Dorina Lockhart Neave, Lady Neave (1880–1955) was the writer of three books about

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

Life

In Turkey

Born Dorina Lockhart Clifton, she was taken by her father, George H. Clifton, to the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

in her early years, as he worked for the Supreme Consular Court there. They resided in the "Edip Efendi Yali", one of the "water mansions" of

Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...

built on the shores of the

Bosphorus The Bosporus or Bosphorus Strait ( ; , colloquially ) is a natural strait and an internationally significant waterway located in Istanbul, Turkey. The Bosporus connects the Black Sea to the Sea of Marmara and forms one of the continental bo ...

in the Tulip period. She later wrote three books about her time in what became Turkey. ''Twenty-six Years on the Bosphorus'' (1933) and ''Romance of the Bosphorus'' (1949) – (a "literary classic") are reminiscences of her life in Constantinople during the reign of Sultan

Abdul Hamid II Abdulhamid II or Abdul Hamid II (; ; 21 September 184210 February 1918) was the 34th sultan of the Ottoman Empire, from 1876 to 1909, and the last sultan to exert effective control over the fracturing state. He oversaw a Decline and modernizati ...

(reigned 1876–1909), while ''Remembering Kut'' is an account of the devastating

Siege of Kut The siege of Kut Al Amara (7 December 1915 – 29 April 1916), also known as the first battle of Kut, was the besieging of an 8,000-strong British Army garrison in the town of Kut, south of Baghdad, by the Ottoman Army (1861–1922), Ottoman Ar ...

(1915–1916) during the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

on the Middle Eastern Front. A Turkish translation of ''Twenty-six Years on the Bosphorus'' was published in 1978, and another in 2008 in a series called "The Turks through the Eyes of the West". She spent her last summer in the Ottoman Empire in 1907, leaving on 26 August (her birthday) that year.

In Britain

Soon after returning to England, Dorina Clifton met her future husband, Sir Thomas Neave, 5th Baronet. After their marriage in November 1908, she settled with her husband at Dagnam Park, his house in

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

, with a second home in

Anglesey Anglesey ( ; ) is an island off the north-west coast of Wales. It forms the bulk of the Principal areas of Wales, county known as the Isle of Anglesey, which also includes Holy Island, Anglesey, Holy Island () and some islets and Skerry, sker ...

, Llys Dulas Manor, slightly north of

Dulas Bay Dulas Bay ( Welsh: ''Bae Dulas'') is a small bay on the north east coast of Anglesey (''Ynys Môn''), north Wales, forming the boundary between Llaneilian and Moelfre communities. The bay is bordered by three beaches. Overview The north-weste ...

.Dorina Neave
/ref> She is well known for supposedly building the stone shelter on the island,

Ynys Dulas is a small island located off the north-east coast of Anglesey (), Wales. It marks the most eastern part of the parish of Llaneilian. The island is situated about a mile and a half offshore, within Dulas Bay. The size of the island depends on t ...

, but this is mistaken, as she was born in 1880 and the tower dates from 1821. The tower is currently a

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

. It was built by the then owner of the Llys Dulas Estate, Colonel James Hughes. Neave's

English country house image:Blenheim - Blenheim Palace - 20210417125239.jpg, 300px, Blenheim Palace - Oxfordshire An English country house is a large house or mansion in the English countryside. Such houses were often owned by individuals who also owned a Townhou ...

was near

Noak Hill Noak Hill is a village in outer East London, in the London Borough of Havering. It is located 17.1 miles northeast of Charing Cross. History Noak Hill was a ward in the ancient parish of Hornchurch. By the 16th century, it had come under the con ...

