View source for Lady Cynthia Asquith

{{Short description|English writer and socialite (1887–1960)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2016}}
{{Use British English|date=October 2016}}
{{Infobox person
|name = Lady Cynthia Asquith
|image = Lady-Cynthia-Mary-Evelyn-Asquith-ne-Charteris.jpg
|caption =
|birth_name = Cynthia Mary Evelyn Charteris
|birth_date = {{Birth date|1887|9|27|df=yes}}
|birth_place = [[Clouds House]], [[East Knoyle]], [[Wiltshire]], England
|death_date = {{Death date and age|1960|3|31|1887|9|27|df=yes}}
|death_place = [[Oxford]], England
|resting_place =
|resting_place_coordinates =
|nationality = [[English people|English]]
|citizenship =
|other_names =
|alma_mater =
|occupation = Writer
|years_active = 1926–1960
|known_for =
|parents = {{plain list|
*[[Hugo Richard Charteris, 11th Earl of Wemyss]]
*[[Mary Constance Wyndham]]
}}
|relatives =
|spouse = {{marriage|[[Herbert Asquith (poet)|Herbert Asquith]]|28 July 1910|5 August 1947|end=his death}}
|children = 3
}}
'''Lady Cynthia Mary Evelyn Asquith''' (née '''Charteris'''; 27 September 1887 – 31 March 1960) was an English writer and socialite, known for her [[Ghost story|ghost stories]] and diaries.<ref name="vb">[[Richard Dalby]], ''The Virago Book of Ghost Stories''.Virago, London, {{ISBN|0-86068-810-0}}, 1987 (p. 236).</ref> She also wrote novels, edited a number of [[anthologies]], wrote for children and covered the [[British Royal family]].
==Early life==
Lady Cynthia was born at [[Clouds House]], [[East Knoyle]], [[Wiltshire]] on 27 September 1887,<ref>{{Cite ODNB |title=Asquith [née Charteris], Lady Cynthia Mary Evelyn (1887–1960), writer |url=https://www.oxforddnb.com/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-30480 |access-date=2021-02-22 |year=2004 |language=en |doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/30480 |last1=MacKenzie |first1=Raymond N.}}</ref> one of seven children of [[Hugo Richard Charteris, 11th Earl of Wemyss]] (1857–1937), and [[Mary Constance Wyndham]], of [[The Souls]] fame.<ref name="Debrett's2018">{{Cite book |title=Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage |date=2018 |publisher=Debrett's Peerage Limited |isbn=978-1-870520-73-7 |page=1213 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OX8ZN5qFKZgC |access-date=11 September 2020 |language=en}}</ref> Among her siblings were Hugo Francis Charteris, Lord Elcho (who married [[Violet Benson (English artist)|Lady Violet Manners]], the daughter of [[Henry Manners, 8th Duke of Rutland]], and was [[killed in action]] in the [[World War I|Great War]]),<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/1645080/charteris,-lord-hugo-francis/|title=Casualty Details &#124; CWGC}}</ref> Guy Lawrence Charteris, Colin Charteris (who died young), Lady Mary Charteris (wife of Capt. Algernon Walter Strickland and, after his death, John George Lyon), Yvo Alan Charteris (also killed in action during the Great War),<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/188310/charteris,-the-hon.-yvo-alan/.|title = Casualty Details &#124; CWGC}}</ref> and Lady Irene Charteris (wife of [[Ivor Windsor-Clive, 2nd Earl of Plymouth]]).<ref name="EarlWemyss"/>
Her paternal grandparents were [[Francis Charteris, 10th Earl of Wemyss]] and his first wife Lady Anne Frederica Anson (second daughter of [[Thomas Anson, 1st Earl of Lichfield]]). Her maternal grandparents were Capt. Hon. [[Percy Scawen Wyndham]] [[Member of Parliament|MP]] for [[West Cumberland (UK Parliament constituency)|Cumberland West]] (second son of [[George Wyndham, 1st Baron Leconfield]]), and the former Madeleine Eden Campbell (sixth daughter of [[Major general (United Kingdom)|Maj.-Gen.]] [[Sir Guy Campbell, 1st Baronet]]).<ref name="EarlWemyss"/>
