The Durrell family lived in

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

Corfu Corfu ( , ) or Kerkyra (, ) is a Greece, Greek island in the Ionian Sea, of the Ionian Islands; including its Greek islands, small satellite islands, it forms the margin of Greece's northwestern frontier. The island is part of the Corfu (regio ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

and other places during the twentieth century. Their lives and travels were documented and made famous through their autobiographical writings, particularly those by

Lawrence Lawrence may refer to: Education Colleges and universities * Lawrence Technological University, a university in Southfield, Michigan, United States * Lawrence University, a liberal arts university in Appleton, Wisconsin, United States Preparator ...

and

Gerald Gerald is a masculine given name derived from the Germanic languages prefix ''ger-'' ("spear") and suffix ''-wald'' ("rule"). Gerald is a Norman French variant of the Germanic name. An Old English equivalent name was Garweald, the likely original ...

. Other members of the family became notable in their own right. The TV series ''

My Family and Other Animals ''My Family and Other Animals'' (1956) is an autobiography, autobiographical book by British naturalist Gerald Durrell. It tells in an exaggerated and sometimes fictionalised way of the years that he lived as a child with his siblings and wid ...

'' (1987), the television film ''

'' (2005), the largely fictionalized TV series ''

The Durrells ''The Durrells'' (known in North America as ''The Durrells in Corfu'') is a British comedy-drama television series loosely based on Gerald Durrell's three autobiographical books about his family's four years (1935–1939) on the Greek island of ...

'' (2016–2019), and the documentary ''What the Durrells Did Next'' were based on these writings. Lawrence Samuel Durrell, Louisa Durrell and their children were all born in India during the British Raj. The Durrell children were fourth-generation settlers in India; their paternal grandmother Dora Johnstone and maternal grandfather George Dixie having also been born on the sub-continent. Following Lawrence Samuel Durrell's death in 1928, Louisa Durrell and her three surviving younger children moved to the United Kingdom, where Lawrence had already been sent to be educated. In 1935, the Durrells moved to the Greek island of

. They remained there until the summer of 1939, when the impending outbreak of World War II forced most of them to return to England. Gerald's autobiographical Corfu trilogy and several short stories give a somewhat fictionalised account of the family's time in Corfu, while Lawrence's ''Prospero's Cell, A Guide to the Landscape and Manners of the Island of Corcyra'' (1945) is assembled from his diaries and notebooks, mainly for the years 1937 and 1938.

Family members

First generation

Lawrence Samuel Durrell Lawrence Samuel Durrell (23 September 1884 – 16 April 1928) was a British engineer. He was the father of novelist Lawrence Durrell and naturalist and writer Gerald Durrell. Early life Durrell was born in Dum Dum, north of Calcutta (presen ...

(born 23 September 1884,

Dum Dum Dum Dum is a city and a municipality in the Kolkata Metropolitan Area of North 24 Parganas district in the Indian States and territories of India, state of West Bengal. It is a part of the area covered by Kolkata Metropolitan Development Author ...

Bengal Bengal ( ) is a Historical geography, historical geographical, ethnolinguistic and cultural term referring to a region in the Eastern South Asia, eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal. The region of Benga ...

, today

West Bengal West Bengal (; Bengali language, Bengali: , , abbr. WB) is a States and union territories of India, state in the East India, eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabi ...

; d. 16 April 1928, Dalhousie, Chamba, today

Himachal Pradesh Himachal Pradesh (; Sanskrit: ''himācāl prādes;'' "Snow-laden Mountain Province") is a States and union territories of India, state in the northern part of India. Situated in the Western Himalayas, it is one of the thirteen Indian Himalayan ...

