Read The Mad Boy, Lord Berners, My Grandmother, and Me Online
Authors: Sofka Zinovieff
This vista from the pub brought the realisation that I had taken a step back from the place I’ve now been involved with for half my life. My new perspective was not just spatial but temporal. From my beer-scented breakfast table, the history of all the people who have been linked to Faringdon House appeared slightly different. After several years researching and writing about their lives, I had become deeply involved with the people who came before me, and could look with much more understanding right back to Gerald’s birth in the depths of Victorian Shropshire, to Robert’s arrival twenty-eight years later and Jennifer’s in the middle of the First World War. I had become fascinated by all three characters and how their lives were moulded by their rejection of their gentrified backgrounds. All of them suffered from critical or absent fathers, and mothers who were fonder of horses or drugged bed-rest than being with their children. All had close relationships with people they employed and troubled ones with those who loved them. And all created their own revolutions, running from the stifling conflicts of their parents’ homes and pursuing pleasure with impunity. They refused to live along the conventional lines that were mapped out.
From far off, Lord Berners and the crazy Heber-Percy couple had looked funny, even foolish, but the closer I got to them, the more I empathised with their complex natures and their individual suffering. In these more puritanical but certainly fairer times, it is easy to deprive them of their rights to an unbiased judgement. Their huge material advantages and luxury-loving natures make them easy, even automatic targets – ‘like shooting a sitting robin’, as Gerald put it, or perhaps a rose-hued dove. We eschew the older bigotries of racism, sexism, ageism and homophobia, but class discrimination remains, with a denigration of ‘chavs’ and an easy prejudice encouraged against the rich and privileged. But privilege is not immunity from pain. I was increasingly aware that, whatever their shortcomings, the Faringdon set deserved understanding. I had been pulled into their world by Robert’s last big risk in leaving me his beloved house – a development almost as unexpected as when he took Jennifer there as his bride – but it was the process of writing about Faringdon that provided me with a new sort of intimacy.
By the time I finished my coffee in the Bell’s bay window, the fire was burning nicely and the chill in the bar was easing. At this point, I felt able to step back from my own place in the story. I hadn’t told the landlord ‘who I was’. Looking at the black wrought-iron gates to Faringdon House, I became aware of how Lord Berners, the Mad Boy, my grandmother, my mother and me are just a few elements in a long story of so many other people – those who lived and worked in the same spaces before us, and the others who were there before that, in the old Elizabethan house. Of course it doesn’t stop there either. And for many centuries of that time, the Bell was here in some guise, providing ale for locals, breakfast for travellers and a view up to the intriguing gateway of Faringdon House.
INDEX
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1st King’s Dragoon Guards 62–5
Abel, Fred 313–14
Ackerley, J. R. 68
Acton, Harold (1904–1994)
comments on Gerald 13, 96
at wedding of the two Evelyns 169
learns of She-Evelyn’s ill-health 169
at Oxford University 190, 276
liking for Marie Beazley 212
believes Dr Gottfried is a quack 270
Aesop’s fables, The Grasshopper and the Ant 191
Agar-Robartes, Gerald, Viscount Clifden 43
Alden, Miss (Gerald’s landlady in St Giles’) 193, 216, 240
Amory, Mark 394
Lord Berners: The Last Eccentric 14
anti-Semitism 120, 121–5, 176, 331–2
Apley Park (Shropshire) 20
Architectural Review 90
Armstrong, Sir Thomas 209
Armstrong-Jones, Tony, Earl of Snowdon 318, 341
Ashcombe house (Wiltshire) 107
Ashton, Frederick (1904–1988)
as visitor to Faringdon 2, 283
