Frances Catherine Partridge CBE (née Marshall; 15 March 1900 – 5 February 2004) was an English writer. Closely connected to the

Bloomsbury Group The Bloomsbury Group—or Bloomsbury Set—was a group of associated English writers, intellectuals, philosophers and artists in the first half of the 20th century, including Virginia Woolf, John Maynard Keynes, E. M. Forster and Lytton Strac ...

, she is probably best known for the publication of her diaries. She married Ralph Partridge (1894 – 30 November 1960) in 1933. The couple had one son, (Lytton) Burgo Partridge (1935–1963).

Origins and education

Born in

Bedford Square Bedford Square is a garden square in the Bloomsbury district of the Borough of Camden in London, England. History Built between 1775 and 1783 as an upper middle class residential area, the square has had many distinguished residents, inclu ...

in London, she was the youngest of six children of William Marshall, an English architect and losing finalist at the first of the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in 1877, and Margaret Anna Lloyd, a suffragist who took the 6-year-old Frances to a protest. She lived in the square until she was eight when her father retired and they moved to the countryside. She was educated at

Bedales School Bedales School is a co-educational, boarding and day independent school in the village of Steep, near the market town of Petersfield in Hampshire, England. It was founded in 1893 by John Haden Badley in reaction to the limitations of conventi ...

and

Newnham College, Cambridge Newnham College is a women's constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1871 by a group organising Lectures for Ladies, members of which included philosopher Henry Sidgwick and suffragist campaigner Millicent ...

Bloomsbury

Dora Carrington; Ralph Partridge; Lytton Strachey; Oliver Strachey; Frances Catherine Partridge (née Marshall), 1923

While working at a London bookshop owned by David Garnett (whose first wife was Frances's sister Rachel Marshall, known as Ray) and Francis Birrell, Frances Partridge got to know

Lytton Strachey Giles Lytton Strachey (; 1 March 1880 – 21 January 1932) was an English writer and critic. A founding member of the Bloomsbury Group and author of '' Eminent Victorians'', he established a new form of biography in which psychological insight ...

, Dora Carrington, and Ralph Partridge. In 1921, Ralph Partridge had married Dora Carrington, who was in love with Lytton Strachey, a homosexual who was himself more interested in Partridge. An added complication was Dora Carrington's intermittent affair with one of Partridge's best friends, Gerald Brenan. Carrington, Partridge, and Strachey shared a Wiltshire farm-house, Ham Spray, in a complex triangular relationship (later recorded in the 1995 film ''

Carrington Carrington and Carington are surnames originating from one of the Carringtons in England, or from the town of Carentan in Normandy, France. It is also rarely a given name. Surname Scientists * Alan Carrington (1934–2013), British chemist *Benj ...

'', with

Alex Kingston Alexandra Elizabeth Kingston (born 11 March 1963) is an English actress. Active from the early 1980s, Kingston became noted for her television work in both Britain and the US in the 1990s, including her regular role as Dr. Elizabeth Corday in ...

playing Frances). Ralph Partridge now fell in love with Frances. They lived in London during the week and repaired to Ham Spray at weekends. After Dora Carrington committed suicide out of grief in 1932, shortly after Lytton Strachey's death, Ralph and Frances married on 2 March 1933. They lived happily at Ham Spray until Ralph's death in 1960. They had one son, (Lytton) Burgo Partridge, who was born in 1935 and named after Strachey. In 1962, Burgo married Henrietta Garnett, daughter of

Angelica Garnett Angelica Vanessa Garnett (née Bell; 25 December 1918 – 4 May 2012), was a British writer, painter and artist. She was the author of the memoir ''Deceived with Kindness'' (1984), an account of her experience growing up at the heart of t ...

and David Garnett, with Henrietta already pregnant with their daughter. He died suddenly of heart failure on 7 September 1963, only three weeks after the birth of their baby, Sophie Vanessa. He had already been noticed for his writing ability, and had published one well-received book, ''A History of Orgies'' (1958). Frances sold Ham Spray and moved to London. Her writings, her membership of the Bloomsbury circle, her great personal charm and the energy that she retained into extreme old age together ensured for her a degree of celebrity towards the end of her life. She was appointed a

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

in the

Millennium A millennium (plural millennia or millenniums) is a period of one thousand years, sometimes called a kiloannus, kiloannum (ka), or kiloyear (ky). Normally, the word is used specifically for periods of a thousand years that begin at the starting ...

New Year Honours The New Year Honours is a part of the British honours system, with New Year's Day, 1 January, being marked by naming new members of orders of chivalry and recipients of other official honours. A number of other Commonwealth realms also mark th ...

