Lady Dorothy Lygon (briefly Mrs Heber-Percy; 22 February 1912 – 13 November 2001) was an English socialite, and one of the Bright Young Things. She served as a Flight Officer in the Women's Auxiliary Air Force during WWII, and later became an archivist.

Biography

Lady Dorothy Lygon was born on 22 February 1912, the daughter of William Lygon, 7th Earl Beauchamp and Lady Lettice Grosvenor, daughter of

Victor Grosvenor, Earl Grosvenor Hugh Lupus Grosvenor, 1st Duke of Westminster, (13 October 1825 – 22 December 1899), styled Viscount Belgrave between 1831 and 1845, Earl Grosvenor between 1845 and 1869, and known as The Marquess of Westminster between 1869 and 1874, was an ...

and granddaughter of the 1st Duke of Westminster. Her friendship with Evelyn Waugh began in the early 1930s; to Dorothy Lygon, Waugh explained that the Lygons were only part of inspiration for the novel '' Brideshead Revisited''; Dorothy most likely inspired the character of Lady Cordelia Flyte. According to Laura ( Herbert), Waugh's wife, Dorothy was "the nicest of all" her husband's friends. Waugh dedicated ''Black Mischief'' to Mary and Dorothy Lygon. Her nicknames to friends were "Coote", "Pollen" or "Poll". During World War II, Lygon served as a Flight Officer in the Women's Auxiliary Air Force posted to Italy. After the war she moved to a farm in Gloucestershire. In the 1950s, she worked as social secretary at the British Embassy in Athens. In 1956, she moved to Istanbul, working as a governess. She then moved to the Greek island of Hydra. In the 1960s she moved back to England and worked as an archivist at

Christie's Christie's is a British auction house founded in 1766 by James Christie (auctioneer), James Christie. Its main premises are on King Street, St James's in London, at Rockefeller Center in New York City and at Alexandra House in Hong Kong. It is ...

. In 1985, she married

Robert Heber-Percy Robert Vernon Heber-Percy (5 November 1911 – 29 October 1987), known for much of his life as "the Mad Boy", was "an English eccentric in the grand tradition". Early life Heber-Percy was born in 1911, the fourth and youngest son of Algernon H ...

, the former companion/lover of the composer

Lord Berners Gerald Hugh Tyrwhitt-Wilson, 14th Baron Berners (18 September 188319 April 1950), also known as Gerald Tyrwhitt, was a British composer, novelist, painter, and aesthete. He was also known as Lord Berners. Biography Early life and education ...

until the latter's death in 1950, when Robert inherited Faringdon House in Oxfordshire. They "parted amicably" a year later. She was instrumental in re-publishing in 2000 the lost work ''

The Girls of Radcliff Hall ''The Girls of Radcliff Hall'' is a ''roman à clef'' novel in the form of a lesbian girls' school story written in the 1930s by the British composer and bon-vivant Gerald Berners, the 14th Lord Berners, under the pseudonym "Adela Quebec", publ ...

''. She died in 2001, aged 89.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lygon, Dorothy 1912 births 2001 deaths English socialites Women's Auxiliary Air Force airwomen Daughters of British earls

Dorothy Dorothy may refer to: *Dorothy (given name), a list of people with that name. Arts and entertainment Characters *Dorothy Gale, protagonist of ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' by L. Frank Baum * Ace (''Doctor Who'') or Dorothy, a character playe ...