). The son of Samuel Amos Durrell (1851–1914), an official in the British Army's Ordnance Department in

, and his second wife, Dora Maria Johnstone (1862–1943). Lawrence Samuel was a civil engineer working mainly on railway and construction projects in north-east India, eventually founding his own company of Durrell & Co. in

Jamshedpur Jamshedpur (; ), also known as Tatanagar, is a major industrial city in eastern India. It is the List of cities in Jharkhand by population, largest city in the state of Jharkhand. With a population of 629,658 in the city limits and 1.3 million ...

. * Louisa Florence Dixie (born 16 January 1886,

Roorkee Roorkee (Rūṛkī; ) is a city and Municipal Corporations in India, municipal corporation in the Haridwar district of the state of Uttarakhand, India. It is from Haridwar, the district headquarters. It is spread over a flat terrain under the ...

North-Western Provinces The North-Western Provinces was an Presidencies and provinces of British India, administrative region in British Raj, British India. The North-Western Provinces were established in 1836, through merging the administrative divisions of the Cede ...

, today

Uttarakhand Uttarakhand (, ), also known as Uttaranchal ( ; List of renamed places in India, the official name until 2007), is a States and union territories of India, state in North India, northern India. The state is bordered by Himachal Pradesh to the n ...

;Botting, p. 4. d. 24 January 1964,

Bournemouth Bournemouth ( ) is a coastal resort town in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole unitary authority area, in the ceremonial county of Dorset, England. At the 2021 census, the built-up area had a population of 196,455, making it the largest ...

Dorset Dorset ( ; Archaism, archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Somerset to the north-west, Wiltshire to the north and the north-east, Hampshire to the east, t ...

). Her father George Dixie was head clerk and accountant at the Ganges Canal Foundry in Roorkee. She met Lawrence Samuel Durrell while he was studying at the town's Thomason College of Civil Engineering and they married at St John the Baptist Church in Roorkee on 23 November 1910.

Second generation

* Lawrence George Durrell (born 27 February 1912,

Jalandhar Jalandhar () is a city in the state of Punjab, India, Punjab in India. With a considerable population, it ranks as the List of cities in Punjab and Chandigarh by population, third most-populous city in the state and is the largest city in the ...

Punjab Punjab (; ; also romanised as Panjāb or Panj-Āb) is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia. It is located in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising areas of modern-day eastern Pakistan and no ...

; d. 7 November 1990,

Sommières Sommières (; ) is a commune in the Gard department in southern France, located at the border with the Hérault department. It lies from Nîmes, from Montpellier. Geography Sommières is to the south of the garrigues and on the edge of t ...

Gard Gard () is a department in Southern France, located in the region of Occitanie. It had a population of 748,437 as of 2019;"Lawrence Durrell", ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'', 9 November 1990, p. 16.). A writer and diplomat, Lawrence is best known for ''

The Alexandria Quartet ''The Alexandria Quartet'' is a tetralogy of novels by British writer Lawrence Durrell, published between 1957 and 1960. A critical and commercial success, the first three books present three perspectives on a single set of events and characters ...

'', in addition to his poetry and travel writings. * Margery Ruth Durrell (born 12 November 1915,

Mymensingh Mymensingh () is a metropolis, metropolitan city and capital of Mymensingh Division, Bangladesh. Located on the bank of the Old Brahmaputra River, Brahmaputra River, about north of the national capital Dhaka, it is a major financial center ...

, today

Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...

; d. 10 April 1916,

). Succumbed to

diphtheria Diphtheria is an infection caused by the bacteria, bacterium ''Corynebacterium diphtheriae''. Most infections are asymptomatic or have a mild Course (medicine), clinical course, but in some outbreaks, the mortality rate approaches 10%. Signs a ...

