Sarah Kathleen Elinor Baring (''née'' Norton; 20 January 1920 – 4 February 2013) was an English socialite and memoirist, who worked for three years as a

linguist Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure. Linguis ...

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 ...

, the principal centre of

Allied An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...

code-breaking during the Second World War. She was married to

William Astor, 3rd Viscount Astor William Waldorf Astor II, 3rd Viscount Astor (13 August 1907 – 7 March 1966) was an English businessman and Conservative Party politician. He was also a member of the Astor family. Background and education William was the eldest son of W ...

, from 1945 to 1953.

Early life

She was born Hon. Sarah Kathleen Elinor Norton on 20 January 1920, the daughter of the filmmaker

Richard Norton, 6th Baron Grantley Baron Grantley, of Markenfield, in the County of York is a title in the Peerage of Great Britain. It was created on 9 April 1782 for Sir Fletcher Norton, Attorney General from 1763 to 1765 and Speaker of the House of Commons from 1770 to 178 ...

, and his wife, Jean Mary (née Kinloch).

Career

During the war, she worked for ''

Vogue Vogue may refer to: Business * ''Vogue'' (magazine), a US fashion magazine ** British ''Vogue'', a British fashion magazine ** ''Vogue Arabia'', an Arab fashion magazine ** ''Vogue Australia'', an Australian fashion magazine ** ''Vogue China'', ...

'' and the ''

Baltimore Sun ''The Baltimore Sun'' is the largest general-circulation daily newspaper based in the U.S. state of Maryland and provides coverage of local and regional news, events, issues, people, and industries. Founded in 1837, it is currently owned by Tr ...

'' for a short time, then as a telephonist at an Air Raid Precautions Centre, before building Hurricane fighter planes at a

Hawker Siddeley Hawker Siddeley was a group of British manufacturing companies engaged in aircraft production. Hawker Siddeley combined the legacies of several British aircraft manufacturers, emerging through a series of mergers and acquisitions as one of onl ...

factory close to

Slough Slough () is a town and unparished area in the unitary authority of the same name in Berkshire, England, bordering west London. It lies in the Thames Valley, west of central London and north-east of Reading, at the intersection of the M4 ...

, and shared a cottage with a colleague

Osla Benning Margaret Osla Henniker-Major, Lady Henniker-Major (''née'' Benning; 23 August 1921 – 29 October 1974) was a Canadian debutante, who worked at Bletchley Park, was Prince Philip's first girlfriend, and later married John Henniker-Major (later ...

. They were both god-daughters of

Lord Louis Mountbatten Louis Francis Albert Victor Nicholas Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma (25 June 1900 – 27 August 1979) was a British naval officer, colonial administrator and close relative of the British royal family. Mountbatten, who was of Germa ...

, who suggested to Sarah that she might "find a nice girl" for his nephew,

Prince Philip Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (born Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark, later Philip Mountbatten; 10 June 1921 – 9 April 2021) was the husband of Queen Elizabeth II. As such, he served as the consort of the British monarch from E ...

. Sarah introduced Benning, and she became Prince Philip's first girlfriend. A few months later, they were both tested on their German language skills, and were posted to

Hut 4 Hut 4 was a wartime section of the Government Code and Cypher School (GC&CS) at Bletchley Park tasked with the translation, interpretation and distribution of '' Kriegsmarine'' (German navy) messages deciphered by Hut 8. The messages were largely ...

Later life

In her later years, Baring wrote about her time in pre-war London society and at Bletchley Park, ''The Road To Station X''.

Personal life

VE-Day Victory in Europe Day is the day celebrating the formal acceptance by the Allies of World War II of Germany's unconditional surrender of its armed forces on Tuesday, 8 May 1945, marking the official end of World War II in Europe in the Easter ...

, she attended a

cocktail party A cocktail party is a party at which cocktails are served. It is sometimes called a cocktail reception. A cocktail party organized for purposes of social or business networking is called a mixer. A cocktail hour is sometimes used by manag ...

given by her aunt Lady Brownlow, and was introduced to

William Waldorf Astor William Waldorf "Willy" Astor, 1st Viscount Astor (31 March 1848 – 18 October 1919) was an American-British attorney, politician, businessman (hotels and newspapers), and philanthropist. Astor was a scion of the very wealthy Astor family of ...

, eldest son of the 2nd Viscount Astor and his wife,

Nancy Astor Nancy Witcher Langhorne Astor, Viscountess Astor, (19 May 1879 – 2 May 1964) was an American-born British politician who was the first woman seated as a Member of Parliament (MP), serving from 1919 to 1945. Astor's first husband was America ...

, the MP. They were engaged after five days, and married a month later on 14 June 1945. Their son,

William Astor, 4th Viscount Astor William Waldorf Astor III, 4th Viscount Astor (born 27 December 1951) is an English businessman and politician who sits as a Conservative hereditary Lord Temporal in the House of Lords. He is a member of the Astor family, which is known for ...

, was born in 1951. Her son later became the stepfather of

Samantha Cameron Samantha Gwendoline Cameron (; born 18 April 1971) is an English businesswoman. Until 13 May 2010, she was the creative director of Smythson of Bond Street. Her husband, David Cameron, was the British prime minister from 2010 to 2016. She took ...

. The couple amicably divorced in 1953, after which she married Lt-Col Thomas Michael Baring, a former

10th Royal Hussars The 10th Royal Hussars (Prince of Wales's Own) was a cavalry regiment of the British Army raised in 1715. It saw service for three centuries including the First World War and Second World War but then amalgamated with the 11th Hussars (Prince A ...

officer, polo player, and fine art consultant. The Barings divorced in 1965. She died in 2013, aged 93.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Baring, Sarah 1920 births 2013 deaths Bletchley Park women British debutantes Daughters of barons Astor British socialites British memoirists British women memoirists Bletchley Park people