellia Panjabi have shaped the way Indian food is served in the UK. When Chutney Mary, with a menu that included Anglo-Indian dishes, opened, Namita was at the restaurant every day. But, with that location, and the British prejudice against paying relatively high prices for Indian food in the 1990s, the customers never came. The Mathranis kept at it until, to their great surprise, Pat Chapman of the then extremely influential Curry Club, gave it an award for being the best Indian restaurant in London. After that, the critics arrived and the rave reviews came pouring in. Chutney Mary was enough of a success for the Mathranis to take a chance on Veeraswamy. Despite being the oldest surviving Indian restaurant in the West, Veeraswamy had fallen on hard days. But the Mathranis sensed it could be revived and took it over. Ranjit, with his engineering background, oversaw a complete renovation, installing a state-of-the-art exhaust system that ensured that food smells did not drift to the other floors of the historic building where it is located. It was a gamble, especially as the lease had only seven years to run, but the Mathranis decided that it was all or nothing. And it was really Veeraswamy's last chance. Had the Mathranis failed, the restaurant would probably have closed and been forgotten. As we know now, Veeraswamy was successfully revived and went on to win a Michelin star. The Crown Estate, which owns the building, gratefully extended the lease when it ran out after seven years. Chutney Mary, with a menu that included Anglo-Indian dishes, has received rave reviews. With two successful restaurants within the family, Camellia finally chucked up her job with the Taj, joined the business, and began dividing her time between London and Mumbai. 'I thought I had retired,' she recalls, 'and this was a nice retirement option.' But none of the three has ever really retired. Their next project was the precedent-shattering Masala Zone. They had an unpromising location once again (it used to be a health-food restaurant called Cranks in an awkward zone between Regent Street and Soho) but the concept was brilliant. They served a mix of Indian home cooking and chaat at moderate prices. It was such a success that queues snaked around the block and it sparked a boom in fun-filled casual Indian dining. (Without Masala Zone there would never have been a Dishoom.) The success of Masala Zone turned the trio into full-fledged restaurateurs; among the most successful in London. People forgot that they were essentially outsiders who had come to the restaurant business relatively late in life and in London, Camellia's long career as one of India's most influential hoteliers has been largely overshadowed by the success of the restaurants. More Masala Zone restaurants followed, but what many see as their crowning achievement was still to come. Ranjit found a site in the upmarket Motcomb Street and gave Camellia and Namita only a few weeks to come up with a new concept. Masala Zone sparked a boom in fun casual Indian dining. Without it, there would be no Dishoom. They settled on innovative modern Indian food, with an emphasis on kababs, in a glamorous setting with a sleek open kitchen. When it opened two decades ago, Amaya was London's chicest Indian restaurant (it probably still is) and when the inevitable Michelin star came, it was matched only by the glamorous nature of Amaya's clientele. It is still my favourite of the trio's restaurants, but I suspect they are prouder of the new Chutney Mary. They finally moved the restaurant away from Chelsea to a historic spot in St. James's, which was once the legendary Prunier fish restaurant. Since Prunier closed in 1976, however, every restaurant that opened on that site went belly up. Even Marco Pierre White failed here. The Mathrani-Panjabis, on the other hand, have flourished. The new Chutney Mary must have among the highest revenues of any upmarket Indian restaurant in London. It has junked the old Anglo Indian concept and now serves some of the best Indian food in London. The trio's fascination with historic London continues. They took over The Criterion, which opened in 1873 and has one of London's most beautiful rooms. This site also had a troubled reputation. Newer restaurants at the location had all failed - yes, Marco Pierre White flopped here too - but the Mathrani-Panjabis took a risk and turned it into a Masala Zone. Now, the team is trying to save the historic site where Veeraswamy, the UK's oldest restaurant, is located. I had mixed feelings about an