by Mary Wesley
Grant, Mrs, 34, 34n, 38, 41, 52, 53, 54, 57, 67, 76, 78, 91, 96, 168, 260
Green, C. P. ‘Paddy’, 21, 21n, 26, 34, 37, 105
Greene, Elena (née Lindeman), 174, 174n
Greene, Felix, 173, 173n
Greene, Graham, xxiii, 108n, 116n, 225n, 260; A Burnt-Out Case, 277, 277n
Grenfell, Alice, xix, 21, 21n, 76n, 102, 229n
Grimond, Jo, 210, 244
Grimond, Laura (née Bonham-Carter), 211
Grisewood, Harman, 213, 213n
Grundgens, Gustav, 137, 137n
Hahn, Kurt, 176n, 178, 257
Haley, Sir William, 230, 230n, 265
Hambourg, Michal, 66, 67
Hamburg, Germany, 136, 173
Hamilton, Adam, 115
Hamilton, Joan, 113, 114
Hanbury-Williams, John, 88, 92
Handley, Sir Michael, 171, 171n
Harcourt-Smith, Simon, 33, 232
Harris, Frank, My Life and Loves (1922), 288, 288n
Harris, Rolf, 206n
Hastings, Maurice, 125
Haw Haw, Lord see Joyce, William
Heber-Percy, Jennifer (née Fry), 76, 76n
Helman, Adrian, 17
Hepburn, Olive, 207, 209
Hess, Myra, 120 Hibbert, Susan, 205
Hill, Paul, 8, 8n, 96, 96n, 97, 126, 207n, 228n
Hitler, Adolf, 61n, 62
Hong Kong, 170–171, 172
Houseman, Jack, 12, 12n, 15, 237, 238
Howes, Ted, 135
Hughes, Alwyn, 206, 206n
Hughes, Glyn, 159, 205, 206, 209, 210, 217
Hume, Benita, xxiii, 47
Huxley, Aldous, 45, 52
Ingrams, Leonard, 87, 87n, 88
Ismay, Hastings Ismay, 1st Baron, 153n
‘Jacko case’, 197, 211
James, Elizabeth, 124, 125
Jardine Matheson (company), 174
Joffre, Joseph (‘Papa’), Marshall of France, xxii
John, Betty, 35, 35n
John, Edwin, 37, 75n
John, Gwen, 35, 35n, 37
John, Otto, 178, 178n, 197
John Augustus, 35, 35n
Jones, Phyllis, 276, 281, 282n, 289
Joyce, William (‘Lord Haw Haw’), 74, 74n
Kavanagh, Ted, 212, 212n
Kempson, Rachel, 147n
Keswick, Lady Clare (née Elwes), 175, 175n
Keswick, Sir John, 175, 175n
Keynes, John Maynard, xxii, 53n
Kingsmill Lunn, Hugh, 101–102, 105
Kinross, Patrick Balfour, 3rd Baron, 123
Kirkpatrick, Sir Ivone, 181, 181n, 271, 271n
Knight, Laura, xix
Knox, Ronald, 263, 263n, 265
Korda, Alexander, xxiii
Krauss, Clemens, 183
Kung, Hans, 284, 284n
Lawrence, Geoffrey, 161n
Le Clerc, Nina, 107
League of Nations, 68
Lee, Raymond, xxi, 37n
Lindsay-Hogg, Sir Anthony, 40, 40n
Livingstone, Richard, 202, 202n
Lloyd George, Frances, Countess (née Stevenson), 166
London Dockers’ strike (1945), 95n
Londonderry, Alistair Vane-Tempest-Stewart, 9th Marquess, 255
Lopton, Langton, 221
Luchaire, Corinne, 116, 116n
Mabane, Sir William, 163, 163n
Macartney, ‘Trix’, 75n
Macdonald, Iverach, 220
Mangan, Fr Richard, 193, 196, 197, 199, 201, 205, 207, 235, 265, 268
Manila, Philippines, 171
Mann, Erika, 137
Manstein, Erich von, 178, 178n
Masaryk, Jan, 107, 107n, 124
Maxwell Fyfe, Sir David, 255n
McDougall, Jack, 120
Melikoff, Boris, 37, 37n, 166
Mental Deficiency Act (1927), 211
