Idina Sackville
Encyclopedia
Lady Myra Idina Sackville (26 February 1893 – 5 November 1955) was a British aristocrat
and member of the infamous Happy Valley set
. Her deviant
behaviour and promiscuous lifestyle scandalised upper class society.
. She had two younger siblings, her sister Avie and her brother Herbrand
. Her cousin was the writer Vita Sackville-West
.
Lady Myra Idina Sackville usually went by her middle name, Idina. She married and divorced five times. At the age of 20, she married on 26 November 1913 Captain David Euan Wallace
, taking his name. Their marriage produced two sons:
In 1919 she divorced Wallace and married on 27 March 1919 Captain Charles Gordon, becoming Idina Gordon. Wallace took custody of their sons and Idina moved to Kenya
. She and Gordon divorced in 1923, without issue, and later that year she married Josslyn Hay, 22nd Earl of Erroll
and was thus styled the Countess of Erroll. They had one child, Diana Denyse Hay
(1926-78). Idina divorced Josslyn in 1930 and their daughter was sent home to England to be raised by her aunt in Wiltshire
. Later that year on 22 November Idina married Donald Carmichael Haldeman. They divorced in 1938, without issue. In 1939, she married William Vincent Soltau, who died on 1 August 1964. She divorced Soltau in 1946, without issue. Lady Idina died in 1955 at the age of 62.
was notorious for stories of drug use and promiscuous
sexual encounters. These expatriates living in British East Africa received much publicity for their decadent hedonism. While Idina was married to Josslyn Hay, they frequented the Muthaiga Country Club
in Nairobi
. At Clouds, her house above the Rift Valley, Idina hosted wild all-night parties where patrons enjoyed champagne, cocaine
, and wife-swapping
.
was depicted in White Mischief
, a film dramatizing the events surrounding the murder of Lady Idina's third husband Josslyn Hay, 22nd Earl of Erroll
based on the same titled book by James Fox
.
Nancy Mitford
based her character "the Bolter" on Lady Idina in three of her books including The Pursuit of Love
and Love in a Cold Climate
.
Vile Bodies
by Evelyn Waugh
is also based on Lady Idina's character and lifestyle.
In the 1920's, the writer Michael Arlen
wrote a book The Green Hat where the heroine Iris Storm is based on a portrait of Lady Idina Sackville. This book was turned into a movie A Woman of Affairs
starring Greta Garbo
.
Lady Idina's great-granddaughter through her eldest son David Wallace, Frances Osborne
, wrote a biography The Bolter which was published in 2008.
Aristocracy (class)
The aristocracy are people considered to be in the highest social class in a society which has or once had a political system of Aristocracy. Aristocrats possess hereditary titles granted by a monarch, which once granted them feudal or legal privileges, or deriving, as in Ancient Greece and India,...
and member of the infamous Happy Valley set
Happy Valley set
The Happy Valley set was a group of privileged British colonials living in the Happy Valley region of the Wanjohi Valley,near the Aberdare mountain range, in the colonies of Kenya and Uganda during the 1920s - 1940s...
. Her deviant
Deviance (sociology)
Deviance in a sociological context describes actions or behaviors that violate cultural norms including formally-enacted rules as well as informal violations of social norms...
behaviour and promiscuous lifestyle scandalised upper class society.
Life and marriages
Lady Idina was the daughter of Lady Muriel Agnes Brassey and Gilbert George Reginald Sackville, the 8th Earl de la WarrEarl De La Warr
Earl De La Warr is a title created in the Peerage of Great Britain in 1761.In the United States, Thomas West, 3rd baron is often named in history books simply as Lord Delaware. He served as governor of the Jamestown Colony, and the Delaware Bay was named after him...
. She had two younger siblings, her sister Avie and her brother Herbrand
Herbrand Sackville, 9th Earl De La Warr
Herbrand Edward Dundonald Brassey Sackville, 9th Earl De La Warr, GBE, PC, DL, JP , styled Lord Buckhurst until 1915 , was a British politician. He was the first hereditary peer to join the Labour Party and became a government minister at the age of 23...
. Her cousin was the writer Vita Sackville-West
Vita Sackville-West
The Hon Victoria Mary Sackville-West, Lady Nicolson, CH , best known as Vita Sackville-West, was an English author, poet and gardener. She won the Hawthornden Prize in 1927 and 1933...
.
Lady Myra Idina Sackville usually went by her middle name, Idina. She married and divorced five times. At the age of 20, she married on 26 November 1913 Captain David Euan Wallace
Euan Wallace
Captain David Euan Wallace, MC, MP, PC was a British Conservative politician who briefly served as Minister of Transport during World War II...