==Career==
In 1913, Asquith met [[D. H. Lawrence]] in [[Margate]] and became a friend and correspondent.<ref>See Mark Kinkead-Weekes, ''D. H. Lawrence: Triumph to Exile, 1912–1922'' (Cambridge, 1996), pp. 69 ff.</ref> She took a position as secretary to the [[Peter Pan]] creator [[J. M. Barrie]],<ref>Andrew Birkin, ''J. M. Barrie & the Lost Boys'', Constable, 1979; revised edition, Yale University Press, 2003.</ref><ref>Kevin Telfer,[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/bookreviews/9086554/Captain-Scott-and-J-M-Barrie-an-unlikely-friendship.html "Captain Scott and J M Barrie: an unlikely friendship"], ''Telegraph'', 9 March 2012.</ref> with whom she became close friends, continuing to work for him until his death in 1937. Barrie left most of his estate to her, except for the Peter Pan works.<ref name="Chaney">Chaney, Lisa. ''Hide-and-Seek with Angels - A Life of J. M. Barrie'', Hutchinson, 2005.</ref> Author [[L. P. Hartley]] became a lifelong friend after they met in the early 1920s.
Asquith became known for editing ''The Ghost Book'', an anthology of supernatural fiction, including work by D. H. Lawrence, [[Algernon Blackwood]], [[Arthur Machen]], [[Oliver Onions]], and [[May Sinclair]].<ref name="ma">[[Mike Ashley (writer)|Mike Ashley]] and William Contento, ''The Supernatural Index: A Listing of Fantasy, Supernatural, Occult, Weird, and Horror Anthologies''. Greenwood Publishing, 1995. {{ISBN|0313240302}}, pp. 728–729.</ref>
One of Asquith's stories, "The Follower", was adapted for [[BBC Radio]], along with others by Algernon Blackwood, [[Marjorie Bowen]], and [[Noel Streatfeild]]; all were later reprinted in the [[Cecil Madden]] anthology ''My Grimmest Nightmare'' (1935).<ref name="vb"/> She  contributed to the [[screenplay]] of the 1937 film ''[[Dreaming Lips (1937 film)|Dreaming Lips]]'', which starred [[Elisabeth Bergner]].<ref>''Film Reviews.'' [[Sydney Morning Herald]] [Sydney] 25 October 1937, p. 8; web: 17 April 2013.</ref>
In 1957, Asquith appeared as a contestant in the ITV Quiz show [[The $64,000 Question (British game show)|''The 64,000 Question'']] (hosted by [[Jerry Desmonde]]) where she won the top prize of £3,200 answering questions on the works of [[Jane Austen]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Davis |first=Clifford |date=18 May 1957 |title=Lady Cynthia tries for £3,200 … In the 64,000 Question show |page=6 |work=Daily Mirtor |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000560/19570518/054/0006 |access-date=22 January 2022}}</ref>
==Personal life==
On 28 July 1910, Lady Cynthia married [[Herbert Asquith (poet)|Herbert Asquith]] (1881–1947), second son of [[H. H. Asquith]], the [[Liberal Party (UK)|Liberal]] [[Prime Minister of the United Kingdom]] from 1908 to 1916, with whom he is sometimes confused.<ref name="EarlOxford&Asquith">{{Cite web |title=Oxford and Asquith, Earl of (UK, 1925) |url=http://www.cracroftspeerage.co.uk/oxford1928.htm |website=cracroftspeerage.co.uk |publisher=Heraldic Media Limited |access-date=11 September 2020}}</ref> They had three children:<ref name="AsquithObit1947">{{cite news |title=Mr. Herbert Asquith – Poet and Novelist|work=[[The Times]] |page= 7|date=8 August 1947 }}</ref>
*John Michael Asquith (1911–1937), who suffered mental problems and died in an institution.<ref name="BeaumanJohn">{{Cite book |last=Beauman |first=Nicola |author-link=Nicola Beauman |title=Cynthia Asquith |publisher=Hamish Hamilton |location=London |isbn=0241123682 |pages=134–148 |chapter=16: John|year=1987 }}</ref>
