Enid Algerine Bagnold, Lady Jones, (27 October 1889 – 31 March 1981) was a British writer and playwright known for the 1935 story ''

National Velvet ''National Velvet'' is a novel by Enid Bagnold (1889–1981), first published in 1935. It was illustrated by Laurian Jones, Bagnold's daughter, who was born in 1921. Plot summary ''National Velvet'' is the story of a 14-year-old girl named ...

''.

Early life

Enid Algerine Bagnold was born on 27 October 1889 in Rochester, Kent, daughter of

Colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge o ...

Arthur Henry Bagnold and his wife, Ethel (née Alger), and brought up mostly in

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

. Her older brother was Ralph Bagnold. She attended art school in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, and then worked as assistant editor on one of the magazines run by

Frank Harris Frank Harris (14 February 1855 – 26 August 1931) was an Irish-American editor, novelist, short story writer, journalist and publisher, who was friendly with many well-known figures of his day. Born in Ireland, he emigrated to the United State ...

, who became her lover. Harris and Bagnold are both portrayed in

Hugh Kingsmill Hugh Kingsmill Lunn (21 November 1889 – 15 May 1949), who dropped his surname for professional purposes, was a versatile British writer and journalist. The writers Arnold Lunn and Brian Lunn were his brothers. Life Hugh Kingsmill Lunn was born ...

's novel ''The Will to Love'' (1919).

Career

As an art student in Chelsea, Bagnold painted with

Walter Sickert Walter Richard Sickert (31 May 1860 – 22 January 1942) was a German-born British painter and printmaker who was a member of the Camden Town Group of Post-Impressionist artists in early 20th-century London. He was an important influence on d ...

and was sculpted by Gaudier Brzeska. During the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

she became a nurse; she wrote critically of the hospital administration, which won her fame, and was dismissed as a result. After that she was a driver in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

for the remainder of the war years. She wrote about her hospital experiences in her memoir ''A Diary Without Dates'', and about her experiences as a driver in her first novel, ''The Happy Foreigner''. On 8 July 1920, she married Sir

Roderick Jones Roderick Jones may refer to: *Roderick Jones (journalist), (1877–1962), British director of Reuters *Roderick Jones (baritone) (1910–1992), Welsh opera singer *Roddy Jones Roderick "Roddy" Stephen Gerrard Jones (born 2 December 1944) is a m ...

, chairman of

Reuters Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters Corporation. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency was esta ...

, but continued to use her maiden name for her writing. They lived at North End House,

Rottingdean Rottingdean is a village in the city of Brighton and Hove, on the south coast of England. It borders the villages of Saltdean, Ovingdean and Woodingdean, and has a historic centre, often the subject of picture postcards. Name The name Rotting ...

, near Brighton (previously the home of Sir

Edward Burne-Jones Sir Edward Coley Burne-Jones, 1st Baronet, (; 28 August, 183317 June, 1898) was a British painter and designer associated with the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood which included Dante Gabriel Rossetti, John Millais, Ford Madox Brown and Holman ...

), enjoying a glamorous social life. The garden of North End House inspired her play ''

The Chalk Garden ''The Chalk Garden'' is a play by Enid Bagnold that premiered in the US in 1955 and was produced in Britain the following year. It tells the story of the imperious Mrs St Maugham and her granddaughter Laurel, a disturbed child under the care of ...

''. The Joneses' London house from 1928 until 1969, seven years after Sir Roderick's death, was No. 29

Hyde Park Gate Hyde Park Gate is a street in Central London, England, which applies to two parallel roads in Kensington on the southern boundary of Kensington Gardens. These two roads run south, perpendicular to Kensington Road, but the name Hyde Park Gate als ...

, which meant that they were the neighbours for many of those years of

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 during the Second World War, and again from ...

and

Jacob Epstein Sir Jacob Epstein (10 November 1880 – 21 August 1959) was an American-British sculptor who helped pioneer modern sculpture. He was born in the United States, and moved to Europe in 1902, becoming a British subject in 1911. He often produce ...

. The couple had four children. The eldest was Laurian (born 1921, later the Comtesse d'Harcourt) who illustrated ''Alice & Thomas & Jane'' at the age of nine and ''National Velvet'' at 14. Their great-granddaughter is

Samantha Cameron Samantha Gwendoline Cameron (; born 18 April 1971) is an English businesswoman. Until 13 May 2010, she was the creative director of Smythson of Bond Street. Her husband, David Cameron, was the British prime minister from 2010 to 2016. She took ...

, wife of the former

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...

and

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

leader David Cameron.

Death and legacy

Bagnold published her autobiography in 1969. She died on 31 March 1981 from

bronchopneumonia Bronchopneumonia is a subtype of pneumonia. It is the acute inflammation of the bronchi, accompanied by inflamed patches in the nearby lobules of the lungs. citing: Webster's New World College Dictionary, Fifth Edition, Copyright 2014 It is ofte ...

and was cremated at

Golders Green Golders Green is an area in the London Borough of Barnet in England. A smaller suburban linear settlement, near a farm and public grazing area green of medieval origins, dates to the early 19th century. Its bulk forms a late 19th century and ea ...

. Her biography, by Anna Sebba and published in 1987, revealed some of the more problematic and contradictory aspects of her life: literary feuds, her marriage, her approach to motherhood, pre-war Nazi sympathies, her morphine addiction, and her contempt of the many leading actors who appeared in her plays.

Cecil Beaton Sir Cecil Walter Hardy Beaton, (14 January 1904 – 18 January 1980) was a British fashion, portrait and war photographer, diarist, painter, and interior designer, as well as an Oscar–winning stage and costume designer for films and the t ...

called it "a strange, remarkable, original and warped life."