, taking his name. Their marriage produced two sons:
- David John Wallace (1914 – k.i.a.Killed in actionKilled in action is a casualty classification generally used by militaries to describe the deaths of their own forces at the hands of hostile forces. The United States Department of Defense, for example, says that those declared KIA need not have fired their weapons but have been killed due to...
, World War IIWorld War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, GreeceGreeceGreece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
, 1944), married in 1939 Joan Prudence Magor (later remarried on 3 March 1948 Gerald Frederick Walter de Winton), and had two daughters:- Cary Davina Wallace, married David Arthur Russell Howell, Baron Howell of GuildfordDavid Howell, Baron Howell of GuildfordDavid Arthur Russell Howell, Baron Howell of Guildford, PC , is a British Conservative politician, journalist, and economic consultant. Having been successively Secretary of State for Energy and then for Transport under Margaret Thatcher, Howell is now a Minister of State in the Foreign Office...
- Laura Jacqueline Wallace (b. 22 May 1941), married firstly on 25 June 1963 Dominic Paul Morland, and had issue, married secondly in August 2003 Keith Fitchett, without issue
- Cary Davina Wallace, married David Arthur Russell Howell, Baron Howell of Guildford
- Gerard Euan Wallace (1915 – k.i.a.Killed in actionKilled in action is a casualty classification generally used by militaries to describe the deaths of their own forces at the hands of hostile forces. The United States Department of Defense, for example, says that those declared KIA need not have fired their weapons but have been killed due to...
, World War IIWorld War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, 1943), married in 1940 Elizabeth Lawson, without issue
In 1919 she divorced Wallace and married on 27 March 1919 Captain Charles Gordon, becoming Idina Gordon. Wallace took custody of their sons and Idina moved to Kenya
Kenya
Kenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...
. She and Gordon divorced in 1923, without issue, and later that year she married Josslyn Hay, 22nd Earl of Erroll
Josslyn Hay, 22nd Earl of Erroll
Josslyn Victor Hay, 22nd Earl of Erroll and 5th Baron Kilmarnock was a British peer, famed for the unsolved case surrounding his murder and the sensation it caused during wartime Britain.-Early life:Hay was the eldest son of the diplomat Victor Hay, Lord Kilmarnock and his wife...
and was thus styled the Countess of Erroll. They had one child, Diana Denyse Hay
Diana Hay, 23rd Countess of Erroll
Diana Denyse Hay, 23rd Countess of Erroll was a British peeress suo jure.Diana was only child of Josslyn Hay, 22nd Earl of Erroll and his first wife, Idina Sackville...
(1926-78). Idina divorced Josslyn in 1930 and their daughter was sent home to England to be raised by her aunt in Wiltshire
Wiltshire
Wiltshire is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset, Somerset, Hampshire, Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire. It contains the unitary authority of Swindon and covers...
. Later that year on 22 November Idina married Donald Carmichael Haldeman. They divorced in 1938, without issue. In 1939, she married William Vincent Soltau, who died on 1 August 1964. She divorced Soltau in 1946, without issue. Lady Idina died in 1955 at the age of 62.
The Happy Valley Set
The elite social group in Kenya known as the Happy Valley setHappy Valley set
The Happy Valley set was a group of privileged British colonials living in the Happy Valley region of the Wanjohi Valley,near the Aberdare mountain range, in the colonies of Kenya and Uganda during the 1920s - 1940s...
was notorious for stories of drug use and promiscuous
Promiscuity
In humans, promiscuity refers to less discriminating casual sex with many sexual partners. The term carries a moral or religious judgement and is viewed in the context of the mainstream social ideal for sexual activity to take place within exclusive committed relationships...
sexual encounters. These expatriates living in British East Africa received much publicity for their decadent hedonism. While Idina was married to Josslyn Hay, they frequented the Muthaiga Country Club
Muthaiga Country Club
The Muthaiga Country Club is a club in Nairobi, Kenya. It is located in the suburb of Muthaiga, about 15 minutes drive from the city center.The Muthaiga Country Club opened on New Year's Eve in 1913, and became a gathering place for the elite society of British East Africa, which later became the...
in Nairobi
Nairobi
Nairobi is the capital and largest city of Kenya. The city and its surrounding area also forms the Nairobi County. The name "Nairobi" comes from the Maasai phrase Enkare Nyirobi, which translates to "the place of cool waters". However, it is popularly known as the "Green City in the Sun" and is...