Menuhin, Yehudi, 107
Meunier, Philippe, 247–248, 249, 253, 253n
Micklem, Nat, 194, 194n, 200, 210–211, 212, 217, 244, 270, 271
Millerick, Father, 218, 242, 257, 273
Mirsky, Vera T., The Cup of Astonishment, 22
Mitchell, Miss, 113, 154
Mitford, Nancy, 40, 82–83; The Pursuit of Love, 40n
Monck, Henry, 6th Viscount Monck, 153n, 168
Montagu, Edward Douglas-Scott-Montagu, 3rd Baron, 255, 255n
Montagu-Pollock, John, 75, 75n
Moorehead, Alan, 136, 141
Morris, Claud, 7, 7n, 8, 28, 51–52, 79
Morse, Sir Arthur, 170
Mosaddeq, Mohammad, 180, 180n, 181
Mosbacher, Eric, 225, 225n
Moscow Nights (film,1935), xxiii
Muggeridge, Kitty, 130
Muggeridge, Malcolm, 16, 16n, 88, 101, 102, 105, 130, 224, 239, 266, 266n
Munnings, Alfred, xix
Murray, Basil, xxiii
Mussolini, Benito, 61n
Myers, John, 100
Mynors, Humphrey, 100, 100n
Mynors, Roger, 100n
Naguib, Mohamed, 188–189, 188n
Nasser, Colonel Gamal Abdel, 188n
Newton, Ann (née Maclean), 5, 28, 68
Newton, Robert, xxi–xxii, 4n, 11–12, 28, 227n
Nichols, Beverley, 126
Nicolson, Harold, 181
Niemoller, Martin, 198, 198n
Norman, Montagu, 53n, 181, 181n
Obemer, Nesta, 173–174
Observer (newspaper), 146
Oliver, Nora, 86
Olivier, Laurence, xxiii, 147, 147n, 213
Orwell, George, 148, 148n
Owen, Frank, 244
Paris, France, 11, 36
Parker, Michael, 176, 177, 182
Parkinson’s disease, 286
Paul VI, Pope, 285
Paynter, Betty, xix, xxi, 5n, 14, 21, 28, 29, 83, 83n, 91, 96, 207n, 225, 227n, 228n; and daughter Sonya, xix, 218, 219–220, 221, 224, 226, 228
Paynter, Colonel Camborne, xix, 6, 22, 34, 46, 53, 54, 59, 62, 66, 68, 80, 102, 104
Paynter, Sonya, xix, 68, 83, 84, 212, 220–224, 226–228, 228n, 230
Paynter, Tom, 78, 227, 233
Peakswater, Cornwall, 119, 129
Pebble (MW’s dog), 114, 115, 127, 160, 233
Petacci, Clara, 61n, 62
Pétain, Marshall, 31, 65, 66
Philby, Kim, 171n
Phillipson, Lydia, 67
Pius XII, Pope, 277n
Platts-Mills, John, 204, 204n, 211
Portal, Sir Francis, 153, 153n, 162
Portals (company), 151, 152, 152n
Potsdam Conference (1945), 121
Prittie, Terence, 142
Purvis, Chester, 89
Quarr Abbey, 83n, 250, 261, 265
Quennell, Peter, 22, 83, 86, 88, 114, 168, 168n
Razmara, Ali, 169, 169n
Rickatson-Hatt, Bernard, 88, 88n, 92, 147, 151, 162
Rigg, Diana, 287, 287n
Ritz Hotel, London, xv, xxvi Robbins, Harold, The Adventurers (1966), 288, 288n
Roberts, Bechhofer, Verlaine, 106, 108
Robertson, Sir Malcolm, 33, 33n, 35
Robeson, Paul, 12, 15
Rodd, Peter, xxiii, 40n, 155n, 260
Roosevelt, Franklin D., 53
Roussin, André, Une Grande Fille Tout Simple, 36
Ruegg, Ann, 200, 241
Russell, Victor, 48
Rutherford, Edwin, 131, 131n, 161, 209
Ryan, Desmond, 86
Sandberg, Christina, 96, 96n, 98
Sandberg, Penelope, 158
