Lady Eleanor Furneaux Smith (7 August 1902 – 20 October 1945) was an English writer and active member of the Bright Young Things.

Life

Born in

Birkenhead Birkenhead (; cy, Penbedw) is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England; historically, it was part of Cheshire until 1974. The town is on the Wirral Peninsula, along the south bank of the River Mersey, opposite Liver ...

, England in 1902, Smith was the eldest child of the politician

F. E. Smith Frederick Edwin Smith, 1st Earl of Birkenhead, (12 July 1872 – 30 September 1930), known as F. E. Smith, was a British Conservative politician and barrister who attained high office in the early 20th century, in particular as Lord High Chan ...

's three children; her mother was Margaret Furneaux, daughter of the academic Henry Furneaux. Eleanor Smith was great-granddaughter of

Joseph Severn Joseph Severn (7 December 1793 – 3 August 1879) was an English portrait and subject painter and a personal friend of the famous English poet John Keats. He exhibited portraits, Italian genre, literary and biblical subjects, and a selec ...

on her mother's side, the Devonshire Furneaux, a

Norman Norman or Normans may refer to: Ethnic and cultural identity * The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 10th and 11th centuries ** People or things connected with the Norm ...

family. Her brother was

Frederick Smith, 2nd Earl of Birkenhead Frederick Winston Furneaux Smith, 2nd Earl of Birkenhead (7 December 1907 – 10 June 1975) was a British biographer and Member of the House of Lords. He is best known for writing a biography of Rudyard Kipling that was suppressed by the Kipli ...

, and her sister Lady Pamela married Hon. Michael Berry. Her father was created

Earl of Birkenhead Earl of Birkenhead was a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1922 for the noted lawyer and Conservative politician F. E. Smith, 1st Viscount Birkenhead. He was Solicitor-General in 1915, Attorney-General from 1915 to ...

in 1922. She went to Miss Douglas's school at

Queen's Gate Queen's Gate is a street in South Kensington, London, England. It runs south from Kensington Gardens' Queen's Gate (the edge of which gardens are here followed by Kensington Road) to Old Brompton Road, intersecting Cromwell Road. The street is ...

. At Queen's Gate she met Lady

Allanah Harper Allanah Harper (6 November 1904 – 3 November 1992) was an English writer. She is best known for founding the journal ''Echanges'' (Exchanges), and for her 1948 autobiography. Biography Harper came from a successful family and traveled extens ...

, Zita Jungman, and Teresa "Baby" Jungman and together they became early members of what the British press would call the " Bright Young Things", a nickname given by the tabloid press to a group of

bohemian Bohemian or Bohemians may refer to: *Anything of or relating to Bohemia Beer * National Bohemian, a brand brewed by Pabst * Bohemian, a brand of beer brewed by Molson Coors Culture and arts * Bohemianism, an unconventional lifestyle, origin ...

young aristocrats and socialites in 1920s

London London is the capital and 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 down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. As a young girl, she spent time among her father's friends and fellow politicians and their children, including the Churchills,

Guest Guest or The Guest may refer to: * A person who is given hospitality * Guest (surname), people with the surname ''Guest'' * USS ''Guest'' (DD-472), U.S. Navy ''Fletcher''-class destroyer 1942–1946 * Guest appearance, guest actor, guest star, e ...

s, Grenfells, Duffs, and many others. This influenced Smith to become a life-long supporter of the

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 ...

Richard Dalby Richard Lawrence Dalby (15 April 1949 – 4 May 2017) was an editor and literary researcher noted for his anthologies of ghost stories. Early life Richard Dalby was born in London on 15 April 1949 to Tom, a publishing editor, and Nancy, an amate ...

, (editor) ''The Virago Book of Ghost Stories: The Twentieth Century: Volume Two''.Virago, London, 1991. 1-85381-454-7 (p.318). Smith's paternal great-grandmother, Bathsheba, was said to have been a Gypsy, and this sparked an early fascination with local

Romani people The Romani (also spelled Romany or Rromani , ), colloquially known as the Roma, are an Indo-Aryan ethnic group, traditionally nomadic itinerants. They live in Europe and Anatolia, and have diaspora populations located worldwide, with sig ...

, but she credits a book called '' Lavengro'' as being one of the greatest influences of her life-long fascination with Gypsies and their culture. She went so far as to learn to read and speak the

Romani language Romani (; also Romany, Romanes , Roma; rom, rromani ćhib, links=no) is an Indo-Aryan macrolanguage of the Romani communities. According to '' Ethnologue'', seven varieties of Romani are divergent enough to be considered languages of their ...

, which she called "musical and broken." When she was living in London, Smith had an encounter with Daniel "Kid Spider" Rosenthal, where he called her from his hotel asking her to meet him for lunch to discuss business. Mistaking him for a "film man", she agreed, but this was untrue and he later went to her home and threatened to kill her, and harassed her with marriage proposals until she went to

Scotland Yard Scotland Yard (officially New Scotland Yard) is the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police, the territorial police force responsible for policing Greater London's 32 boroughs, but not the City of London, the square mile that forms London's ...

. They informed her that he was wanted for the murder of his father.Smith, Eleanor Ferneaux, Lady. Life’s A Circus. Longmans, Green & Co, 1939. Smith traveled extensively throughout her life, and she was arrested twice, once in Romania for having her career listed as "journalist" on her passport, and once in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

for walking around in a sleeveless dress. In 1953, after Smith's death,

Frederick Smith Frederick, Frederic or Fred Smith may refer to: In literature *Frederick Smith, 2nd Earl of Birkenhead (1907–1975), British peer and biographer *Frederick Smith, 3rd Earl of Birkenhead (1936–1985), British peer and author * Frederick E. Smith ...

