Sonia Elizabeth Sinclair, JP (née Graham; formerly Mond; born 6 September 1928), known as Sonia Melchett, is an English

socialite A socialite is a person from a wealthy and (possibly) aristocratic background, who is prominent in high society. A socialite generally spends a significant amount of time attending various fashionable social gatherings, instead of having traditio ...

and author. Formerly married to Julian Mond, Baron Melchett, she married the writer

Andrew Sinclair Andrew Annandale Sinclair FRSL FRSA (21 January 1935 – 30 May 2019) was a British novelist, historian, biographer, critic, filmmaker, and a publisher of classic and modern film scripts. He has been described as a "writer of extraordinary flu ...

after her husband's death.

Early life

Sonia Melchett was born in British India on 6 September 1928, the eldest daughter of Lt-Col Roland Harris Graham and Kathleen (née Dunbar) Graham, of The Lodge,

Bridge, Kent Bridge is a village and civil parish near Canterbury in Kent, South East England. Bridge village is in the Nailbourne valley in a rural setting on the old Roman road, Watling Street, formerly the main road between London and Dover. The village ...

. Her father, of a

County Fermanagh County Fermanagh ( ; ) is one of the thirty-two counties of Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the six counties of Northern Ireland. The county covers an area of 1,691 km2 (653 sq mi) and has a population of 61,805 a ...

family,Burke's Irish Family Records, 1976, p. 485 was educated at

Cambridge University , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

and

Trinity College, Dublin , name_Latin = Collegium Sanctae et Individuae Trinitatis Reginae Elizabethae juxta Dublin , motto = ''Perpetuis futuris temporibus duraturam'' (Latin) , motto_lang = la , motto_English = It will last i ...

, and served in the

Royal Army Medical Corps The Royal Army Medical Corps (RAMC) is a specialist corps in the British Army which provides medical services to all Army personnel and their families, in war and in peace. The RAMC, the Royal Army Veterinary Corps, the Royal Army Dental Corps a ...

in 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 ...

. Sonia Melchett was educated at the Royal School, Bath. Her younger sister Daphne married Major Anthony Henry Ivor Kinsman and became an actress, broadcaster and writer. She was the presenter of the BBC news programme ''

Look North ''BBC Look North'' is a name used by the BBC for its regional news programmes in three regions in the North of England: *''BBC Look North'' for the BBC North East and Cumbria region *''BBC Look North'' for the BBC Yorkshire region *''BBC Look No ...

'' and wrote the book ''Pawn takes Castle''.

Personal life

Sonia Graham married the Honourable Julian Edward Alfred Mond, younger son of

Henry Mond, 2nd Baron Melchett Henry Ludwig Mond, 2nd Baron Melchett (10 May 1898 – 22 January 1949) was a British politician, industrialist and financier. Early life and education Henry Mond was born in London, the only son of Alfred Mond, 1st Baron Melchett and his wife Vi ...

and Amy Gwen Mond Baroness Melchett (née Wilson) on 26 April 1947, and became Lady Melchett on the death of her father-in-law on 22 January 1949. Mond was the inaugural chairman of the newly privatised

British Steel Corporation British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

. For most of their married life they lived on

Tite Street Tite Street is a street in Chelsea, London, England, within the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, just north of the River Thames. It was laid out from 1877 by the Metropolitan Board of Works, giving access to the Chelsea Embankment. Hist ...

in Chelsea, London and on Courtyard Farm Ringstead,

Hunstanton Hunstanton () is a seaside town in Norfolk, England, which had a population of 4,229 at the 2011 Census. It faces west across The Wash, making it one of the few places on the east coast of Great Britain where the sun sets over the sea. Hunstant ...

Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...

. Melchett was a trustee of

Royal Court Theatre The Royal Court Theatre, at different times known as the Court Theatre, the New Chelsea Theatre, and the Belgravia Theatre, is a non-commercial West End theatre in Sloane Square, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London, Englan ...

and the

NSPCC The National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) is a British child protection charity. History Victorian era On a trip to New York in 1881, Liverpudlian businessman Thomas Agnew was inspired by a visit to the New Yor ...

. They built a villa, Casa Melchett, near Formentor in Majorca and took family holidays there. Julian Mond died while on holiday there on 15 June 1973. They had one son, Peter Robert Henry Mond and two daughters, Kerena Ann Mond and Pandora Shelley Mond. Kerena married Richard Moorehead, son of the war correspondent and author

Alan Moorehead Alan McCrae Moorehead, (22 July 1910 – 29 September 1983) was a war correspondent and author of popular histories, most notably two books on the nineteenth-century exploration of the Nile, ''The White Nile'' (1960) and ''The Blue Nile'' (196 ...

in 1980, and secondly in 1985 married journalist and broadcaster

Adam Boulton Thomas Adam Babington Boulton (born 15 February 1959) is a British journalist and broadcaster who is regular panelist on TalkTV. He was formerly editor-at-large of Sky News, and presenter of ''All Out Politics'' and ''Week In Review''. He is al ...

. Pandora is an artist, who, in 1991, married Nicholas Wesolowski. On 25 July 1984, Lady Melchett remarried, to

, a novelist, historian, biographer, critic, filmmaker and founding member of

Churchill College, Cambridge Churchill College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. It has a primary focus on science, engineering and technology, but still retains a strong interest in the arts and humanities. In 1958, a trust was establish ...

. Sonia Melchett has seven grandchildren.

Publications

* ''From the Ganges to The Thames: A Memoir'', 2016. * ''Passionate Quests Five Modern Women Travellers'', Faber and Faber, 1992. * ''Someone is missing : a memoir'', Weidenfeld & Nicolson, London, 1987 I * ''Sons and Mothers'', Virago Press, 1996 by Victoria Glendinning (Editor), Matthew Glendinning (Lady Sonia Melchett was one of seven contributors);

References

Sources

* Bright Young Things, Oxford Universit

* ''The Independent on Sunday'', 30 October 2005 'Beyond the Fringe

* ''The Independent on Sunday'', 30 March 2003 'The Talk of the Town guide to Shocking London

* BBC News, Tuesday, 27 July 1999 'Lord Melchett: Aristocrat eco-warrior

* ''The Daily Telegraph'', Mandrake, 'Reunited atlLast' 11.06. 2005

* Anna Ford/Jonathan Aitken incident

* Michael Alexander, a member of the Chelsea Se

* Nigel Dempster, ''Daily Telegraph'', 13.07.200

{{DEFAULTSORT:Melchett, Sonia 1928 births Living people People from Nainital People from Chelsea, London People from King's Lynn and West Norfolk (district) People educated at the Royal School for Daughters of Officers of the Army Sonia Melchett Writers from London English socialites English justices of the peace British baronesses National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children people