Works

''National Velvet'' (1935), is the story of a young girl who wins the

Grand National The Grand National is a National Hunt horse race held annually at Aintree Racecourse in Liverpool, England. First run in 1839, it is a handicap st ...

steeplechase. A highly successful

film version A film adaptation is the transfer of a work or story, in whole or in part, to a feature film. Although often considered a type of derivative work, film adaptation has been conceptualized recently by academic scholars such as Robert Stam as a dia ...

came out in 1944, starring the young Elizabeth Taylor. However, Bagnold's work includes a broad range of subject matter and style. ''The Squire'' is a novel about having a baby. Bagnold's biographer Anne Sebba says that "although always described as a novel, the serious effort to discover the motivations of a mother and the instincts of children leads ''The Squire'' close to the realms of documentary." The feminist weekly ''Time and Tide'' described it as "a mark in feminist history as well as a fine literary feat." ''The Loved and Envied'' (1951), is a study of approaching old age in which the protagonist, Lady Ruby MacLean, is thought to have been based on

Lady Diana Cooper Diana, Viscountess Norwich (née Lady Diana Olivia Winifred Maud Manners; 29 August 1892 – 16 June 1986) was an English actress and aristocrat who was a well-known social figure in London and Paris. As a young woman, she moved in a celebrat ...

. An adaption of ''National Velvet'' for the theatre was produced and directed by

Anthony Hawtrey Anthony John Hawtrey (22 January 1909 – 18 October 1954) was an English actor and stage director. He began his acting career in 1930 and began directing by 1939. As director of the Embassy Theatre in London, his productions sometimes achieved ...

for his Embassy Theatre at Swiss Cottage in 1946, and published in Volume 2 of his ''Embassy Successes'' (1946). But ''The Chalk Garden'' (1955),

1964, was Bagnold's greatest stage success. ''

The Chinese Prime Minister ''The Chinese Prime Minister'' is a 1974 American TV film. It was an episode of ''Hollywood Television Theatre'' on PBS. It was based on a play by Enid Bagnold. This was presented on Broadway in 1965 with Edith Evans Dame Edith Mary Evans, ( ...

'' was presented on Broadway in 1965 with Edith Evans. ''A Matter of Gravity'', originally titled ''Call Me Jacky'', played on Broadway as a star vehicle for Katharine Hepburn in 1976. These three plays, along with ''The Last Joke'' - a notable flop at the Phoenix Theatre in 1960 despite its star cast of

John Gielgud Sir Arthur John Gielgud, (; 14 April 1904 – 21 May 2000) was an English actor and theatre director whose career spanned eight decades. With Ralph Richardson and Laurence Olivier, he was one of the trinity of actors who dominated the Brit ...

, Ralph Richardson and

Anna Massey Anna Raymond Massey (11 August 19373 July 2011) was an English actress. She won a BAFTA Award for the role of Edith Hope in the 1986 TV adaptation of Anita Brookner's novel ''Hotel du Lac'', a role that one of her co-stars, Julia McKenzie, h ...

- were collected together by

Heinemann Heinemann may refer to: * Heinemann (surname) * Heinemann (publisher), a publishing company * Heinemann Park, a.k.a. Pelican Stadium in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States See also * Heineman * Jamie Hyneman James Franklin Hyneman (born Se ...

as ''Four Plays by Enid Bagnold'' in 1970.Shellard, Dominic. ''Kenneth Tynan: A Life'' (2003), p.263
/ref> *''A Diary Without Dates'' (1917) *''The Sailing Ships and other poems'' (1918) *''The Happy Foreigner'' (1920) *''Serena Blandish or the Difficulty of Getting Married'' (1924) *''Alice & Thomas & Jane'' (1930). Illustrated by Laurian Jones *''

'' (1935). Illustrated by Laurian Jones *''The Squire'', aka ''The Door of Life'' (1938), republished in 2013 by

Persephone Books ''Persephone Books'' is an independent publisher based in Bath, England. Founded in 1999 by Nicola Beauman, Persephone Books reprints works largely by women writers of the late 19th and 20th century, though a few books by men are included. Th ...

*''Two Plays'' (1944) ('Lottie Dundass' and 'Poor Judas'), US edition ''Theatre'' (1951) * ''National Velvet'' (play, 1946) *''The Loved and Envied'' (1951) *''Gertie'' (1952 play) *''The Girl's Journey'' (1954) *''

'' (1955, play) *''The Last Joke'' (1960, play) *''The Chinese Prime Minister'' (1964, play) *'' A Matter of Gravity'' (original title ''Call Me Jacky''; 1967, play) *''Autobiography'' (1969) *''Poems'' (1978) *''Letters to Frank Harris & Other Friends'' (1980) *''Early Poems'' (1987)

Awards

*Arts Theater Prize for ''Poor Judas'' (1951)[] *Award of Merit Medal for ''The Chalk Garden'' (1956) *Prize from the Academy of Arts and Letters for ''The Chalk Garden'' (1956)

References

Citations

Bibliography

External links

*
''A Diary Without Dates''
(1917) archived at the

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...

Selected performances
Theatre Archive University of Bristol; accessed 28 September 2014.
Some context of the interwar pony story in which Bagnold's ''National Velvet'' was conceived
jeunessejournal.com; accessed 28 September 2014.

spartacus-educational.com; accessed 28 September 2014. * Enid Bagnold Papers. General Collection, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library. {{DEFAULTSORT:Bagnold, Enid 1889 births 1981 deaths English women novelists People from Rochester, Kent Commanders of the Order of the British Empire People educated at Prior's Field School British women dramatists and playwrights 20th-century English women writers 20th-century English novelists 20th-century English dramatists and playwrights British people in British Jamaica