*Michael Henry Asquith (1914–2004),<ref name="Atkinson2018">{{Cite book |last1=Atkinson |first1=Damian |title=The Selected Letters of Charles Whibley: Scholar and Critic |date=2018 |publisher=Cambridge Scholars Publishing |isbn=978-1-5275-1294-8 |page=152 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=p59fDwAAQBAJ&dq=michael+henry+asquith&pg=PA152 |access-date=11 September 2020 |language=en}}</ref> who married in 1938 Diana Eveline Montagu Battye, daughter of Lt.-Col. Perceval Lawrence Montagu Battye. They divorced in 1952; he married secondly Helga Brigitta Ebba Elizabeth Ritter, daughter of Dr Walther Sigmund Casimir Ritter, in 1953.<ref name="Kidd2008">{{Cite book |last1=Kidd |first1=Charles |last2=Shaw |first2=Christine |title=Debrett's Peerage & Baronetage 2008 |date=2008 |publisher=Debrett's |isbn=978-1-870520-80-5 |page=1103 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BDIZAQAAIAAJ |access-date=11 September 2020 |language=en}}</ref>
*Simon Roland Anthony Asquith (1919–1973), who married in 1942 Vivien Lawrence Jones, daughter of [[L. E. Jones|Sir Lawrence Jones, 5th Baronet]] and Lady Evelyn Alice Grey (a daughter of [[Albert Grey, 4th Earl Grey]])<ref name="Fleming1985">{{Cite book |last1=Fleming |first1=Ann |title=The Letters of Ann Fleming |date=1985 |publisher=Collins Harvill |isbn=978-0-00-217059-8 |page=27 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XcsdAAAAMAAJ |access-date=11 September 2020 |language=en}}</ref>
Lady Cynthia's husband died in [[Bath, Somerset|Bath]] on 5 August 1947 aged 66,<ref name="AsquithObit1947"/> and Lady Cynthia herself on 31 March 1960, aged 72.<ref name="EarlWemyss">{{Cite web |title=Wemyss, Earl of (S, 1633) |url=http://www.cracroftspeerage.co.uk/wemyss1633.htm#WEMYSS_1633_9 |website=cracroftspeerage.co.uk |publisher=Heraldic Media Limited |access-date=11 September 2020}}</ref>
==Works==
*[https://archive.org/details/childathome00asqu ''The child at home''] (1923)
*[https://archive.org/details/sailsofgold0000cynt/page/n11/mode/2up ''Sails of Gold''] (1927)
*[https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.527082/page/n5/mode/2up ''The Duchess of York''] (1927), biography
*[https://archive.org/details/treasurecavebook0000cynt/page/n9/mode/2up ''The treasure cave, a book of new prose and verse''] (1928)
*[https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.16348/page/n7/mode/2up ''Haply I May Remember''] (1930)
*[https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.113656/page/n1/mode/2up ''She Walks In Beauty''] (1934)
*''The Spring House'' (1936), novel
*[https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.88246/page/n5/mode/2up ''Her Majesty The Queen. An Entirely New And Complete Biography. Written With The Approval Of Her Majesty''] (1937)
*''The Family Life of Queen Elizabeth'' (1937)
* The King’s Daughters (1938), biography
*''[[Dreaming Lips (1937 film)|Dreaming Lips]]'' (1937), screenplay
*''One Sparkling Wave'' (1943), novel
*''[[This Mortal Coil (book)|This Mortal Coil]]'' (1947), stories: "In a Nutshell", "The White Moth", "The Corner Shop", "{{-'}}God Grante That She Lye Stille{{'-}}", "The Playfellow", "The Nurse Never Told", "The Lovely Voice", "The First Night", "The Follower"
*''Haply I May Remember'' (1950)
*''What Dreams May Come'' (1951), stories (contents the same as ''This Mortal Coil'', but with "The Follower" omitted and "The Nurse Never Told" retitled as "From What Beginnings?")