Schacht, Biene, 204, 204n, 219, 221, 222, 224, 226, 228, 230, 231, 233, 236–243, 246–250, 252, 260, 263, 264
Schacht, Dr Hjalmar, 173, 173n, 176, 178, 180–184, 204n, 208, 236, 261, 264, 266, 271, 273–275
Schumacher, Kurt, 177, 177n
Sellon, Hugh, 66
Shackleton, Edith, 61–62, 61n, 66, 67, 70, 98
Sharp, Margery, The Loving Eye, 212
Sheffield, J. V., 153n
Shishakli, Adib, 188n
Siepmann, Dietelinde, 137, 173, 184
Siepmann, Eric: background and education, xxi–xxiii; car accident, 285; conversion to Catholicism, 193, 196; death, 290; divorce from Phyllis Morris, 30, 44, 48, 118, 140, 159–165, 168–170; finances, 30, 44, 46, 47, 58, 59–60, 75–76, 94–95, 98, 163, 243; job as Berlin correspondent for Sunday Times, 130; job with British European Airways, 117; job with Kemsley Press news agency, 140; job with Portals, 151–155; job with The Times, 193, 234, 236; literary career, xxiii–xxiv, 19, 40, 46, 70, 151, 162, 193, 202, 203, 208, 214; loses job with MOI, 72; loses job with Portals, 190; marries MW, 170; meets MW, xv, xxv, xxvi– xxvii; takes overdose, 278; wartime career, xxii; Confessions of a Nihilist, 193
Siepmann, Harry, 53, 53n, 63, 71, 77, 82, 88, 100, 104, 116, 131, 146, 147, 151, 155–156, 155n, 181, 215, 283
Siepmann, Ingeborg, 177, 182
Siepmann, Janey, 235
Siepmann, Otto, xxii–xxiii, 118, 286–287
Siepmann, Phyllis (née Morris), xxiv, 5n, 44n, 84, 90n, 161, 165; campaign against ES and MW, 113, 116–118, 116n, 129, 144, 144n, 146
Siepmann, Ricardo, 137–139, 137n, 182, 184
Siepmann, William (‘Bill’), 188, 196, 229, 229n, 251, 261, 284, 288
Spark, Muriel, 281
Spencer, Raine, Countess, 37n
St Aubyn, Violet, 174
St Levan, Sam, 104
Stalin, Josef, 121
Stanley, Edward, 83, 83n
Stanley, Sylvia, 83n
Stauffenberg, Colonel Claus von, 272, 272n
Stoeckle, Gert, 248–249, 250
Stopford, Richmond, xv, 131, 131n, 171, 172
Strauss, Dr Eric, 116n, 197, 200
Stucley, Betty, 218, 219, 246
Sunday Times (newspaper), 130, 140, 142, 146
Sutherland, Claire, Duchess of (née O’Brien), 37, 37n, 45, 46n, 50
Sutherland, George (‘Geordie’) Sutherland, 5th Duke of, 37–38, 39, 42, 45, 50, 64
Sweeney, Charles, 83, 83n
Sweeney, Margaret, 83n
Swinfen, Averil, Lady (née Knowles), 254, 254n, 257, 257n, 267
Swinfen, Carol Swinfen Eady, 2nd Baron, xvi, 13n, 14, 23, 42, 104, 113, 116, 117, 118, 167, 210; divorce from MW, 48, 51, 53, 55n; financial support for MW, 120, 120n, 145, 145n; and Toby Eady, xxi, 4n, 128, 254, 257n, 267–268
Swinfen, Roger Swinfen Eady, 3rd Baron: childhood at Boskenna, 9–10, 21, 35, 56, 68, 92, 102; education, 157, 166–167; joins Royal Scots regiment, 257, 257n; at Sandhurst, 196, 227; at Thornworthy, 252, 253, 259, 264–265, 266–267, 271–272
Tennant, David, 86
The Prince and the Showgirl (film, 1957), 213, 213n, 214