provides choreography for A Wedding Bouquet 147, 153
comment on Gerald’s ability to construct a ballet 148
believed to be a genius 153
as aristocratic dowager in Cecil Beaton’s book 187
discovers splendid tranquiliser 191–2
kindness to Jennifer 261
provides choreography for Les Sirènes 268
Astaire, Adele 140
Athens 387
Attlee, Clement 267
Auden, W. H. ‘Wiz’ 182, 183, 205
Audubon, John James, Birds of America 18–19
Ayer, A. J. ‘Freddie’ 206
Bakst, Léon 34
Balanchine, George 39
Baldwin, Oliver 171
Baldwin, Stanley 159, 166, 171–2
Ball, Des (gardener at Faringdon) 310, 311, 327, 347, 360
Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo 182
Ballets Russes 35, 36, 66, 147
BBC 38
Beaton, Cecil (1904–1980) 262
as regular visitor to Faringdon 7, 216
friendship with Gerald 12, 106–7, 193, 283
learns of Gerald’s relationship with Robert 77–8
dresses his friends in Georgian style 82
as country-dweller 92
stays at Madresfield 102
character and description of 105–6
comments on Gerald 105, 130
dislike of Robert 106, 323–5
passion for Peter Watson 107–8
seduced by Doris Castlerosse 108–11
as ‘Cecily Seymour’ in The Girls of Radcliff Hall 112–15
seduced by Fascism 118
meets Dalí 143
photographs Daisy Fellowes 144, 146
photographs Wallis Simpson in lobster-print dress 144
comment on Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas 151
as contributor to Horizon 205
as close friend of Clarissa Churchill 224
as war photographer 224
photographs Victoria 251–2, 367
designs costumes for Les Sirénes 268
devoted to Dr Gottfried 270
comment on Gerald’s health 284
visits Clayton Manor 296
punched by Robert 324–5
death of 325
photograph imitated by Leo, Vassilis and Sofka 374–5
The Book of Beauty 106
The Happy Years 284
My Royal Past 107, 186–7
Beauchamp family see under Lygon
Beaulieu Abbey 83
Beazley, J. D. ‘Jack’ 212
Beazley, Marie 212–13
Beecham, Sir Thomas 127, 286
Bell, Vanessa 136
Ben (boxer dog) 347, 356, 360
Benjamin, Walter 25
Bennitt, Colonel Ward 28, 48, 49
Berlin, Isaiah 203, 206, 209, 211
Berners Estates Company 41, 266, 357, 366
Berners, Gerald Hugh Tyrwhitt (1883–1950)
character and descriptions of 1–2, 7, 9, 11, 13–14, 16, 25–6, 43, 73, 74–5, 130–31, 190–91
leaves Faringdon to Robert 2, 135
ancestral portraits relegated to the orangery 4–5
1943 photograph of 6, 7
meets Robert at Vaynol 11–12, 71–3
wit and humour of 12, 16, 26, 27, 36, 38, 40, 43, 48, 85, 87, 126, 128, 134–35, 219, 258, 330, 356
disguises, superficiality and theatricality of 13, 16, 32
birth and childhood 14–15
family background, influence and relationships 15, 16–18, 19, 20, 47–8, 149, 241
lack of piety 15–16, 23
love of animals, birds and flowers 18–20, 85–6, 250
appreciation of place and ornamentation 20–21
passion for music 21–2, 28, 37–8, 146–8, 209
education 23–4
prone to misery, melancholy and depression 23–4, 25–6, 75, 131, 193, 208–9, 269–72
male friendships 24–5, 45–7, 105–12
health of 26, 270–72
affinity with foreign cultures 27–8, 39
fails Foreign Office exams 28–9
falls in love with Henriette from afar 28
food as significant element in his life 28, 87–9, 216–17
death of his father and surprising re-marriage of his mother 29
appointed honorary attaché at Embassy in Constantinople 31–2
posted to Rome 32–5, 39
as composer 35–9, 94–5, 209–10, 256
helps found a ‘quartette society’ in Rome 35
buys Faringdon for his mother and acquires a chauffeur to drive his Rolls Royce 41–3
inherits a title and changes his surname to Tyrwhitt-Wilson 41
legends concerning 42, 71
lives a life of travel and luxury 42–4
takes up painting 43
female friendships 44–5, 99–105, 117–18, 125–9, 144, 146, 151–4, 206–8, 217
death of his mother Julia and his stepfather 47–9
decides to take over Faringdon 49
reaction to seeing phantasmagoria of taxidermy at Hodnet Hall 52
entertains Ballets Russes at the Cavendish Hotel 66
relationship with the Mad Boy 74, 76–81, 89
eclectic decoration of Faringdon 84–7
daily routines 89–90, 117–18
involved in local country life 92–4
as painter 95–7
as superstitious 97–8
youthful friendships 99–112
political views 120–4
attend Olympia rally 122
