Madeleine Mary Bingham (1912-1988, Ebel, sometimes misspelled Madeline) was a playwright, novelist and historian. She also wrote under the pseudonym Julia Mannering. She was married to

John Bingham, 7th Baron Clanmorris John Michael Ward Bingham, 7th Baron Clanmorris (3 November 1908 – 6 August 1988) was a onetime MI5 spy and an English novelist who published 17 thrillers, detective novels, and spy novels. Personal life Bingham was the son of Arthur Bing ...

, so had the title Baroness Clanmorris.

Early life and wartime work

Madeleine Ebel was born on 1 February 1912, the eldest daughter of Clement Ebel, managing director of a firm of interior decorators, and met John Bingham at a secretarial college, where he was learning shorthand and typing to prepare for a planned post as private secretary to a millionaire. They married on 28 July 1934. Madeleine worked for some time as a journalist on ''

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 ...

''. Both Madeleine and John joined the Security Service soon after the start of

World War II 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 ...

. She worked at

Blenheim Palace Blenheim Palace (pronounced ) is a country house in Woodstock, Oxfordshire, England. It is the seat of the Dukes of Marlborough and the only non-royal, non- episcopal country house in England to hold the title of palace. The palace, on ...

in administration and later in the

Special Operations Executive The Special Operations Executive (SOE) was a secret British World War II organisation. It was officially formed on 22 July 1940 under Minister of Economic Warfare Hugh Dalton, from the amalgamation of three existing secret organisations. Its pu ...

, when she was based at the HQ in

Baker Street Baker Street is a street in the Marylebone district of the City of Westminster in London. It is named after builder William Baker, who laid out the street in the 18th century. The street is most famous for its connection to the fictional detec ...

and "kept a drawer of suicide tablets for agents".

Writing

Bingham wrote plays, historical biographies, and a miscellany of other books. She published her autobiography ''Peers and Plebs: Two Families in a Changing World'' in 1975, in which she described the contrast between her and her husband's backgrounds: hers Catholic, with mid-European roots, and his firmly Northern-Irish protestant. The book only covers her life up to 1937 and the birth of her son: she makes no reference to her or her husband's work with the security service. It is said that she had later planned to write a book about her husband's life, including the suggestion that he had been the model for

John le Carré David John Moore Cornwell (19 October 193112 December 2020), better known by his pen name John le Carré ( ), was a British and Irish author, best known for his espionage novels, many of which were successfully adapted for film or television. ...

's character

George Smiley George Smiley OBE is a fictional character created by John le Carré. Smiley is a career intelligence officer with "The Circus", the British overseas intelligence agency. He is a central character in the novels ''Call for the Dead'', ''A Mur ...

, but that she was firmly told that "no such book would be tolerated". Her plays included a three-act comedy, ''The Men From The Ministry'', first performed at the Aldwych Theatre in London in 1946 and later in Bristol in 1948 or 1949, and ''The Real Mccoy'', performed in Sheffield in 1964. Her books included biographies of

Richard Brinsley Sheridan Richard Brinsley Butler Sheridan (30 October 17517 July 1816) was an Irish satirist, a politician, a playwright, poet, and long-term owner of the London Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. He is known for his plays such as ''The Rivals'', ''The Sc ...

, Sir

John Vanbrugh Sir John Vanbrugh (; 24 January 1664 (baptised) – 26 March 1726) was an English architect, dramatist and herald, perhaps best known as the designer of Blenheim Palace and Castle Howard. He wrote two argumentative and outspoken Restora ...

Henry Irving Sir Henry Irving (6 February 1838 – 13 October 1905), christened John Henry Brodribb, sometimes known as J. H. Irving, was an English stage actor in the Victorian era, known as an actor-manager because he took complete responsibility ( ...

and

Herbert Beerbohm Tree Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree (17 December 1852 – 2 July 1917) was an English actor and theatre manager. Tree began performing in the 1870s. By 1887, he was managing the Haymarket Theatre in the West End, winning praise for adventurous progra ...

, and wide range of further titles including ''Scotland under Mary Stuart : an account of everyday life'', ''Princess Lieven : Russian intriguer'', ''Earls and girls : dramas in high society'', ''The passionate poet : a romantic story based upon Lord Byron's loves and adventures'', and ''How to be a good daughter-in-law''. A collection of the papers of John and Madeleine Bingham is held in the Gotlieb Contemporary Archive Collection at

Boston University Libraries The Boston University Libraries at Boston University include the Mugar Memorial Library, the main library on the Charles River campus, and several specialized libraries. These specialized libraries have targeted collections and services for area ...

