Marguerite Georgina Christine Coleridge ( Hay; 19 March 1916 – 25 March 2003) was a Scottish journalist, magazine editor and publishing executive. She began her journalistic career as a freelance contributor to ''

Harper's Bazaar ''Harper's Bazaar'' is an American monthly women's fashion magazine. It was first published in New York City on November 2, 1867, as the weekly ''Harper's Bazar''. ''Harper's Bazaar'' is published by Hearst and considers itself to be the st ...

'' in 1936 before working for the

National Magazine Company National Magazine Company (or Nat Mags) is a British magazine publisher based in London. It was established in 1910 by William Randolph Hearst and was a wholly owned subsidiary of the Hearst Corporation. Arnaud de Puyfontaine became chief execut ...

until the outbreak of 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 vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. Coleridge worked for '' Country Life'' and later ''

Homes & Gardens ''Homes & Gardens'' is a British monthly interior design and garden design magazine published by Future plc Future plc is an international multimedia company established in the United Kingdom in 1985. The company has over 220 brands that sp ...

'' as part of its editorial staff until 1963. She co-founded the

Women of the Year Lunch The Women of the Year Lunch, later known as the Women of the Year Lunch and Awards (WOYLA), is an annual charity lunch for women achievers. The inaugural lunch was held on 29 September 1955 at the Savoy Hotel, and raised money for the Greater Lo ...

in 1955 aiming to honour the achievements of women's success in arts, the professions and science in a "man's world". Coleridge was director of both Country Life Ltd and

George Newnes Ltd George Newnes Ltd is a British publisher. The company was founded in 1891 by George Newnes (1851–1910), considered a founding father of popular journalism. Newnes published such magazines and periodicals as ''Tit-Bits'', ''The Wide World Magazi ...

as well as being IPC Women's Magazines's director of special projects from 1971 to 1974. She was the author of two books.

Early life

On 19 March 1916, Coleridge was born Marguerite Georgina Christine Hay in

East Lothian East Lothian (; sco, East Lowden; gd, Lodainn an Ear) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, as well as a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area. The county was called Haddingtonshire until 1921. In 1975, the histo ...

, Scotland. She was the second of four daughters born to

William Hay, 11th Marquess of Tweeddale William George Montagu Hay, 11th Marquess of Tweeddale JP (4 November 1884 – 30 March 1967) was a Scottish aristocrat, land owner and soldier. Early life William George Montagu Hay was born on 4 November 1884. He was the eldest son of Willi ...

, and Marguerite Christine Ralli Einstein. Coleridge was educated at the family home known as

Yester House Yester House is an early 18th-century mansion near Gifford in East Lothian, Scotland. It was the home of the Hay family, later Marquesses of Tweeddale, from the 15th century until the late 1960s. Construction of the present house began in 1699 ...

, in

Gifford, East Lothian } Gifford is a village in the parish of Yester in East Lothian, Scotland. It lies approximately south of Haddington and east of Edinburgh. It groups around the Colstoun Water (locally called Gifford Water) at the junction of the B6369 and B6 ...

, by a succession of governesses from France and Germany. When she was nine years old, she took up shooting with a mixture of results, and began compiling a series of verses alongside her own horse racing sketches, which was a privately printed survey of types of equine published under the name ''Grand Smashional Pointers''.

Career

At age 20 in 1936, Coleridge began a career in journalism, writing freelance as a contributor to ''

.'' The following year, she joined the circulation department of the

, before transferring to its advertising department. When the

broke out in 1939, Coleridge moved back to Scotland and volunteered in a

Naafi The Navy, Army and Air Force Institutes (NAAFI ) is a company created by the British government on 9 December 1920 to run recreational establishments needed by the British Armed Forces, and to sell goods to servicemen and their families. It runs c ...

canteen. In 1945, she joined '' Country Life,'' and joined the editorial staff of ''

'' in 1947 under the editorialship of Alice Head. Two years later, Coleridge was appointed ''Homes & Gardens'''s editor following the retirement of Head. She had the objective of making the magazine attractive to the "whole woman" unlike other publications seeking to assist women in bettering their environments. Coleridge was chair of the Institute of Journalists’ London district for 1954. She spoke to