Works

* ''The Greville Memoirs'' (Macmillan & Co, 1938), an editorial co-operation with Ralph Partridge (commenced by Lytton Strachey). *A translation of ''Nothing is Impossible'' (Harvill Press, 1956) by Mercedes Ballesteros. *A translation of ''Something to Declare'' (The Harvill Press, 1957) by Lovleff Bornet *A translation of ''Blood and Sand'' (Elek, 1958) by

Vicente Blasco Ibáñez Vicente Blasco Ibáñez (, 29 January 1867 – 28 January 1928) was a journalist, politician and bestselling Spanish novelist in various genres whose most widespread and lasting fame in the English-speaking world is from Hollywood films that were ...

*A translation of ''The Naked Lady'' (Elek, 1959) by

*A translation of ''The Enemy in the Mouth: An Account of Alcoholics Anonymous'' (Rupert Hart-Davis, 1961) by Joseph Kessel *A translation of ''A Gap in the Wall'' (Collins, 1963) by Gabrielle Estivals *A translation of '' El Señor Presidente'' (Atheneum, 1964) by

Miguel Ángel Asturias Miguel Ángel Asturias Rosales (; October 19, 1899 – June 9, 1974) was a Nobel Prize-winning Guatemalan poet-diplomat, novelist, playwright and journalist. Asturias helped establish Latin American literature's contribution to mainstream ...

*A translation of ''Human Communication'' (World University Library, 1967) by J.L.Aranguren *A translation of ''Napoleon's St. Helena'' (John Murray, 1968) by

Gilbert Martineau Gilbert Martineau (1918 – 23 August 1995, in La Rochelle) was a French naval officer, author of books on Napoleon and his family, honorary consul, and curator 1956-1987 of the French properties on St Helena, where Napoleon had been in exile . H ...

*A translation of ''The War of Time'' (Gollancz, 1970) by

Alejo Carpentier Alejo Carpentier y Valmont (, ; December 26, 1904 – April 24, 1980) was a Cuban novelist, essayist, and musicologist who greatly influenced Latin American literature during its famous "boom" period. Born in Lausanne, Switzerland, of French a ...

*A translation of ''Napoleon Surrenders'' (John Murray, 1971) by

*A translation of ''Reasons of State'' (Alfred A Knopf, 1976) by

*A translation of ''Napoleon's Last Journey'' (John Murray, 1976) by

*A translation of ''Madame Mère: Napoleon’s Mother'' (John Murray, 1978) by

*''A Pacifist's War'' (Hogarth Press, 1978), an account of Ralph's and her life as pacifists during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. (Ralph Partridge had won a

Military Cross The Military Cross (MC) is the third-level (second-level pre-1993) military decoration awarded to officers and (since 1993) other ranks of the British Armed Forces, and formerly awarded to officers of other Commonwealth countries. The MC i ...

and bar 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 fig ...

.) *''Love in Bloomsbury: Memories'' (Victor Gollancz, 1981) *''Julia'' (Gollancz, 1983), a memoir of her friend Julia Strachey. *''Everything to Lose'' (Gollancz, 1985), her diaries between 1945 and 1960. *''Friends in Focus'' (Chatto & Windus, 1987), collected photographs. *''Hanging On'' (Collins, 1990), her diaries between 1960 and 1963. *''Other People'' (HarperCollins, 1993), her diaries between 1963 and 1966. *''Good Company'' (HarperCollins, 1994), her diaries between 1967 and 1970. *''Life Regained'' (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1998), her diaries between 1970 and 1972. *''Ups and Downs'' (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2001), her diaries between 1972 and 1975.

In popular culture

portrays Partridge in the 1995 British biographical film ''

'', written and directed by Christopher Hampton based on the book ''Lytton Strachey'' by

Michael Holroyd Sir Michael de Courcy Fraser Holroyd (born 27 August 1935) is an English biographer. Early life and education Holroyd was born in London, the son of Basil de Courcy Fraser Holroyd (a descendant of Sir George Sowley Holroyd, Justice of the Kin ...

. *Sauce Ena portrays Partridge in the 2003

Goya Award The Goya Awards ( es, Premios Goya) are Spain's main national annual film awards, commonly referred to as the Academy Awards of Spain. The awards were established in 1987, a year after the founding of the Academy of Cinematographic Arts and Sci ...

winning Spanish film '' Al sur de Granada'' written and directed by

Fernando Colomo Fernando Colomo Gómez (born 2 February 1946) is a Spanish film producer, screenwriter and film director. He has also acted in small roles in his own and other's films. He is regarded as the father of the so-called ''comedia madrileña''. Film ...

based on the 1957 autobiographical book '' South from Granada'' by Gerald Brenan.

Footnotes

Sources