Personal life

Madeleine Bingham died suddenly on 16 February 1988; her husband died six months later from cancer, and they were survived by their two children. Their son inherited the title and is

Simon Bingham, 8th Baron Clanmorris Simon John Ward Bingham, 8th Baron Clanmorris (born 25 October 1937), is an Irish peer. Bingham is the son of John Bingham, 7th Baron Clanmorris, and his wife Madeleine (née Ebel). He was educated at Downside School near Bath, Somerset, before ...

(born 1937), and their daughter is the writer

Charlotte Bingham The Hon. Charlotte Bingham (born 29 June 1942) is an English novelist who has written over 30 mainly historical romance novels and has also written for many television programmes including '' Upstairs, Downstairs''; ''Play for Today''; and '' ...

(born 1942).

Selected publications

Bingham's publications listed in the catalogue of the

British Library The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom and is one of the largest libraries in the world. It is estimated to contain between 170 and 200 million items from many countries. As a legal deposit library, the British ...

WorldCat WorldCat is a union catalog that itemizes the collections of tens of thousands of institutions (mostly libraries), in many countries, that are current or past members of the OCLC global cooperative. It is operated by OCLC, Inc. Many of the OCL ...

include: *''The man from the ministry'': French, 1947, a play *''The Passionate Poet, etc'': Museum Press, 1951, a novel by "Julia Mannering" about

Lord Byron George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron (22 January 1788 – 19 April 1824), known simply as Lord Byron, was an English romantic poet and Peerage of the United Kingdom, peer. He was one of the leading figures of the Romantic movement, and h ...

's love-life *''Look to the rose'': Museum Press, 1953, a novel by "Julia Mannering" *''Cheapest in the end'': Dodd, Meade, 1963 *''Your wedding guide'': Transworld, 1967 *''Something's burning : the bad cook's guide'': Corgi, 1968 *''Teach your own child'': Transworld, 1968 *''A Career for your daughter'': Corgi, 1969 *''How to be a good daughter-in-law'': Redemptorist Publications, 1969 *''Mary, Queen of Scots'': International Textbook, 1969 on

Mary, Queen of Scots Mary, Queen of Scots (8 December 1542 – 8 February 1587), also known as Mary Stuart or Mary I of Scotland, was Queen of Scotland from 14 December 1542 until her forced abdication in 1567. The only surviving legitimate child of James V of Scot ...

*''A career at forty'': Transworld, 1971 *''Scotland under Mary Stuart : an account of everyday life'': Allen and Unwin, 1971 *''Sheridan: the track of a comet'': Allen and Unwin, 1972, on

*''Masks and façades: Sir John Vanbrugh, the man in his setting'': Allen and Unwin, 1974, on

*''The Making of Kew'': Joseph, 1975, on

Kew Gardens Kew Gardens is a botanical garden, botanic garden in southwest London that houses the "largest and most diverse botany, botanical and mycology, mycological collections in the world". Founded in 1840, from the exotic garden at Kew Park, its li ...

*''Peers and plebs: two families in a changing world'': Allen and Unwin, 1975, autobiography up to 1937 *''Henry Irving and the Victorian theatre'': Allen and Unwin, 1978, on

(published in USA as ''Henry Irving: the greatest Victorian actor'' ) *The great lover' : the life and art of Herbert Beerbohm Tree'': H. Hamilton, 1978, on

*''Earls and girls: dramas in high society'': H. Hammilton, 1980 *''Princess Lieven : Russian intriguer'': Hamish Hamilton, 1982, on

Dorothea Lieven Princess Katharina Alexandra Dorothea von Lieven (russian: Дарья Христофоровна Ливен, tr. ), née Freiin von Benckendorff, 17 December 1785 – 27 January 1857), was a Baltic German noblewoman and the wife of Prin ...

*''Belinda and the baron : or The rape of the lock : a period comedy with music, based on the poem by Alexander Pope'' / words by Madeleine Bingham and Suzanne Ebel.: Thames, 1989

References

External links

* British women novelists British women dramatists and playwrights British women historians 1912 births 1988 deaths {{CI, date=June 2022