Elizabeth Frances Plunket Greene (6 July 189918 December 1978) was an English crime novelist, writing in tandem with her husband, Richard Plunket Greene. She was part of the Bright Young Things immortalized by Evelyn Waugh in '' Vile Bodies'' (mostly inspired by the Plunket Greenes).

Biography

Elizabeth Frances Russell was born on 6 July 1899,Mosley, Charles, editor. Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage, 107th edition, 3 volumes. Wilmington, Delaware, U.S.A.: Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd, 2003 the daughter of Harold John Hastings Russell and Lady Victoria Alberta Leveson-Gower. She was a granddaughter of Lord Arthur Russell, and second cousin once removed of Bertrand Russell. Her aunts were

Flora Russell Flora Magdalen Isabel Russell (28 September 186923 August 1967) was an English noblewoman, childhood friend of Gertrude Bell. Biography Flora Magdalen Isabel Russell was born on 28 September 1869, the daughter of Lord Arthur Russell and Lady Laura ...

and Diana Russell and her great-grandmother was

Diana Russell, Duchess of Bedford Diana Russell, Duchess of Bedford (née Lady Diana Spencer; 31 July 1710 – 27 September 1735), was a member of the Spencer family, chiefly remembered because of an unsuccessful attempt to arrange a marriage for her with Frederick, Prince of W ...

. Her family descended from

Mary I of England Mary I (18 February 1516 – 17 November 1558), also known as Mary Tudor, and as "Bloody Mary" by her Protestant opponents, was Queen of England and Ireland from July 1553 and Queen of Spain from January 1556 until her death in 1558. Sh ...

. While her fiancé, Richard Plunket Greene, was a school teacher at Aston Clinton, Elizabeth Russell went to visit him and met Evelyn Waugh, with whom she formed a friendship. Sometime she drove

Alastair Hugh Graham Alastair Hugh Graham (27 June 1904 – 6 October 1982) was an honorary attaché in Athens and Cairo, an Oxford friend of Evelyn Waugh, and, according to Waugh's letters, one of his "romances". He is, together with Hugh Lygon, considered the main ...

, who was Waugh's special friend of the time. It was the night of the party that Waugh and

Olivia Plunket Greene Olivia Honor Mary Plunket Greene (7 March 1907 – 11 November 1958), together with her brothers Richard and David, was part of the Bright Young Things who inspired the novel ''Vile Bodies'' by Evelyn Waugh, who was Olivia's suitor. Biography Sh ...

, Richard's sister and Waugh's love interest, had organised to celebrate Richard and Elizabeth's engagement, that Waugh and

Matthew Ponsonby, 2nd Baron Ponsonby of Shulbrede Matthew Henry Herbert Ponsonby, 2nd Baron Ponsonby of Shulbrede (26 July 190429 April 1976) was a British peer. Life Ponsonby was the son of Arthur Ponsonby, by his marriage to Dorothea Parry. He was educated at Leighton Park School and Balliol C ...

, Richard's cousin, were arrested while driving the wrong side in the Strand. On 21 December 1926 Evelyn Waugh was a best man to the marriage of Elizabeth Frances Russell and Richard Plunket Greene. Patrick Balfour, 3rd Baron Kinross was a guest at the wedding. They had one son,

Alexander Plunket Greene Dame Barbara Mary Quant, Mrs Plunket Greene, (born 11 February 1930)The Mary Quant exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum in 2019-20 stated her year of birth as 1930, and that she became a student at Goldsmiths College around 1950. is a ...

(1932–1990), who married fashion designer Mary Quant. Plunket Greene and Russell divorced in 1943. Together with her husband, in 1932, she wrote ''Where Ignorance is Bliss'', published with John Murray: "a murder story which is quite out of the beaten track." (Aberdeen Press). According to '' The Punch'': "It is not easy to strike an original note, but the Plunket Greenes have overcome the difficulty so emphatically that they may almost be accused of thumping." In 1934 they wrote ''Eleven-Thirty Till Twelve'', a detective novel set in London Society. In the 1930s, Elizabeth Russell was a fan of motor racing and won a

grand prix Grand Prix ( , meaning ''Grand Prize''; plural Grands Prix), is a name sometimes used for competitions or sport events, alluding to the winner receiving a prize, trophy or honour Grand Prix or grand prix may refer to: Arts and entertainment ...

race in Belgium. Elizabeth Plunket Greene died on 18 December 1978.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Plunket Greene, Elizabeth Russell 1899 births 1978 deaths 20th-century English women writers 20th-century English writers English crime fiction writers English socialites English women novelists Elizabeth