George Cross The George Cross (GC) is the highest award bestowed by the British government for non-operational gallantry or gallantry not in the presence of an enemy. In the British honours system, the George Cross, since its introduction in 1940, has been ...

recipient

Odette Hallowes Odette Sansom (28 April 1912 – 13 March 1995), also known as Odette Churchill and Odette Hallowes, code named Lise, was an agent for the United Kingdom's clandestine Special Operations Executive (SOE) in France during the Second World War. S ...

and

Antonella Kerr, Marchioness of Lothian Antonella Kerr, Marchioness of Lothian (born Antonella Reuss Newland; 8 September 1922 – 6 January 2007), also known as Tony Lothian, was an Italian-born British aristocrat, journalist and writer. Lady Lothian was the founding president ...

in 1955 and out of that came the idea of the formation of the

aiming to honour the achievements of women's success in arts, the professions and science in a "man's world". The trio co-founded the charity lunch, which became something of a awards ceremony without the presentation of accolades. It promoted several hundred of women's successes selected from nomination and reference book lists and obtained a large amount of capital for the Greater London Fund for the Blind charity. In 1959, Coleridge published her first book, ''I Know What I Like'', featuring cliches and platitudes. She was appointed a director of Country Life's magazine owners Country Life Ltd in 1962 and stood down as ''Homes & Gardens'''s editor the following year. Coleridge went on to become a director of Country Life's future owners

from 1963 to 1969. Between 1965 and 1967, she served as president of the Women's Press Club. From 1971 until her retirement in 1974, Coleridge was made a director of special projects for IPC Women's Magazines. She was made freeman of the

Worshipful Company of Stationers and Newspaper Makers The Worshipful Company of Stationers and Newspaper Makers (until 1937 the Worshipful Company of Stationers), usually known as the Stationers' Company, is one of the livery companies of the City of London. The Stationers' Company was formed in ...

in 1973. Coleridge partly owned two race horses, with one of them, Islay Mist, winning on his third outing at Plumpton in 1973. Five years later, her memoirs about her experiences in horse racing, ''That's Racing: A Dream That Happened'', was published. In 1982, after holding honorary positions of several professional bodies, Coleridge retired from magazine publishing.

Personal life

She preferred to be called and known as "Lady G" and played

bridge A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somethi ...

. From 1941 to 1988, Coleridge was married to

Norman Brook, 1st Baron Normanbrook Norman Craven Brook, 1st Baron Normanbrook, (29 April 1902 – 15 June 1967), known as Sir Norman Brook between 1946 and 1964, was a British civil servant. He was Cabinet Secretary between 1947 and 1962 as well as joint permanent secretary to H ...

's secretary at the War Cabinet Office and future ''

Reader's Digest ''Reader's Digest'' is an American general-interest family magazine, published ten times a year. Formerly based in Chappaqua, New York, it is now headquartered in midtown Manhattan. The magazine was founded in 1922 by DeWitt Wallace and his wi ...

'' journalist Arthur Coleridge. They had one daughter born in 1943. On 25 March 2003, Coleridge died.

Legacy

Veronice Horwell of ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' wrote of Coleridge "few daughters of the nobility went as seriously into the business as did Lady Georgina Coleridge", and the correspondent for ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

'' noted she "established a formula of beauty, cookery and free supplements in the postwar years".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Coleridge, Georgina 1916 births 2003 deaths Writers from East Lothian Scottish journalists 20th-century Scottish women 21st-century Scottish women 20th-century Scottish women writers 21st-century Scottish women writers British women non-fiction writers Scottish magazine editors Women magazine editors Scottish women journalists Chief executives in the publishing industry Harper's Bazaar Country Life (magazine) people Scottish racehorse owners and breeders

Georgina Georgina may refer to: Names *Georgina (name), a feminine given name Places Australia * Georgina, Queensland, a locality in the Shire of Boulia, Queensland * Georgina Basin, a large sedimentary basin in Australia * Georgina River, a river ...