Sibyl Sophie Julia, Lady Colefax (''née'' Halsey; 1874 – 22 September 1950) was an English

interior decorator Interior design is the art and science of enhancing the interior of a building to achieve a healthier and more aesthetically pleasing environment for the people using the space. With a keen eye for detail and a creative flair, an interior ...

and socialite in the first half of the twentieth century.

Biography

Colefax was born at

Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * W ...

, third but only surviving daughter (and fifth and last child) of William Stirling Halsey, of the Indian Civil Service, and Sophie Victoria, daughter of the businessman and politician

James Wilson James Wilson may refer to: Politicians and government officials Canada * James Wilson (Upper Canada politician) (1770–1847), English-born farmer and political figure in Upper Canada * James Crocket Wilson (1841–1899), Canadian MP from Queb ...

. Her mother's sister, Emily, married the eminent

constitutionalist Constitutionalism is "a compound of ideas, attitudes, and patterns of behavior elaborating the principle that the authority of government derives from and is limited by a body of fundamental law". Political organizations are constitutional to ...

Walter Bagehot Walter Bagehot ( ; 3 February 1826 – 24 March 1877) was an English journalist, businessman, and essayist, who wrote extensively about government, economics, literature and race. He is known for co-founding the ''National Review'' in 1855 ...

. She lived in

Cawnpore Kanpur ( Hindustani: ), originally named Kanhapur and formerly anglicized as Cawnpore, is the second largest city of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh after Lucknow. It was the primary financial and commercial centre of northern India. Founded ...

, India, until the age of 20 when she went on the Grand Tour. In 1901, she married patent lawyer Sir

Arthur Colefax Sir Henry Arthur Colefax, KBE, KC (9 July 1866 – 19 February 1936) was a British patent lawyer and Liberal Unionist politician. Biography Colefax was born in Bradford, Yorkshire, and was the son of J S Colefax, a woollen merchant. He was ...

, who was briefly the MP for Manchester South West in 1910. They set up home at Argyll House,

King's Road King's Road or Kings Road (or sometimes the King's Road, especially when it was the king's private road until 1830, or as a colloquialism by middle/upper class London residents) is a major street stretching through Chelsea and Fulham, both ...

, Chelsea and at Old Buckhurst in

Sussex Sussex (Help:IPA/English, /ˈsʌsɪks/; from the Old English ''Sūþseaxe''; lit. 'South Saxons'; 'Sussex') is an area within South East England that was historically a kingdom of Sussex, kingdom and, later, a Historic counties of England, ...

. Widely admired for her taste, after she had lost most of her fortune in the Wall Street crash she began to decorate professionally, using her formidable address book for contacts. She was able to purchase the decorating division of the antique dealers Stair and Andrew of

Bruton Street Bruton Street is a street in London's Mayfair district. Queen Elizabeth II was born there, and the fashion designer Norman Hartnell lived there for 44 years. It runs from Berkeley Square in the south-west to New Bond Street in the north-east, w ...

Mayfair Mayfair is an area of Westminster, London, England, in the City of Westminster. It is in Central London and part of the West End. It is between Oxford Street, Regent Street, Piccadilly and Park Lane and one of the most expensive districts ...

and established Sibyl Colefax Ltd in partnership with Peggy Ward, the Countess Munster. On her 'retirement' (following a family tragedy) Peggy Ward advised her to take on John Fowler (1906–1977) as her partner, which she did in April 1938. The advent of war cut short this partnership. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, she organised a

soup kitchen A soup kitchen, food kitchen, or meal center is a place where food is offered to Hunger, hungry and homeless people, usually for no price, cost, or sometimes at a below-market price (such as coin Donation, donations). Frequently located in Low i ...

and continued to entertain. She often held small lunch parties at

The Dorchester The Dorchester is a five-star hotel located on Park Lane and Deanery Street in London, to the east of Hyde Park. It is one of the world's most prestigious hotels. The Dorchester opened on 18 April 1931, and it still retains its 1930s furnis ...

known as 'Ordinaries' after which the guest would receive a small bill. She had an affair with the English writer

Virginia Woolf Adeline Virginia Woolf (; ; 25 January 1882 28 March 1941) was an English writer and one of the most influential 20th-century modernist authors. She helped to pioneer the use of stream of consciousness narration as a literary device. Vir ...

, and corresponded with Woolf's husband upon Woolf's death in 1941. In 1944, the business, managed by John Fowler, took a lease on 39

Brook Street Brook Street is an axial street in the exclusive central London district of Mayfair. Most of it is leasehold estate, leasehold, paying ground rent to and seeking lease renewals from the reversioner, that since before 1800, has been the Grosven ...

, Mayfair where it remained until December 2016. Also in 1944 Sibyl Colefax sold the business to Nancy Tree (

Nancy Lancaster Nancy Lancaster (10 September 1897 – 19 August 1994) was a 20th-century tastemaker and the owner of Colefax & Fowler, an influential British decorating firm that codified what is known as the English country house look. Biography She wa ...

as she became in 1948) for a sum in the order of £10000. She renamed the business Sibyl Colefax and John Fowler Ltd, the name continuing today as the decorating division of the

Colefax Group Colefax Group plc is a designer and distributor of furnishing fabrics and wallpaper, based in London, United Kingdom. History The business was founded in the 1930s by Sibyl, Lady Colefax (1874–1950). In 1938, she was joined in the business by ...

Plc. Colefax died at her home in Lord North Street, Westminster on 22 September 1950.

Harold Nicolson Sir Harold George Nicolson (21 November 1886 – 1 May 1968) was a British politician, writer, broadcaster and gardener. His wife was Vita Sackville-West. Early life and education Nicolson was born in Tehran, Persia, the youngest son of dipl ...

penned an affectionate tribute that appeared shortly after in '' The Listener''. She was the inspiration, according to the art historian John Richardson, for the designer Mrs. Beaver in

Evelyn Waugh Arthur Evelyn St. John Waugh (; 28 October 1903 – 10 April 1966) was an English writer of novels, biographies, and travel books; he was also a prolific journalist and book reviewer. His most famous works include the early satires ''Decli ...

's ''A Handful of Dust'', and for Mrs. Aldwinkle in

Aldous Huxley Aldous Leonard Huxley ( ; 26 July 1894 – 22 November 1963) was an English writer and philosopher. His bibliography spans nearly 50 books, including non-fiction novel, non-fiction works, as well as essays, narratives, and poems. Born into the ...

's ''Those Barren Leaves''. In the 1940s she was referred to frequently by the diarist and socialite politician Henry "Chips" Channon, who describes her as "charming, gentle and sad".

Biography

See also

References

Further reading