, her brother and 2nd Earl of

--with whom she was very close--published a memoir about her life.

Career

Eleanor Smith began her journalist career writing society gossip columns for various newspapers, and she wrote a gossip column and film critique column for a Sunday paper on

Fleet Street Fleet Street is a major street mostly in the City of London. It runs west to east from Temple Bar at the boundary with the City of Westminster to Ludgate Circus at the site of the London Wall and the River Fleet from which the street was na ...

for three years. She quit this job after she was approached by Frederick Martin about a job writing for the newly-formed Great Carmo Circus. She traveled with the Great Carmo Circus for many years, and it is here that she began to write her first novel, ''Red Wagon''. Eleanor Smith worked as a society reporter and cinema reviewer for some time, then as a publicist for various

circus A circus is a company of performers who put on diverse entertainment shows that may include clowns, acrobats, trained animals, trapeze acts, musicians, dancers, hoopers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, magicians, ventriloquists, and unicyclist ...

companies. In the latter role she traveled widely, and gained inspiration for her third career, writing popular novels and short stories which often provided the basis for the ' Gainsborough melodramas' of the period. These stories often had a romanticized historical or

Gypsy The Romani (also spelled Romany or Rromani , ), colloquially known as the Roma, are an Indo-Aryan ethnic group, traditionally nomadic itinerants. They live in Europe and Anatolia, and have diaspora populations located worldwide, with sign ...

setting, based on her own research into Romany culture (she believed one of her paternal great-grandmothers to have been a Gypsy). During her time traveling with various circuses, she had contact with a wide array of artists and performers, and she often ventured out on her own to explore the areas where the circus would make camp. Smith said during an interview that she began to write her novels at only 12 years old, but she claimed to have burned all of them later in life. Her first novel, ''Red Wagon'', was published when she was 28 in 1930, and it immediately became a bestseller. Smith was a prolific writer, writing about one novel every year on average during her prime. One of her novels, ''Ballerina'', was inspired by her friendships with the Diaghilev and his

prima ballerina A ballet dancer ( it, ballerina fem.; ''ballerino'' masc.) is a person who practices the art of classical ballet. Both females and males can practice ballet; however, dancers have a strict hierarchy and strict gender roles. They rely on yea ...

Anna Pavlova Anna Pavlovna Pavlova ( , rus, Анна Павловна Павлова ), born Anna Matveyevna Pavlova ( rus, Анна Матвеевна Павлова; – 23 January 1931), was a Russian prima ballerina of the late 19th and the early 20th ...

. Smith said, "Had I not watched Pavlova so closely that day at Golders Green, the book would never have been written...At the same time, I think that Pavlova had either directly or indirectly inspired us all, and Pavlova was dead. She had certainly inspired Pat, Frances, and myself". A few of her most notable novels were also adapted for films, one of which, ''

Caravan Caravan or caravans may refer to: Transport and travel *Caravan (travellers), a group of travellers journeying together **Caravanserai, a place where a caravan could stop *Camel train, a convoy using camels as pack animals *Convoy, a group of veh ...

'', wasn't created until after her death. The actress

Margaret Lockwood Margaret Mary Day Lockwood, CBE (15 September 1916 – 15 July 1990), was an English actress. One of Britain's most popular film stars of the 1930s and 1940s, her film appearances included ''The Lady Vanishes'' (1938), ''Night Train to Munich' ...

, one of the most popular actresses of the 1930s and 1940s, famously starred in ''

The Man in Grey ''The Man in Grey'' is a 1943 British film melodrama made by Gainsborough Pictures; it is considered to be the first of a series of period costume dramas now known as the "Gainsborough melodramas". It was directed by Leslie Arliss and produce ...

''. Smith also wrote

ghost stories A ghost story is any piece of fiction, or drama, that includes a ghost, or simply takes as a premise the possibility of ghosts or characters' belief in them."Ghost Stories" in Margaret Drabble (ed.), ''Oxford Companion to English Literature''. ...

; many of them were collected in her book ''Satan's Circus'' (1932). Smith was a supporter of the

. In 1937, she responded to Nancy Cunard's survey of writers and poets on the topic of the Spanish Civil war, saying that she was a "warm adherent of General Franco."

Death

She died in

Westminster Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster. The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Bu ...

in 1945 after a long illness. Although it was her wish to be buried in Banbury with her father, her body was cremated by her family. Her

requiem mass A Requiem or Requiem Mass, also known as Mass for the dead ( la, Missa pro defunctis) or Mass of the dead ( la, Missa defunctorum), is a Mass of the Catholic Church offered for the repose of the soul or souls of one or more deceased persons, ...

was conducted by Father

Martin D'Arcy Martin Cyril D'Arcy (15 June 1888 – 20 November 1976) was a Roman Catholic priest, philosopher of love, and a correspondent, friend, and adviser of a range of literary and artistic figures including Evelyn Waugh, Dorothy L. Sayers, W. H. Aude ...

at Church of the Immaculate Conception, Farm Street on 31 October 1945. Her mass was attended by several other members of literary and high society, including Sir Osbert Sitwell; Maureen, Marchioness of Dufferin and Ava; Cathleen, Marchioness of Queensberry; Margaret, Countess of Kimberley; Ann, Viscountess Rothermere; Bridget Parsons; and Lord Pakenham.

Works

Novels

Short stories

Others

Notes

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Eleanor 1902 births 1945 deaths English short story writers English romantic fiction writers English historical novelists English horror writers Ghost story writers Daughters of British earls Conservative Party (UK) people 20th-century English novelists English women journalists English women novelists 20th-century English women writers Women historical novelists Women romantic fiction writers Women horror writers 20th-century British short story writers English Roman Catholics Romani-speaking people