Du Maurier Angela - Daphne Du Maurier and her sisters : the hidden lives of Piffy, Bird and Bing

CONTENTS

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In contemplating writing a biography about her American publisher Nelson Doubleday, soon after his death in 1949, Daphne du Maurier wrote to his widow:

I like to give all truth, if I write about someone in that way There would be so many things, in his life, like times of unhappiness, and his other marriage, and personal things, moments of elation and depression, that went to make him the man he was this is often hard for a family to take.

In fact biographies that are neither hagiographic nor concerned mostly with an external life are often hard for a family to take. We all have our own stories of parents and forebears, burnished with the telling; and the detached and unfamiliar gaze of the biographer, working from diaries and letters and previously unknown connections can reveal a more complex story, a different kind of life. Daphnes children, Tessa Viscountess Montgomery of Alamein, Flavia Lady Leng and Christian (Kits) Browning could not have been more welcoming and generous with their time and hospitality, despite some understandable reservations about my writing about their mother and aunts. They helped enormously with their own reminiscences, pointing me towards possible leads and material and people useful in my further search for the true du Mauriers behind the charming public mask. Although surprised and not entirely happy with some aspects that emerged, to their real credit I was not put under any pressure to modify either material or interpretation in my finished work. In fact, they have continued to support the book by allowing me to quote from wonderful unpublished sources and reproduce family portraits and photos. For this generosity and largeness of spirit, many thanks.

Kitss wife Olive (Hacker) Browning, their son Robert and Tessas daughter Marie-Thrse (Pooch) Johnston added more memories and insights, for which I am most grateful. Despite the disadvantages of belonging to a famous family that elicits the kind of attention that splashes everyone in their closest circle, I hope that Daphne du Maurier and Her Sisters in the end will encourage more people to read Daphnes and Angelas books and to seek out Jeannes paintings, keeping evergreen the du Maurier name.

Libraries and archives were my second port of call. The du Maurier family archive is held at Heritage Collections in the Old Library at Exeter University. Here Christine Faunch, Head of Heritage Collections, and the reading room staff, Sue Inskip, Angela Mandrioli, Gemma Poulton and Mike Rickard, could not have been more helpful: they went out of their way to accommodate all my requests. I have particularly fond memories of the pleasure of my long days there. Similarly, Don C. Skemer, Curator of Manuscripts, and AnnaLee Pauls and Charles E. Greene all in the Manuscript Division, Department of Rare Books and Special Collections at Princeton University Library were exemplary in their good humour and efficiency. I am also grateful to Nicholas Scheetz, Manuscript Librarian at the Special Collections Research Centre at Georgetown University Library, Washington DC for his kindness and generosity. Thanks too to Adam J. Dixon, Acquisitions Assistant, Howard Gotlieb Archival Research Centre at Boston University. The unpublished diaries of Sir Cecil Beaton are published by permission of the Masters and Fellows of St Johns College, Cambridge, the Literary Executors of the late Sir Cecil Beaton. All extracts from letters, poems and fiction and non-fiction titles by Angela du Maurier and by Daphne du Maurier are reproduced by permission of Curtis Brown Group Ltd, London, on behalf of The Chichester Partnership, and are the copyright of Angela du Maurier and Daphne du Maurier respectively.

My gratitude to Kathryn McKee, Special Collection Librarian in the Library at St Johns College, Cambridge, and her predecessor Jonathan Harrison, and for the personal kindness and generosity of Hugo Vickers, executor of the literary estates of Sir Cecil Beaton and the Hon. Stephen Tennant. Owners of other private archives have been similarly generous, particularly Margaret Westwood and Ann Baldaro who shared the fascinating archive of their great aunt, Gwen Ffrangcon-Davies. I particularly want to thank Dr Helen Grime of the University of Winchester whose interest and generosity allowed me to access this archive, which is temporarily held at the Martial Rose Library at Winchester. She gave up days of her precious time to search through the uncatalogued papers and present me with the fruits of her labours. Timothy Morgan-Owen also shared with me his uniquely extensive collection of Gertrude Lawrence material. Everyone has been immensely generous in allowing me access to these treasures. Thank you.

The St Ives Trust Study Centre was a delight to visit and Diana Miller and the centres head Janet Axten were great enthusiasts in unearthing for me nuggets of information on Jeanne du Maurier. Exhibitions and Collection Officer Louise Holt and Tristan Pollard at the Royal West of England Academy in Bristol were also helpful and super-efficient in allowing me access to Jeanne du Mauriers paintings and permission to reproduce them in the book.

So many individuals also came to my aid in various ways. Anyone who knows Fowey or loves anything du Maurier will understand my gratitude and affection for Ann and David Willmore of Bookends of Fowey. They welcomed me like an old friend and have offered endless help and interest along with the tea, cake and sympathy. Ann also helped me track down hard-to-find books and fascinating articles. I am particularly pleased to have the chance to reproduce their portrait of Daphne by Jeanne.

Professor Helen Taylor, moving spirit in the establishing of the du Maurier archive at Exeter University and the du Maurier Literary Festival at Fowey (and stalwart at Bath Literary Festival), also has been unfailingly generous, supportive and full of insight. She is a not only an excellent writer, academic and speaker but a most talented interviewer and chair in any discussions and tireless in her support of fellow writers and students in all their enterprises; for this heartfelt thanks.

I remember with great pleasure the 500-mile dash to Mull with my husband and two whippets in the car to see Torosay Castle and meet the fifth Laird of Torosay, Chris James and his wife Sarah. Their friendliness and honesty filled in many essential details about Angela du Mauriers wartime love affair with Chriss great-grandmother Olive Guthrie. Serendipitous meetings like these make writing biographies even more surprising and fun.

Maud (Tod) Waddells family are numerous and far-flung and have been enthusiastic and generous in their help, notably Susan Waddell in New Zealand, Luigi and Netanja Shaw in Canada, Eric Waddell, John Waddell and Peter Waddell.

Lucia Stuart, granddaughter of Angelas great friend from girlhood, Betty Hicks, welcomed me to her Seymour Hicks and Ellaline Terriss archive in her wonderful house in Deal. I remember with gratitude too my lunch with Father Ivan Clutterbuck at the College of St Barnabas, set in beautiful countryside in East Sussex, where he recalled his memories of Angela on their trip to the Holy Land.