Winifred Fortescue (7 February 1888 – 9 April 1951) was a British writer and actress. The wife of

Sir John Fortescue John Fortescue may refer to: * Sir John Fortescue (judge) (c. 1394–1479), English lawyer and judge, MP for Tavistock, Totnes, Plympton Erle and Wiltshire * Sir John Fortescue of Salden (1531/1533–1607), third Chancellor of the Exchequer of Eng ...

, librarian and archivist at Windsor Castle and reputed British Army historian, she became formally styled Winifred, Lady Fortescue, when he was knighted in 1926.

Biography

Lady Fortescue (born Winifred Beech in 1888) was a daughter of the Reverend Howard Beech, Rector of

Great Bealings Great Bealings is a small village in Suffolk, England. It has about 302 people living in it in around 113 households. Its nearest towns are Ipswich ( away) and Woodbridge (). Nearby villages include Little Bealings, Playford, Culpho, Hasket ...

(from 1886). She was mainly educated at home, having "outgrown her strength," but when she was 16 her doctor informed her mother that she was suffering from "intellectual starvation." She applied for, and was successful in getting into, Old Cedar House School, Slough. This later transferred to London and became Wentworth Hall, Mill Hill. She then attended F.R. Benson's Dramatic School to train for the stage. She then went on the stage, performing in Sir Herbert Tree's company, and later starring in

Jerome K. Jerome Jerome Klapka Jerome (2 May 1859 – 14 June 1927) was an English writer and humourist, best known for the comic travelogue ''Three Men in a Boat'' (1889). Other works include the essay collections '' Idle Thoughts of an Idle Fellow'' (1886) an ...

's ''The Passing of the Third Floor Back''. In 1914 she married John Fortescue, despite being 28 years younger than him. She gave up her stage career and took up an interior decorating and dress designing business until illness forced her to give it up. She then began writing for ''

Punch Punch commonly refers to: * Punch (combat), a strike made using the hand closed into a fist * Punch (drink), a wide assortment of drinks, non-alcoholic or alcoholic, generally containing fruit or fruit juice Punch may also refer to: Places * Pun ...

'', the ''

Daily Chronicle The 'Daily Chronicle' was a British newspaper that was published from 1872 to 1930 when it merged with the '' Daily News'' to become the ''News Chronicle''. Foundation The ''Daily Chronicle'' was developed by Edward Lloyd out of a local newspap ...

'' and '' The Evening News'', and then started a

Women's Page The women's page (sometimes called home page or women's section) of a newspaper was a section devoted to covering news assumed to be of interest to women. Women's pages started out in the 19th century as society pages and eventually morphed into ...

for the ''

Morning Post ''The Morning Post'' was a conservative daily newspaper published in London from 1772 to 1937, when it was acquired by ''The Daily Telegraph''. History The paper was founded by John Bell. According to historian Robert Darnton, ''The Morning Po ...

''. In the 1930s Sir John and Lady Fortescue moved to

Provence Provence (, , , , ; oc, Provença or ''Prouvènço'' , ) is a geographical region and historical province of southeastern France, which extends from the left bank of the lower Rhône to the west to the Italian border to the east; it is bor ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, where she began her book writing career with ''Perfume from Provence''. She wrote a number of other books there. Her husband died within 2 years of them moving to France but she stayed on until forced to move out by the German invasion 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 ...

. She returned at the end of the war and died in

Opio Souls of Mischief is a hip hop group from Oakland, California, that is also part of the hip hop collective Hieroglyphics. The Souls of Mischief formed in 1991 and is composed of rappers A-Plus, Opio, Phesto, and Tajai. History East Oakland ...

, Provence.

Bibliography

*1935 ''Perfume from Provence'' *1937 ''Sunset House'' *1939 ''There's Rosemary, There's Rue'' *1941 ''Trampled Lilies'' *1943 ''Mountain Madness'' *1948 ''Beauty for Ashes'' *1950 ''Laughter in Provence''

References

External links

Perfume from Provence - site dedicated to Winifred Fortescue and her books
*Escape to Provence - A Biography of Winifred Fortescue by Maureen Emerson. http://www.maureenemerson.co.uk {{DEFAULTSORT:Fortescue, Winifred 1888 births 1951 deaths 20th-century British writers Winifred Women's page journalists 20th-century British women writers 20th-century British actresses English expatriates in France