. At Clouds, her house above the Rift Valley, Idina hosted wild all-night parties where patrons enjoyed champagne, cocaine
Cocaine
Cocaine is a crystalline tropane alkaloid that is obtained from the leaves of the coca plant. The name comes from "coca" in addition to the alkaloid suffix -ine, forming cocaine. It is a stimulant of the central nervous system, an appetite suppressant, and a topical anesthetic...
, and wife-swapping
Swinging
Swinging or partner swapping is a non-monogamous behavior, in which both partners in a committed relationship agree, as a couple, for both partners to engage in sexual activities with other couples as a recreational or social activity...
.
In popular culture
The notorious Happy Valley setHappy Valley set
The Happy Valley set was a group of privileged British colonials living in the Happy Valley region of the Wanjohi Valley,near the Aberdare mountain range, in the colonies of Kenya and Uganda during the 1920s - 1940s...
was depicted in White Mischief
White Mischief
White Mischief is a 1987 film dramatising the events of the Happy Valley murder case in Kenya in 1941, when Sir Henry "Jock" Delves Broughton was tried for the murder of Josslyn Hay, Earl of Erroll....
, a film dramatizing the events surrounding the murder of Lady Idina's third husband Josslyn Hay, 22nd Earl of Erroll
Josslyn Hay, 22nd Earl of Erroll
Josslyn Victor Hay, 22nd Earl of Erroll and 5th Baron Kilmarnock was a British peer, famed for the unsolved case surrounding his murder and the sensation it caused during wartime Britain.-Early life:Hay was the eldest son of the diplomat Victor Hay, Lord Kilmarnock and his wife...
based on the same titled book by James Fox
James Fox
James Fox, OBE is an English actor.-Early life:James Fox was born in London, England to theatrical agent Robin Fox and actress Angela Worthington. He is the brother of actor Edward Fox and film producer Robert Fox. The actress Emilia Fox is his niece and the actor Laurence Fox is his son. His...
.
Nancy Mitford
Nancy Mitford
Nancy Freeman-Mitford, CBE , styled The Hon. Nancy Mitford before her marriage and The Hon. Mrs Peter Rodd thereafter, was an English novelist and biographer, one of the Bright Young People on the London social scene in the inter-war years...
based her character "the Bolter" on Lady Idina in three of her books including The Pursuit of Love
The Pursuit of Love
The Pursuit of Love is a novel by Nancy Mitford, first published in 1945. It is the first in a trilogy about an upper-class family in the period between the wars...
and Love in a Cold Climate
Love in a Cold Climate
Love in a Cold Climate is a novel by Nancy Mitford, first published in 1949. The title is a direct quotation from George Orwell's novel Keep The Aspidistra Flying .-Plot summary:...
.
Vile Bodies
Vile Bodies
Vile Bodies is a 1930 novel by Evelyn Waugh satirising the Bright Young People: decadent young London society between World War I and World War II.-Title:The title comes from the Epistle to the Philippians 3:21...
by Evelyn Waugh
Evelyn Waugh
Arthur Evelyn St. John Waugh , known as Evelyn Waugh, was an English writer of novels, travel books and biographies. He was also a prolific journalist and reviewer...
is also based on Lady Idina's character and lifestyle.
In the 1920's, the writer Michael Arlen
Michael Arlen
Michael Arlen , original name Dikran Kouyoumdjian, was an Armenian essayist, short story writer, novelist, playwright, and scriptwriter, who had his greatest successes in the 1920s while living and writing in England...
wrote a book The Green Hat where the heroine Iris Storm is based on a portrait of Lady Idina Sackville. This book was turned into a movie A Woman of Affairs
A Woman of Affairs
A Woman of Affairs is a 1928 drama film directed by Clarence Brown and starring Greta Garbo, John Gilbert, Douglas Fairbanks Jr. and Lewis Stone...
starring Greta Garbo
Greta Garbo
Greta Garbo , born Greta Lovisa Gustafsson, was a Swedish film actress. Garbo was an international star and icon during Hollywood's silent and classic periods. Many of Garbo's films were sensational hits, and all but three were profitable...
.
Lady Idina's great-granddaughter through her eldest son David Wallace, Frances Osborne
Frances Osborne
Frances Osborne is a British author. She is the eldest daughter of former and current Conservative Cabinet Minister David Howell, Baron Howell of Guildford and Cary Davina Wallace....
, wrote a biography The Bolter which was published in 2008.