Enid Bagnold

Enid Algerine Bagnold, Lady Jones (27 October 1889 – 31 March 1981), was a British writer and playwright. She is notable for her 1935 novel "National Velvet," which was adapted into a film in 1944 starring Elizabeth Taylor.

Early Life:

Enid Bagnold was born on 27 October 1889 in Rochester, Kent, England. Her parents were Colonel Arthur Henry Bagnold and Ethel (née Alger). She was primarily raised in Jamaica. Her younger brother was Ralph Bagnold. Bagnold attended art school in London, where she studied in Chelsea and painted with Walter Sickert. She was also sculpted by Gaudier Brzeska. During her early years, she worked as an assistant editor for a magazine run by Frank Harris, who later became her lover. Harris and Bagnold are both depicted in Hugh Kingsmill's 1919 novel "The Will to Love."

Career:

During World War I, Bagnold served as a Voluntary Aid Detachment nurse. She wrote critically about hospital administration, which garnered her recognition but also led to her dismissal. Subsequently, she worked as a driver in France for the duration of the war. Her hospital experiences are detailed in her memoir "A Diary Without Dates," and her service as a driver is depicted in her first novel, "The Happy Foreigner."

In July 1920, she married Sir Roderick Jones, the chairman of Reuters. Despite her marriage, she continued to use her maiden name professionally. They resided at North End House in Rottingdean near Brighton, which previously belonged to Sir Edward Burne-Jones. The garden of this house inspired her play "The Chalk Garden." They also owned a London residence at 29 Hyde Park Gate, from 1928 until 1969, after Sir Roderick's death in 1962. This house was near the residences of figures such as Winston Churchill and Jacob Epstein. The house was remodeled by Edwin Lutyens to include features such as a large nursery that served as a lecture hall.

Enid and Roderick Jones had four children. Their eldest, Laurian (born in 1921), later became the Comtesse d'Harcourt, and illustrated her mother’s books "Alice & Thomas & Jane" at age nine, and "National Velvet" at age 14. One of her great-grandchildren is Samantha Cameron, the wife of former UK Prime Minister David Cameron.

Later Life and Death:

Bagnold published her autobiography in 1969. She died from bronchopneumonia on 31 March 1981 and was cremated at Golders Green. Her ashes were interred at St Margaret’s Church in Rottingdean.

Her biography, authored by Anne Sebba in 1987, revealed details about her personal life, including her literary feuds, marriage, approach to motherhood, pre-war Nazi sympathies, morphine addiction, and her opinions of actors in her plays. Cecil Beaton described her life as "a strange, remarkable, original and warped life."

Works:

Bagnold's notable works include the novel "National Velvet" (1935), and plays such as "The Chalk Garden" (1955), which was also adapted into a film in 1964, and "The Chinese Prime Minister" (1965). She authored a range of other novels, plays, and collections of poems and letters. Her other significant works include "The Squire" (1938), which closely examines motherhood and was republished in 2013 by Persephone Books, and "The Loved and Envied" (1951), a study on approaching old age.

Awards and Recognition:

Bagnold received various awards including the Arts Theater Prize for "Poor Judas" (1951), the Award of Merit Medal for "The Chalk Garden" (1956), and a prize from the Academy of Arts and Letters also in 1956. She was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 1976. In 1997, a blue plaque was unveiled by English Heritage at her former home at 29 Hyde Park Gate, Kensington.

References:

Citation and bibliographic references include Anne Sebba’s biography "Enid Bagnold: A Biography" (1987), and records from the Internet Broadway Database and the University of Bristol Theatre Archive.