Thomas, Michael, 177–178, 177n
Thornworthy (house in Dartmoor), 193, 204n, 276
Tito, Josip Broz, 163, 164
Toynbee, Philip, 22
Triolet, Elsa, 31, 31n
Trott, Adam, 185
True (MW’s dog), 22, 22n, 55, 104, 109, 114, 281, 285
Trundle, Guy, 48, 48n, 51
United Nations (UN), 68n
Varwell, Miss, 196, 202
Victoria, Queen, xvii–xviii
Victory celebrations, May 1945, 64–68
Virgil, Georgics, 16, 35
Waller, Lady, 200, 222, 233, 241, 245
Warburg, Eric, 177, 177n, 178
Warburg, George, 265
Warburg’s (bank), 254, 259, 259n, 260
Wates, Erik, 174–175
Waugh, Alec, 125
Waugh, Evelyn, xxiii, 198n, 276n; The Loved One, 125
Webb, Norman, 157, 209, 212
Week, The (political newsletter), 225, 225n
Wesley, Mary: abortion, 91, 93;
background and family, xvi, xvii– xvix; ‘black market scandal’, xx; changes her name to Siepmann, 104n; conversion to Catholicism, 193, 196; divorce from Carol Swinfen, xxi, 4, 4n, 14, 33, 51, 53–56, 64; and her children, 9, 10, 14, 21, 49, 76, 79, 92, 96, 97, 100, 102, 262, 267, 272; initiates ‘Jacko case,’ 197, 211; introduced to Boskenna, xix–xx; marries Eric Siepmann, 170; meets Eric Siepmann, xv, xxv, xxvi–xxvii; plans to start cheese making business, 151; relationship with Heinz Ziegler, xvi–xvii, xx; takes in language students, 214; war work, xvi; The Camomile Lawn (1984), 20n, 66n, 292; A Dubious Legacy (1992), 20n, 25n; The Fruits of My Follies, 269n; The Glass Bugle (unpublished), 32n, 115n, 117; Jumping the Queue (1983), 292; Part of the Furniture (1997), 292; The Sixth Seal, 290; Speaking Terms (1969), 156n, 290
West, Morris, The Shoes of the Fisherman, 283n
Whitcombe, Dr, 146, 165
White, Antonia, xxiii, 90, 92, 193, 225, 239, 260, 274
Williams, Vicky, 66
Wodehouse, P. G., 16n
Wonnacott, Mrs, 195, 195n, 215, 216, 265
Woodruff, Douglas, 198, 198n, 214, 217, 260, 265
Wyszynski, Cardinal Stefan, 217, 217n
Yeats, W. B., 61n, 62, 70
Young, Courtney, 171, 171n
Ziegler, Heinz, xiv, xviii, 4n, 107n, 268n, 278
Ziegler, Paul, 83, 83n, 84, 95, 177, 254, 257, 261n, 265, 268
Zilliacus, Konni, 163, 163n, 164
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Letters © Estates of Mary and Eric Siepmann
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First published by Harvill Secker in 2017
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ISBN 9781911215103
Introduction
fn1 Evelyn Waugh made Peter Rodd and Basil Murray the models for the character of Basil Seal in Black Mischief.
fn2 Maurice Bowra was later warden of Wadham College, Oxford.
fn3 Ronald Colman, athletic British heart-throb and Oscar-winning movie star of the 1930s and 40s.
fn4 Richard Crossman, a millionaire farmer and socialist, later a prominent minister in the 1960s Labour government.
