Rosalind Audrey Clare Hudson (

née A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...

Latham; 31 July 1926 – 7 July 2013) was a British codebreaker and architectural model maker.

Early life

Rosalind was educated at Adcote School,

Shropshire Shropshire (; alternatively Salop; abbreviated in print only as Shrops; demonym Salopian ) is a landlocked historic county in the West Midlands region of England. It is bordered by Wales to the west and the English counties of Cheshire to th ...

. In her early years she developed a love for architecture. Being the granddaughter of

Walter Aubrey Thomas Walter Aubrey Thomas (1864, Birkenhead, Cheshire – 1934, Wirral Peninsula, Wirral, Cheshire) (also known as Aubrey Thomas) was an English architect who practised from an office in Dale Street, Liverpool. For his training he was articled to the ...

, who designed the

Royal Liver Building The Royal Liver Building is a Grade I listed building in Liverpool, England. It is located at the Pier Head and along with the neighbouring Cunard Building and Port of Liverpool Building is one of Liverpool's '' Three Graces'', which line the ...

, Hudson also constructed architectural models. Hudson attempted to further her career in architecture at the

Liverpool School of Art The John Lennon Art and Design Building (formerly the Art and Design Academy) in Liverpool, England, houses Liverpool John Moores University's School of Art and Design. The school was formerly located at the Grade II listed Liverpool College of ...

, but she eventually dropped out during

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 ...

to join the

Women's Royal Naval Service The Women's Royal Naval Service (WRNS; popularly and officially known as the Wrens) was the women's branch of the United Kingdom's Royal Navy. First formed in 1917 for the First World War, it was disbanded in 1919, then revived in 1939 at the ...

. Hudson was stationed in

Bletchley Park Bletchley Park is an English country house and estate in Bletchley, Milton Keynes ( Buckinghamshire) that became the principal centre of Allied code-breaking during the Second World War. The mansion was constructed during the years following ...

and

Woburn Abbey Woburn Abbey (), occupying the east of the village of Woburn, Bedfordshire, England, is a country house, the family seat of the Duke of Bedford. Although it is still a family home to the current duke, it is open on specified days to visitors, a ...

for the duration of the war.

Career

Bletchley Park

Following training in the WRNS she was sent to

, home of the British government's the

Government Code and Cypher School Government Communications Headquarters, commonly known as GCHQ, is an intelligence and security organisation responsible for providing signals intelligence (SIGINT) and information assurance (IA) to the government and armed forces of the Unit ...

. Hudson worked in

Hut 8 Hut 8 was a section in the Government Code and Cypher School (GC&CS) at Bletchley Park (the British World War II codebreaking station, located in Buckinghamshire) tasked with solving German naval (Kriegsmarine) Enigma messages. The section was l ...

under cryptanalyst

Alan Turing Alan Mathison Turing (; 23 June 1912 – 7 June 1954) was an English mathematician, computer scientist, logician, cryptanalyst, philosopher, and theoretical biologist. Turing was highly influential in the development of theoretical com ...

. She never discussed her work at

following the war.

Florist

After the war Hudson trained as a florist under

Constance Spry Constance Spry (née Fletcher, previously Marr; 5 December 1886 – 3 January 1960) was a British educator, florist and author in the mid-20th century. Life Constance Fletcher was born in Derby in 1886, eldest child and only daughter of Geor ...

, and arranged flowers at

Claridge's Claridge's is a 5-star hotel at the corner of Brook Street and Davies Street in Mayfair, London. It has long-standing connections with royalty that have led to it sometimes being referred to as an "annexe to Buckingham Palace". Claridge's Hote ...

and the

Savoy Savoy (; frp, Savouè ; french: Savoie ) is a cultural-historical region in the Western Alps. Situated on the cultural boundary between Occitania and Piedmont, the area extends from Lake Geneva in the north to the Dauphiné in the south. Savo ...

hotels. The Savoy gave her and her husband a suite overlooking the River Thames as a wedding present. Hudson worked as a florist for

Somerset Maugham William Somerset Maugham ( ; 25 January 1874 – 16 December 1965) was an English writer, known for his plays, novels and short stories. Born in Paris, where he spent his first ten years, Maugham was schooled in England and went to a German un ...

and his wife, the interior designer

Syrie Maugham Gwendoline Maud Syrie Maugham (''née'' Barnardo, formerly Wellcome; 10 July 1879 – 25 July 1955) was a leading British interior decorator of the 1920s and 1930s who popularized rooms decorated entirely in white. Birth Syrie Maugham was born ...

, and was an amateur pianist and watercolorist.

Architectural models

Hudson was most notable for her architectural models, being particularly attracted to

Georgian architecture Georgian architecture is the name given in most English-speaking countries to the set of architectural styles current between 1714 and 1830. It is named after the first four British monarchs of the House of Hanover—George I, George II, Georg ...

. Bath's Building of Bath Collection and Bath's Pump Room contain models made by Hudson. A scale model of

Dulwich Picture Gallery Dulwich Picture Gallery is an art gallery in Dulwich, South London, which opened to the public in 1817. It was designed by Regency architect Sir John Soane using an innovative and influential method of illumination. Dulwich is the oldest publi ...

made by Hudson stands in the gallery's foyer. Hudson made a model of Highgrove, the country house of

Charles, Prince of Wales Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. He was the longest-serving heir apparent and Prince of Wales and, at age 73, became the oldest person to ...

as a present for the Prince and Princess of Wales's wedding in 1981. Hudson was later commissioned by Charles to alter the model when he added a porch to the house. Hudson made models of other private houses, and was reluctant to accept payment for her models.

Personal life

She met her husband, Richard Hudson in 1945. Hudson was serving in the

Royal Marines The Corps of Royal Marines (RM), also known as the Royal Marines Commandos, are the UK's special operations capable commando force, amphibious light infantry and also one of the five fighting arms of the Royal Navy. The Corps of Royal Marine ...

, they married in 1949. She was survived by her husband and their three sons and two daughters; they lived on a farm near Bath. She died in 2013, shortly before her 87th birthday.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hudson, Rosalind 1926 births 2013 deaths Florists British women in World War II Women's Royal Naval Service ratings Bletchley Park people Scale modeling Bletchley Park women Women's Royal Naval Service personnel of World War II