Valerie Violet French

Violet Valerie French Brougham Kindersley (13 February 1909 – 18 July 1997) was a Natal-born English socialite. She and her sister Essex were known as the "French sisters" and included in The Book of Beauty by Cecil Beaton.[1]

Violet Valerie French
Born(1909-02-13)13 February 1909
Pietermaritzburg, Colony of Natal (now KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa)
Died18 July 1997(1997-07-18) (aged 88)
Swindon, Wiltshire, England
Other namesViolet Valerie French Brougham Kindersley
OccupationSocialite
Spouses
​
​
(m. 1931; div. 1934)​
    Hon. Philip Leyland Kindersley
    ​
    ​
    (m. 1936; died 1995)​
    Children4
    Parent(s)Edward Gerald Fleming French
    Leila Elizabeth Fyfe King
    RelativesEssex Leila Hilary French (sister)
    John French, 1st Earl of Ypres (grandfather)

    Biography

    Violet Valerie French was born on 13 February 1909[2][3] at Pietermaritzburg, Natal, South Africa,[4] the daughter of English cricketer Lt Col the Hon Edward Gerald Fleming French, Deputy Governor of Dartmoor Prison and Governor of Newcastle Prison (1883–1970), and Leila Elizabeth Fyfe King (d. 1959), daughter of Robert King, of Natal, South Africa.[2][5] Her grandfather was John French, 1st Earl of Ypres.[6][7]

    In 1933, she was included, together with her sister, in The Book of Beauty by Cecil Beaton, which documented the "Bright Young Things" socialites of the 1920s. Beaton wrote: "Valerie, pink and white like sugar-coated almonds, with slow, brown eyes and pale corn-coloured hair, has the more flawless face. Her nose is perfection."[1]

    She died on 18 July 1997, in Swindon, Wiltshire, England.[5][8]

    Marriages

    In 1926, she was engaged to Henry Bradley Martin, a Manhattan socialite. In 1929, she rushed to the United States to assist him after he was injured in an automobile accident in Colorado. The engagement was subsequently broken.[9]

    On 21 April 1931, she married Victor Brougham, 4th Baron Brougham and Vaux.[2][7] They had one son, Julian Henry Peter Brougham (1932–1952), who was killed while on active service in Malaya in 1952, aged 19.[2] They divorced in 1934.[2][10]

    On 26 November 1936, she married Captain Hon. Philip Leyland Kindersley (1907–1995), fourth son of Robert Kindersley, 1st Baron Kindersley and Gladys Margaret Beadle.[5][7][8] They had three children: Nicoletta Leila Kindersley (b. 1939), Virginia Alexandra de L'Estang Kindersley (b. 1943), and Christian Philip Kindersley (b. 1950).[8]

    References
    1. Beaton, Cecil (1933). The Book Of Beauty. p. 42. Retrieved 19 January 2018.Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
    2. Hammond, Peter W., editor. The Complete Peerage or a History of the House of Lords and All its Members From the Earliest Times, Volume XIV: Addenda & Corrigenda. Stroud, Gloucestershire, U.K.: Sutton Publishing, 1998
    3. Townend, Peter. Burke's Peerage and Baronetage, 105th edition. London, U.K.: Burke's Peerage Ltd, 1970
    4. Burke, Sir Bernard. Burke's Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage, 51st edition. London, U.K.: Burke's Peerage Ltd, 1889
    5. "Ypres, Earl of (UK, 1922 – 1988)". cracroftspeerage. Retrieved 21 January 2018.
    6. Fenwick, Simon (2017). Joan: Beauty, Rebel, Muse: The Remarkable Life of Joan Leigh Fermor. Pan Macmillan. p. 31. ISBN 9781509848706. Retrieved 21 January 2018.
    7. Mosley, Charles, editor. Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage, 107th edition, 3 volumes. Wilmington, Delaware, U.S.A.: Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd, 2003
    8. Time, Volume 17. Time Incorporated. 1931. p. 34. Retrieved 22 January 2018.
    9. "Violet Valerie Brougham (née French), Lady Brougham and Vaux (later Mrs Kindersley)". National Portrait Gallery.
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