, and she played a full role in the life of the village. She is remembered in

Romford Romford is a large List of places in London, town in east London, east London, England, located northeast of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Havering, the town is one of the major Metropolitan centres of London, metropolitan centr ...

by the foundation stone of an extension to the Victoria Cottage Hospital in Pettits Lane, which she laid in the 1930s. Sir Thomas Neave died in 1940. That winter, Dagnam Park was requisitioned for the use of the

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

. Some of Lady Neave's Turkish friends came to help her pack up her belongings. Her

dower house A dower house is usually a moderately large house available for use by the widow of the previous owner of an English, Scottish, Welsh or Irish estate (house), estate. The widow, often known as the "dowager", usually moves into the dower house fr ...

(Dagnam Priory) and Llys Dulas had also been requisitioned, leaving her homeless. Fortunately, she was able to find a flat in Albany,

Piccadilly Piccadilly () is a road in the City of Westminster, London, England, to the south of Mayfair, between Hyde Park Corner in the west and Piccadilly Circus in the east. It is part of the A4 road (England), A4 road that connects central London to ...

. When

Anthony Eden Robert Anthony Eden, 1st Earl of Avon (12 June 1897 – 14 January 1977) was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1955 until his resignation in 1957. Achi ...

opened the Turkish House (Londra Türk Halkevi) in Fitzhardinge Street to foster Anglo-Turkish relations, he asked Lady Neave to help with it. Sir

Wyndham Deedes Brigadier-General Sir Wyndham Henry Deedes, (10 March 1883 – 2 September 1956) was a British Army officer and civil administrator. He was the Chief Secretary to the British High Commissioner of the British Mandate of Palestine. Early li ...

, the Chairman of the Halkevi, asked her to undertake the social side of the Turkish House. The fortnightly Turkish Ladies' "At Homes" which she organized became a popular feature, attended by society ladies, representatives of all the

British Armed Services The British Armed Forces are the unified military forces responsible for the defence of the United Kingdom, its Overseas Territories and the Crown Dependencies. They also promote the UK's wider interests, support international peacekeeping e ...

and, when America came into the war, many of the officers and members of the American Embassy. Lady Neave was the last of the

landed gentry The landed gentry, or the gentry (sometimes collectively known as the squirearchy), is a largely historical Irish and British social class of landowners who could live entirely from rental income, or at least had a country estate. It is t ...

to live in Dagnam Park, before the policies of Britain's

post-war Labour government Clement Attlee was invited by King George VI to form the first Attlee ministry in the United Kingdom on 26 July 1945, succeeding Winston Churchill as prime minister of the United Kingdom. The Labour Party had won a landslide victory at the 19 ...

constrained her to reside in her second home in Anglesey, owing to a

compulsory purchase order A compulsory purchase order (CPO; , ) is a legal function in the United Kingdom and Ireland that allows certain bodies to obtain land or property without the consent of the owner. It may be enforced if a proposed development is considered one for ...

made by the

London County Council The London County Council (LCC) was the principal local government body for the County of London throughout its existence from 1889 to 1965, and the first London-wide general municipal authority to be directly elected. It covered the area today ...

to take over Dagnam Park. This, however, would lead to the demise of the property and its eventual demolition in 1950. Many features of the estate are only remembered via Lady Neave's memoirs, including a bathing pool which locals originally believed to be a fish pond. The Neaves sold Llys Dulas in the early 1950s, and Lady Neave is buried in the cemetery at St Thomas's Church, Noak Hill. Dorina Neave – a breed of rose – is named after her.'Dorina Neave' Rose Description
/ref>

Publications

*''Twenty-six Years on the Bosphorus''. London: Grayson & Grayson, 1933. *''Remembering Kut: "Lest We Forget"''. London: Arthur Barker, 1937. *''Romance of the Bosphorus: Reminiscences of Life in Turkey''. London: Hutchinson, 1949.

References

External links

Friends of Dagnam Park
{{DEFAULTSORT:Neave, Dorina Lockhart 1880 births 1955 deaths 19th-century English people 19th-century English women writers 20th-century English memoirists 20th-century English women writers English orientalists British women memoirists Wives of baronets English expatriates in the Ottoman Empire