* ''Remember and be Glad'' (1952)
*''Portrait of Barrie'' (1954)
*''Married to Tolstoy'' (1960), biography
* ''Lady Cynthia Asquith Diaries 1915–1918'' (1968)
*''Thomas Hardy at Max Gate'' (1969)
===As editor===
*''The Flying Carpet'' (1925)
*''Treasure Ship'' (1926)
*''The Ghost Book'' (1927)
*''The Black Cap'' (1928)
*''The Funny Bone <ref>{{Cite web |title=THE FUNNY. BONE. Compiled by Lady Cynthia Asquith. » 6 Oct 1928 » The Spectator Archive |url=http://archive.spectator.co.uk/article/6th-october-1928/45/the-funny-bone-compiled-by-lady-cynthia-asquith |access-date=2024-01-24 |website=The Spectator Archive}}</ref>'' (1928)
*''Shudders'' (1929)
*''The Children's Cargo'' (1930)
*''When Churchyards Yawn'' (1931)
*''My Grimmest Nightmare'' (1935)
*''The Second Ghost Book'' (1952)
*''The Third Ghost Book'' (1955)
==Adaptations==
"{{-'}}God Grante That She Lye Stille{{'-}}", first published in ''When Churchyards Yawn'', was adapted in 1961 by [[Robert Hardy Andrews]] as an episode of the [[Anthology series|anthology]] [[TV series]] ''[[Thriller (U.S. TV series)|Thriller]]''.<ref>[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0723074/combined IMDB]</ref>
==See also==
*[[List of horror fiction authors]]
*[[List of science fiction editors]]
==References==
{{reflist}}
==Further reading==
*Cynthia Asquith, ''Lady Cynthia Asquith Diaries 1915–1918'', Hutchinson, 1968
*Nicola Beauman, ''Cynthia Asquith'', Hamish Hamilton, 1987
*Julian Fane, ''Best Friends: Memories of David and Rachel Cecil, Cynthia Asquith, L. P. Hartley and some others'', Sinclair-Stevenson, 1990
*[https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000560/19570518/054/0006]{{Cite book |last=Tuck |first=Donald H. |authorlink=Donald H. Tuck |title=The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction and Fantasy |location=Chicago |publisher=Advent |year=1974 |isbn=0-911682-20-1 |page=23}}
==External links==
*[http://sf-encyclopedia.uk/fe.php?nm=asquith_cynthia Asquith, (Lady) Cynthia] in ''[[The Encyclopedia of Fantasy]]''
*{{ISFDB name|14887|Cynthia Asquith}}
*{{LCAuth|n50030698|Lady Cynthia Asquith|47|ue}}
{{Authority control}}
{{H. H. Asquith|state=collapsed}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Asquith, Cynthia}}
[[Category:1887 births]]
[[Category:1960 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century English biographers]]
[[Category:20th-century English diarists]]
[[Category:20th-century English novelists]]
[[Category:20th-century English screenwriters]]
[[Category:20th-century English short story writers]]
[[Category:20th-century English women writers]]
[[Category:Writers from Wiltshire]]
[[Category:Deaths from meningitis]]
[[Category:Neurological disease deaths in England]]
[[Category:Infectious disease deaths in England]]
[[Category:English women short story writers]]
[[Category:English horror writers]]
[[Category:British ghost story writers]]
[[Category:Asquith family|Cynthia Asquith, Lady]]
[[Category:Clan Charteris|Cynthia]]
[[Category:Daughters of Scottish earls]]
[[Category:Science fiction editors]]
[[Category:English women novelists]]
[[Category:Women horror writers]]
[[Category:Women anthologists]]
[[Category:English women biographers]]
[[Category:English socialites]]
[[Category:British speculative fiction editors]]
[[Category:English book editors]]
[[Category:Private secretaries]]
[[Category:J. M. Barrie]]