Mary Duff Stirling Smurthwaite, Lady Twysden (22 May 1891 – 27 June 1938) was a British socialite best known for being the model for Brett Ashley in

Ernest Hemingway Ernest Miller Hemingway (July 21, 1899 – July 2, 1961) was an American novelist, short-story writer, and journalist. His economical and understated style—which he termed the iceberg theory—had a strong influence on 20th-century f ...

's 1926 novel ''

The Sun Also Rises ''The Sun Also Rises'' is a 1926 novel by American writer Ernest Hemingway, his first, that portrays American and British expatriates who travel from Paris to the Festival of San Fermín in Pamplona to watch the running of the bulls and the b ...

''.M. C. Rintoul, ''Dictionary of Real People and Places in Fiction'', Routledge, p909 (online at google books) She was the eldest child of Baynes Wright Smurthwaite by his wife Charlotte Lilias Stirling. On 4 January 1914 her engagement to John Churchill Craigie, son of Pearl Richards Craigie, was announced, but her first marriage was to Edward Luttrell Grimston Byrom, son of Edward Byrom DL of Culver, Devon and Kersal Cell, Lancashire, who served as

High Sheriff of Devon The High Sheriff of Devon is the Queen's representative for the County of Devon, a territory known as his/her bailiwick. Selected from three nominated people, they hold the office for one year. They have judicial, ceremonial and administrative ...

in 1888, by his wife Florence Maria, daughter and co-heiress of Marmaduke Jerard Grimston, of Grimston Garth and Kilnwick. Luttrell Byrom petitioned for divorce in 1915 citing one G. Henderson as a

co-respondent In English law, a co-respondent is, in general, a respondent to a petition, or other legal proceeding, along with another or others, or a person called upon to answer in some other way. 7.4.19 Divorce More particularly, since the Matrimonial Ca ...

. Her second marriage was at Edinburgh on 26 January 1917, to Sir Roger Thomas Twysden, a naval officer. He had succeeded as tenth Baronet on 1 May 1911, so Duff became known as Lady Twysden. Their son Anthony, later eleventh Baronet, was born on 11 March 1918. Sir Roger and Lady Twysden were divorced in 1926. Duff Twysden eventually married artist Clinton King. She died in Santa Fe, New Mexico of

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, i ...

when she was forty-seven. Twysden was famous for adopting a boyish, androgynous fashion style, with a bobbed haircut and workingmen's clothes, before this was fashionable. She was also sexually adventurous without apology at a time when this was scandalous. In the 1988 miniseries ''Hemingway'', starring

Stacy Keach Walter Stacy Keach Jr. (born June 2, 1941) is an American actor and narrator. He has played mainly dramatic roles throughout his career, often in law enforcement or as a private detective. His most prominent role was as Mickey Spillane's fiction ...

, Duff Twysden was played by Fiona Fullerton.

References

Clinton Blair King marriage st giles,London 1928 to Smurthwaite/Twysden {{DEFAULTSORT:Twysden, Duff 1890s births 1938 deaths British socialites Ernest Hemingway Wives of baronets