apparently has lunch with Hitler 123–4
enjoys social life in London 125–6, 129
pranks and teases 128, 129–31, 267
builds the Folly for Robert 132–6
friendship with Dalí 136–42
fascination with Surrealism 141–2
incident of the diving-suit 141, 142
anxieties concerning the war 189–90, 191
lives with Bowra in Oxford 190–91
keeps a dream notebook 194–5
undergoes psychoanalysis 195–6
bizarre portrait of painted by Denton Welch 205–6
worried about Robert’s enlistment in the Army 206
refers to Robert as his ‘agent’ 207–8
returns to Faringdon 209, 214, 217
takes to wearing knitted skullcaps 212
portraits painted by Gregorio Prieto 213
rumours that he might marry Clarissa Churchill 217
loyalty to old friends 220–26
jaundiced view of Jennifer and Robert’s marriage 236–7
accepts Jennifer as part of Faringdon household 239–40, 243
appears to like baby Victoria 251–2, 278–9
undergoes electric treatment with Dr Gottfried 270
final illness and death 282–7
ashes buried under the front lawn 315
concert and readings given in his honour 322
celebrations and unveiling of a blue plaque 393–6
WORKS BY
books
The Château de Résenlieu 14
A Distant Prospect 14, 24
Dresden 14
First Childhood 14, 24, 47–8, 90, 205
The Camel 20, 90
Far From the Madding War 37, 112, 192, 195, 210–11
The Girls of Radcliff Hall 71, 112–15
Mr Pidger 104, 131, 193, 210
The Romance of a Nose 141–2, 210, 236
Count Omega 210
compositions
‘Le Poisson d’or’ 35–6
Three English Songs 37–8
Three Songs in the German Manner 37
Fantaisie Espagnole 38
The Triumph of Neptune 39
‘L’Uomo dai baffi’ 40
Luna Park (ballet) 45, 134
‘A Fascist March’ 123
A Wedding Bouquet (ballet) 146–7, 155
Cupid and Psyche (ballet) 187, 269
Cinderella, or There’s Many a Slipper 210, 256
Come On Algernon’ (song for Ealing film) 256
The Halfway House (Ealing film) 256
Les Sirènes (ballet) 268–9
Nicholas Nickleby (Ealing film) 268
plays
The Furies 234–5, 380
poems
‘Surrealist Landscape’ 138–9
‘Portrait of a Society Hostess’ 152
‘The Romantic Charter’ 211–12
Berners Trust 354, 394
Betjeman, John (1906–1984) 66, 67
description of 90–92
friendship with Gerald and Robert 91, 92–3
as editor of the Shell Guides 92, 136
love of Englishness 92
comment on Robert and Gerald lunching with Hitler 124
comment on Gerald Wellesley 133
comment on Schiaparelli’s visit to a jumble sale 144
as friend of Cyril Conolly 182
at Oxford University 190
poem on St Giles’ churchyard 193
falls for ‘Billa’ Harrod 203
nicknames Billa ‘Turkish Delight’ 203, 243
appointed press attaché in Dublin 204–5
as regular visitor to Faringdon 269, 283, 317
attends Gerald’s funeral 286
pens an obituary of Gerald for the Listener 288
gives readings of works by Gerald 322
‘The Arrest of Oscar Wilde at the Cadogan Hotel’ 91–2
Ghastly Good Taste 92
Betjeman, Penelope Chetwode (1910–1986)
description of 90–91
friendship with Gerald and Robert 90, 91, 283
persuades Gerald to write overture for a mystery play 92
religious sensibilities 92–3
fondness for her horse Moti 93–4
told of Robert and Gerald’s lunch with Hitler 124
comment on Gala Dalí 137
as friend of Cyril Conolly 182
has mass said for Gerald at Uffington 193
as character in one of Gerald’s books 211
learns of Robert’s discharge from the Army 214
Diana Mosely sends her love from prison 221
as regular visitor to Faringdon 269, 317
attempts to convert Gerald to Catholicism 271
Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh 326–7
Bilignin (France) 151–2
Binfield, Ena 340
The Blackbirds (jazz musicians) 147
Blackwood, Caroline 280
Bourchier, John 41
Bowen, Elizabeth 63, 202, 232–3, 267, 283
The Heat of the Day 233
Bowles, Hamish 369
Bowood House (Wiltshire) 377
Bowra, Maurice (1898–1971)
Osbert Lancaster’s drawing of 93
description of 190
Gerald moves in with 190, 192
sexuality 190
friendship with the Harrods 203, 206
as character in one of Gerald’s books 211
kindness to Jennifer 261
comment on new Faringdon set-up 266
Brain, Richard 381
Brandt, Bill 205
Brillat-Savarin, Jean Anthelme, The Physiology of Taste 216
British Union of Fascists 117
Britten, Benjamin 148