Lady Ottoline Morrell [1] (June 16, 1873 - April 21, 1938) was an English socialite, friend and patron of many artistic people, including Aldous Huxley, Siegfried Sassoon and D. H. Lawrence. June 16 is the 167th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (168th in leap years), with 198 days remaining. ... 1873 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calaber). ... April 21 is the 111th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (112th in leap years). ... 1938 (MCMXXXVIII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar). ... Royal motto (French): Dieu et mon droit (Translated: God and my [birth]right) Englands location (dark green) within the British Isles Languages English (de facto) Capital London de facto Largest city London Area – Total Ranked 1st UK 130,395 km² Population – Total (mid-2004) – Total (2001 Census) – Density Ranked... A socialite is a person (male or female, but more often used for a woman) of social prominence who is considered to be an influential social figure. ... Aldous Leonard Huxley (July 26, 1894 – November 22, 1963) was a British writer who emigrated to the United States. ... Siegfried Sassoon, 1916 Siegfried Loraine Sassoon CBE MC (September 8, 1886 – September 1, 1967) was an English poet and author. ... David Herbert Lawrence (11 September 1885 – 2 March 1930) was one of the most important, prolific and controversial English writers of the 20th century, whose output spans novels, short stories, poems, plays, essays, travel books, paintings, translations, literary criticism and personal letters. ...

Early Life

Born Ottoline Violet Anne Cavendish Bentinck, she acquired the title of "Lady" when her half-brother inherited the Duchy of Portland in 1879, and the family moved into Welbeck Abbey in Nottinghamshire. Ottoline was a cousin of Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, later to become queen, and a direct descendant of Bess of Hardwick. Nottinghamshire (abbreviated Notts) is an English county in the East Midlands, which borders South Yorkshire, Lincolnshire, Leicestershire and Derbyshire. ... Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon as Queen Elizabeth. ... Bess of Hardwick, Countess of Shrewsbury by Rowland Lockley, 1592. ...

Relationships, Love Affairs

Throughout her life, Ottoline was an incurable romantic. Her first love affair was with an older man, the doctor and writer Axel Munthe, but she rejected his impulsive proposal of marriage because her spiritual beliefs were incompatible with his atheism - only to find that he had already lost interest in her anyway. Axel Martin Fredrik Munthe (October 31, 1857, Oskarshamn ,Sweden - February 11, 1949, Stockholm) was a Swedish doctor and physician and psychiatrist, better known as the author of The Story of San Michele (1929), an autobiographical account of his work and later life. ...

She married the would-be Liberal politician, Philip Morrell, in 1902, with whom she shared many views and interests. Known as an open marriage, the marriage lasted for the rest of her life, although both she and her husband had several affairs and relationships with other people. The Liberal Party was one of the two major British political parties from the early 19th century until the 1920s, and a third party of varying strength and importance up to 1988, when it merged with the Social Democratic Party to form a new party which would become known as... 1902 (MCMII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ...

Ottoline herself was involved with philosopher Bertrand Russell, and painter Augustus John. She was involved in bisexual affairs with (among others) artist Dora Carrington and novelist Dorothy Bussy. She was also involved with artist Roger Fry. The Morrells had one child, a daughter, Julian. Nevertheless, their home at Garsington Manor near Oxford became a haven for like-minded people. Bertrand Arthur William Russell, 3rd Earl Russell, OM, FRS (18 May 1872 – 2 February 1970), was an influential British logician, philosopher, and mathematician, working mostly in the 20th century. ... Artist John, on a 1928 Time cover Augustus Edwin John OM (January 4, 1878–October 13, 1961) was a Welsh painter. ... In human sexuality, bisexuality describes a man or woman having a sexual orientation to persons of either or both sexes (a man or woman who sexually likes both sexes; people who are sexually and/or romantically attracted to both males and females). ... Dora de Houghton Carrington (March 29, 1893 – March 11, 1932) was a British painter and decorative artist. ... Dorothy Bussy (nee Strachey) (1865 or 1866–1960), English novelist and translator. ... Roger Eliot Fry (14 December 1866 - 9 September 1934) was an English artist and critic, and a member of the Bloomsbury group. ... Garsington Manor, in the village of Garsington, near Oxford, England, is a Tudor building, best known as the former home of Lady Ottoline Morrell. ... Oxford is a city and local government district in Oxfordshire, England, with a population of 134,248 (2001 census). ...