Indian restaurant taking over that historic site, but I guess there is no better symbol of the new world order than a plate of delicious bhelpuri served in the one time centre of the one time Empire. And sure enough, Masala Zone has broken the jinx on the site and is a huge success. As you are probably already aware, the group is now trying to save Veeraswamy. The Crown Estate is refusing to renew the lease because it wants to create more offices in the building. There has been a massive uproar in the UK about this act of historical vandalism conducted in the name of the Crown and feelings run high in India too. Indian food in the UK wouldn't be the same without Ranjit Mathrani. Ranjit doesn't really need the site. They own the Veeraswamy name and could open at a new location and make lots of money. But for him, it's a matter of preserving history. Veeraswamy was opened on this site in 1926 by Edward Palmer as a way of bridging the gap between the UK and India. For it to close would be to forget that historic milestone and all that it symbolises. It would be ironic if the group, which has revived so many London sites including Prunier and The Criterion, loses the one location that marks the gastronomic connection between Britain and India. And so despite all their success, Michelin stars, profits and fame, the Mathrani-Panjabis are fighting to save Veeraswamy. It's not about the restaurant as much as it is about heritage. Having built a restaurant empire on the popularity of Indian food among the British people, they will fight to save the restaurant where it all began a century ago. From HT Brunch, July 26, 2025 Follow us on
Time of India
5 hours ago
- Time of India
Megan Kerrigan in hiding? Ex-Astronomer CEO Andy Byron's wife reportedly retreats to $2.4m Maine mansion after Coldplay kiss cam scandal
Megan Kerrigan Byron, the wife of former Astronomer CEO Andy Byron , reportedly took refuge in a $2.4 million mansion in Kennebunk, Maine, following a public scandal at a Coldplay concert involving her husband and his coworker. The incident unfolded on Wednesday, July 16, during a Coldplay concert at Foxborough Stadium, where Andy Byron was caught on the kiss cam cuddling with Kristin Cabot , Astronomer's former head of HR. Explore courses from Top Institutes in Please select course: Select a Course Category Data Analytics Design Thinking Management Product Management Others MBA Healthcare Digital Marketing Public Policy Cybersecurity Degree Leadership others healthcare PGDM Technology CXO Finance MCA Project Management Data Science Artificial Intelligence Data Science Skills you'll gain: Data Analysis & Visualization Predictive Analytics & Machine Learning Business Intelligence & Data-Driven Decision Making Analytics Strategy & Implementation Duration: 12 Weeks Indian School of Business Applied Business Analytics Starts on Jun 13, 2024 Get Details Also Read: Kristin Cabot resigns more than a week after the kiss-cam scandal with former Astronomer CEO Andy Bryon by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Up to 70% off | Libas Purple Days Sale Libas Undo According to the Daily Mail, Megan, 50, left the couple's home in Northborough, Massachusetts, and has been staying at a 4,169-square-foot, four-bedroom property about 100 miles away. Live Events Friends and family have visited her throughout the week. While Megan has not commented publicly, she has removed her husband's surname from her social media accounts, reverting to her maiden name, Kerrigan. Where was Megan Cabot during this period? Megan is staying at her family's grand four-bedroom residence with close relatives, including her sister Maura. The property served as a gathering spot for her support circle over the weekend, as reported by The Sun. It remains unclear if Byron tried to reconcile with her there. Kiss cam scandal and resignations The viral kiss-cam footage showed Byron and Cabot appearing close during the concert. As the camera zoomed in, Cabot turned around and quickly covered her face while Byron ducked out of view. Coldplay frontman Chris Martin quipped, 'Either they're having an affair or they're very shy,' as reported by the New York Post. The video went massively viral on social media, and following the incident, Byron resigned from his role at Astronomer, a data analytics company. Chief Product Officer Pete DeJoy will continue to serve as interim CEO unless they find another substitute. Astronomer's HR chief, Kristin Cabot, who is reportedly married to Privateer Rum CEO Andrew Cabot, has also resigned.
