Bagnold, Enid

Enid Bagnold (1889-1981), born in Rochester, England, was a twentieth-century British author best known for her novel National Velvet (1935) and her play The Chalk Garden (1955).

Enid Bagnold, 1889-1981, was an English playwright, novelist and poet.

Epithet: afterwards Jones, wife of Sir Roderick Jones KBE

English author Enid Bagnold was born in Rochester and educated in Europe; she credits an extended visit to Jamaica in her youth with changing her outlook and making her a writer. In spite of her marriage to Sir Roderick Jones and four children, she continued to write for three hours every morning throughout her life, producing novels, poetry, and plays. She is best remembered for the classic children's story National Velvet.

English playwright.

English author.

Enid Algerine Bagnold was born in October 1889 in Rochester, Kent, England. Both a novelist and a playwright, Bagnold is best remembered for her 1935 book, National Velvet, which was made into the 1944 film of the same title starring Elizabeth Taylor. Her writing career began much earlier, however, when she wrote candidly about serving as a nurse and then as a driver during World War I.

In 1920, Bagnold married Sir Roderick Jones, earning the title Lady Jones yet maintaining her maiden name for her writing career. They resided in the Sir Edward Burne Jones House in Rottingdean, Sussex, England. The couple had four children.

Throughout her long career, Bagnold befriended many in the literary world, some of whom are included in her 1980 publication, Letters to Frank Harris & Other Friends. Another such friend, nephew of writer William Somerset Maugham, Robin Maugham was especially important to her in the final years of her life. Bagnold died in March 1981 at the age of 91.

Enid Bagnold, a twentieth-century British author, is best known for her novel National Velvet (1935) and her play "The Chalk Garden" (1955). Born in Rochester, England she spent much of her early life abroad. As a child Bagnold lived in Jamaica where her father was stationed with the Royal Engineers. She was educated in Germany and France.

During World War I, Bagnold served in an English hospital and drove an ambulance for the French army. Drawing on these experiences, she wrote her first novels, Diary without Dates (1918) and The Happy Foreigner (1920). Bagnold married Sir Roderick Jones in 1920, settled in London, traveled in high society and literary circles, and for the next three decades continued writing fiction. In 1924, she published Serena Blandish and in 1938 The Squire (published under the title The Door of Life in the United States). After losing her first chance to be on stage, Bagnold turned to playwriting. A friend suggested she use her experience as the plot of a play: "Lottie Dundass" (1941) was the result. She became devoted to the theater and wrote "Poor Judas" (1951), "Gertie" (1952), "The Last Joke" (1960), and "The Chinese Prime Minister" (1964). Her plays were produced in both England and America.

After her husband died in 1962, Bagnold remained active, built new friendships, and continued to write. In 1967 she began her autobiography, which was published in 1969. Although many of her plays were unsuccessful, her enthusiasm for the theater never waned. She flew to Philadelphia in 1977 to attend her play "A Matter of Gravity" starring Katherine Hepburn. Bagnold died in 1981.