Daphne Fielding

Daphne Winifred Louise Fielding (née Vivian, formerly Thynne; 11 July 1904 – 5 December 1997) was a popular British author in the 20th century.

The Honourable

Daphne Fielding
Daphne Fielding
Born
Hon. Daphne Winifred Louise Vivian

11 July 1904
Westminster, London, England
Died5 December 1997(1997-12-05) (aged 93)
OccupationAuthor
Spouse(s)
    ​
    ​
    (m. 1927; div. 1953)​
      ​
      ​
      (m. 1953; div. 1978)​
      Children
      Parent(s)

      Family

      Daphne Vivian was born on 11 July 1904 in Westminster, London, eldest daughter of George Vivian, 4th Baron Vivian, and Barbara (née Fanning). Her parents separated when she was four years old and her father raised the children at Glynn, Cornwall, where the family were known as the 'mad Vivians'.[1]

      She married, firstly, Henry Thynne, Viscount Weymouth, on 27 October 1927. Neither his nor her parents approved of the marriage[2] and they were divorced in 1953. From 1946 she was known as the Marchioness of Bath. The couple had five children: her eldest daughter, Lady Caroline Jane Thynne, married David Somerset, 11th Duke of Beaufort and had issue; her eldest son, Thomas Timothy Thynne, died in infancy, whilst her second son Alexander George Thynn, married Anna Gyarmathy and had issue, later becoming the 7th Marquess of Bath; her fourth son, Lord Christopher John Thynne, married Antonia Palmer, daughter of Sir Anthony Palmer, 4th Baronet, and had issue; whilst her youngest son, Lord Valentine Charles Thynne (1937–1979), married firstly, Veronica Jacks and had issue; he married secondly Susanne Alder and married thirdly Liese Dennis.[1][2]

      She remarried, this time her husband was Major Alexander Wallace Fielding, on 11 July 1953, though the couple were divorced in 1978.[3]

      Career

      She moved in the world of the "Bright Young Things" in the 1920s and produced a series of popular books about high society. Of Fielding's memoirs, Mercury Presides, Evelyn Waugh wrote: "Daphne has written her memoirs. Contrary to what one would have expected they are marred by discretion and good taste. The childhood part is admirable. The adult part is rather as though Lord Montgomery were to write his life and omit to mention that he ever served in the army."[4]

      Works
      • Longleat from 1566 to the present time. Longleat Estate (1949)
      • Mercury Presides. London: Eyre & Spottiswoode (1954)
      • The Adonis Garden (1961)
      • The Duchess of Jermyn Street: Rosa Lewis. London: Eyre & Spottiswoode (1964) ISBN 0-413-25190-X
      • Emerald and Nancy: Lady Cunard and Her Daughter. London: Eyre & Spottiswoode (1968) ISBN 0-413-25950-1
      • The Nearest Way Home. London: Eyre & Spottiswoode (1970)
      • The Rainbow Picnic: a portrait of Iris Tree. London: Eyre Methuen (1974) ISBN 0-413-28520-0
      • Face on the Sphinx: a portrait of Gladys Marie Deacon, Duchess of Marlborough. London: Hamish Hamilton (1978) ISBN 0-241-89314-3

      References
      1. Chisholm, Anne (2004). "Fielding, Daphne Winifred Louise Vivian (1904–1997), writer and socialite". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/68822. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
      2. Vickers, Hugo (17 December 1997). "Obituary: Daphne Fielding". The Independent. Retrieved 13 August 2016.
      3. ""Secret marriage" appeal succeeds". Portsmouth Evening News. 27 July 1955. p. 1. Retrieved 13 August 2016.
      4. Chisholm, Anne (20 December 1997). "Obituary: Daphne Fielding: The wife of Bath's tale". The Guardian. p. 17.
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