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. Known for an economical, understated style that influenced later 20th-century writers, he has been romanticized fo ...

's 1926 novel ''

The Sun Also Rises ''The Sun Also Rises'' is the first novel by the American writer Ernest Hemingway, following his experimental novel-in-fragments '' In Our Time (short story collection)'' (1925). It portrays American and British expatriates who travel from Par ...

''.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 Pearl Mary Teresa Richards (November 3, 1867 – August 13, 1906) was an Anglo-American novelist and dramatist who wrote under the pen-name of John Oliver Hobbes. Though her work fell out of print in the twentieth century, her first book ''Som ...

, was announced, but her first marriage was to Edward Luttrell Grimston Byrom, son of Edward Byrom DL of Culver, Devon and

Kersal Cell Kersal Priory, also known as St Leornards, is a priory in Kersal, a district of Salford in Greater Manchester, England. It is classed as an Alien priory or hermitage, and was populated by Cluniac monks. The priory was dependent on Lenton in No ...

, Lancashire, who served as

High Sheriff of Devon The High Sheriff of Devon is the Kings'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 f ...

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 Cau ...

. 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), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...

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, active in theatre, film and television since the 1960s. Keach first distinguished himself in Off-Broadway productions and remains a prominent figure in American theatre across his ...

, Duff Twysden was played by

Fiona Fullerton Fiona Elizabeth Fullerton (born 10 October 1956) is a British actress and singer, known for her role as Alice in the 1972 film ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' and as Bond girl KGB spy Pola Ivanova in the 1985's James Bond film ''A View to a ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Twysden, Duff 1890s births 1938 deaths British socialites Ernest Hemingway Wives of baronets