Part 1
fn1 Mary and her husband Carol, Lord Swinfen, had spent the war apart. In 1941 Mary gave birth to Toby, her son by Heinz Ziegler. Carol acknowledged the boy as his own and saw no reason why he and Mary should divorce. But Mary wanted a new life and in 1943 asked Carol to divorce her for desertion, which he reluctantly agreed to do.
fn2 Pauline Gates, sister of the actor Robert Newton, had introduced Eric and Mary four days earlier, in the Palm Court of the Ritz Hotel. Her husband, Sylvester Gates, a fellow scholar with Eric at Winchester, was now a barrister. He would later become chairman of the British Film Institute.
fn3 Eric was due to take up the post in France, working with a Psychological Warfare Unit under the control of the wartime Ministry of Information. France was still a war zone, under military control and partly under German occupation. Eric had suggested that Mary should join him as his secretary.
fn4 Betty Paynter, daughter of Colonel Camborne Paynter, Mary’s wartime host at Boskenna.
fn5 Ann Newton was the
former Annie Maclean, second wife of Robert Newton.
fn6 In 1941, just before being posted to North Africa with the Royal Marines, Eric had contracted a wartime marriage with a woman he hardly knew called Phyllis Morris. After meeting Mary he decided to divorce Phyllis, who was still posted abroad on war duties.
fn7 Nevil Alexander Beechman MC MP, wounded nine times at Passchendaele serving with the King’s Royal Rifle Corps, a friend of Colonel Paynter and National Liberal MP for St Ives, the local constituency.
fn8 Louis Aragon, the French philosopher poet, a leading intellectual of the day, had become an icon of the post-liberation Resistance. Mary had made a translation of ‘Elsa Before Her Mirror’, which the poet had dedicated to his communist muse and wife, Elsa Triolet.
fn9 Claud Morris, a farmworker who had become a dashing young man in the district. He was later a successful, radical publisher. No relation to Phyllis.
fn10 Dennis Bradley was one of Mary’s admirers. On returning from the war in the summer of 1944, and while staying at Boskenna, he had proposed to her – although she was at that time still the undivorced wife of Lord Swinfen.
fn11 It Depends What You Mean by James Bridie, the play Mary had been to see on 26 October, the evening they first met.
fn12 Betty Paynter was having an affair with Claud Morris, as well as with a local solicitor Paul Hill. Morris was also involved with a young lady named Joy.
fn13 Frederick, 2nd Baron Carnock – brother of the author Harold Nicolson.
fn14 All military correspondence with England was sent by Diplomatic Bag.
fn15 Her real brother, Robert Newton.
fn16 Jack Houseman, British-American actor, attended Clifton College with Eric in 1915.
fn17 Sylvester Gates had begun to suspect that his wife was having an affair.
fn18 Hugh Farmar married Constantia Rumbold, daughter of Sir Horace, 9th Baronet and anti-Nazi ambassador in Berlin. The ceremony took place in the Grosvenor Chapel. Mary’s sense of isolation was sharpened by her brother’s decision to ask Carol Swinfen to be his best man.
fn19 Mary’s sister, Susan, was a war widow.
fn20 Malcolm Muggeridge, later a celebrated journalist and editor of Punch, was a wartime MI6 officer who had been posted to Paris to investigate whether or not P. G. Wodehouse should be charged with treason. As a result of his report Wodehouse was cleared.
fn21 Duff Cooper, wartime minister of information and confidant of Churchill’s, had taken up a new appointment as British Ambassador in Paris.
fn22 French socialist and journalist who liaised between General de Gaulle and the BBC during the war.