During World War I, they were notable pacifists, inviting conscientious objectors to take refuge on their home farm at Garsington. Amongst these conscientious objectors were Duncan Grant and David Garnett (which was one of the reasons why they moved to the nearby Charleston with Vanessa Bell in the early years of the war). Combatants Allies: • Serbia, • Russia, • France, • Romania, • Belgium, • British Empire and Dominions, • United States, • Italy, • ...and others Central Powers: • Germany, • Austria-Hungary, • Ottoman Empire, • Bulgaria Casualties Military dead: 5 million Civilian dead: 3 million Total: 8 million Full list Military dead: 3 million Civilian dead: 3 million Total: 6 million Full... A conscientious objector is an individual whose personal beliefs are incompatible with military service, perhaps with any role in the armed forces or just with a particular war. ... Duncan James Corrow Grant (21 January 1885 - 9 May 1978) was a British painter, a member of the Bloomsbury group. ... This page is not about David S. Garnett, the science fiction writer David Garnett (1892 – 1981) was a British writer and publisher, and a prominent member of the Bloomsbury group. ... Artists from the Bloomsbury Group lived here. ... Vanessa Bell (May 28, 1879 - April 7, 1961), was an English painter and interior designer and a member of the Bloomsbury group. ...

It was at Garsington Manor, also, that Siegfried Sassoon, recuperating after a period of sick leave, was encouraged to go absent without leave in a protest against the war. The hospitality offered by the Morrells was such that most of their guests had no suspicion that they were in financial difficulties. Garsington Manor, in the village of Garsington, near Oxford, England, is a Tudor building, best known as the former home of Lady Ottoline Morrell. ...

Later Life

Later, Lady Ottoline remained a regular host to the adherents of the Bloomsbury Group, and many other artists and scholars. She could certainly be considered as a patron to many of them, while not void of artistic aspirations (of an extravagant camp-like kind) herself too. The Bloomsbury Group or Bloomsbury Set or just Bloomsbury, as its adherents (members is probably too formal a designation) would generally refer to it, was an English group of artists and scholars that existed from around 1905 until around World War II. // History The group began as an informal social... Generally, patronage is the act of supporting or favoring some person, group, or institution. ... The term camp—normally used as an adjective or a noun, even though earliest recorded uses employed it mainly as a verb—refers to the deliberate and sophisticated use of kitsch, mawkish or corny themes and styles in art, clothing or conversation. ...

Perhaps Lady Ottoline's most interesting legacy are the representations of her that appear in 20th century literature. She was the inspiration for Mrs Bidlake in Huxley's Point Counter Point, for Hermione Roddice in D. H. Lawrence's Women in Love, for Lady Caroline Bury in Graham Greene's It's a Battlefield, and for Lady Sybilline Quarrell in Alan Bennett's Forty Years On. The Coming Back (1933), another novel which portrays her, was written by Constance Malleson, one of Ottoline's many rivals for the affection of Bertrand Russell. (19th century - 20th century - 21st century - more centuries) Decades: 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s As a means of recording the passage of time, the 20th century was that century which lasted from 1901–2000 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar (1900–1999 in the... Point Counter Point, published in 1928, was Aldous Huxleys fourth novel. ... Women in Love was a novel by British author D.H. Lawrence published in 1920. ... This article is about the writer Graham Greene. ... Published by Faber/Profile Books in 2005 Alan Bennett (born May 9, 1934) is an English author and actor. ... Forty Years On is a song written by Edward Bowen and John Farmer in 1872. ... 1933 (MCMXXXIII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ... Constance Malleson (October 24, 1895 - October 5, 1975) was a British actress (under the name Colette ONeil) and writer, the wife of actor Miles Malleson and lover of Bertrand Russell. ... Bertrand Arthur William Russell, 3rd Earl Russell, OM, FRS (18 May 1872 – 2 February 1970), was an influential British logician, philosopher, and mathematician, working mostly in the 20th century. ...

Also non-literary portraits are part of this interesting legacy, e.g. the artistic photographs of her by Cecil Beaton and others. Sir Cecil Walter Hardy Beaton (January 14, 1904 – January 18, 1980) was an English fashion and portrait photographer. ...

Biography: Ottoline Morrell: Life on a Grand Scale by Miranda Seymour (Hodder & Stoughton, revised edition 1998).