. * Leslie Stuart Durrell (born 10 March 1917,

, today

; d. 13 August 1982,

Kensington Kensington is an area of London in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, around west of Central London. The district's commercial heart is Kensington High Street, running on an east–west axis. The north-east is taken up by Kensingt ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

). Remembered for his fascination with guns and shooting — as depicted in Gerald Durrell's Corfu trilogy — Leslie was also a talented painter, but lacked the application to develop his gift. Rejected by the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

due to his defective hearing, he spent the war living in Bournemouth with his mother and working in an aircraft factory, a disappointment he always remembered with bitterness. He also continued his unacknowledged relationship — which had begun on Corfu — with the family's Greek maid, Maria Condos, ten years his senior.Haag, p. 183.Botting, p. 103. In September 1945 the liaison produced a son, Anthony Leslie Condos. Leslie abandoned Maria, who raised Anthony on her own, with some initial financial assistance from Louisa and with enduring moral support from Margo, but otherwise in considerable hardship. By 1947 Leslie had moved in with the genial Bournemouth divorcee Doris Irene Hall née Wheeler (1905–1990), who ran the local

off-licence A liquor store is a retail business that predominantly sells prepackaged alcoholic beverages, including liquors (typically in bottles), wine or beer, usually intended to be consumed off the store's premises. Depending on region and local idiom ...

, and for whom he had sometimes done beer deliveries. They married in 1952 and by year's end had emigrated to Kenya, where Leslie was to manage a farm. They fled the country in June 1968 "with only the clothes they stood up in and £75 between them", after Leslie, lately working as bursar at a school near

Mombasa Mombasa ( ; ) is a coastal city in southeastern Kenya along the Indian Ocean. It was the first capital of British East Africa, before Nairobi was elevated to capital status in 1907. It now serves as the capital of Mombasa County. The town is ...

, was accused of misappropriating "a substantial sum".Botting, p. 342–343. (Margo alludes to earlier possible episodes of dishonesty, while Gordon Bowker describes Leslie as "prone to confidence trickery"Bowker, p. 394. and "dicing with the law".) After a period living with, then near, Margo,Bowker, p. 336. and receiving no comfort from his brothers, Leslie moved with Doris to London, where by 1970 they were working as caretakers at a block of flats in

Marble Arch The Marble Arch is a 19th-century white marble-faced triumphal arch in London, England. The structure was designed by John Nash in 1827 as the state entrance to the cour d'honneur of Buckingham Palace; it stood near the site of what is today th ...

— a job that came with a basement flat. During this time he wrote a children's book, ''Where the Rivers Meet'', which remains unpublished, and may have been planning an autobiography. At the height of summer in 1982 Leslie died of a heart attack at a pub near

Notting Hill Gate Notting Hill Gate is one of the main thoroughfares in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in Inner London. Historically the street was a location for Tollbooth, toll gates, from which it derives its modern name. Location At Ossingto ...

,Botting, p. 512. where he told regulars he was a civil engineer. Douglas Botting suggests that Doris and her son Michael Hall (b. 1933) were the only people to mourn his passing. Maria Condos, whose attachment to Leslie never diminished, was incapacitated by

Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease and the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in remembering recent events. As the disease advances, symptoms can include problems wit ...

, and none of his siblings attended the funeral. * Margaret Isabel Mabel (Margo) Durrell (born 4 May 1919,

Kurseong Kurseong (, ) is a town and a municipality in Darjeeling district in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is the headquarters of the Kurseong subdivision. Located at an altitude of , Kurseong is from Darjeeling and has a pleasant climate throu ...

, today

; d. 16 January 2007,

) She had two brief marriages. The first was in 1940 to

Imperial Airways Imperial Airways was an early British commercial long-range airline, operating from 1924 to 1939 and principally serving the British Empire routes to South Africa, India, Australia and the Far East, including Malaya and Hong Kong. Passengers ...

flight engineer John N. Breeze, known as Jack, whom she had met on

. Jack was immediately posted to South Africa, and the couple spent the war years gradually advancing north to Mozambique, then Ethiopia, then Egypt, before returning to England at war's end. Along the way they had two sons, Gerry and Nicholas. In 1947, after their divorce, Margo used her inheritance from her father to establish a boarding house across the street from her mother's house, with a view to supporting herself and her sons. Her guests included musicians, and her second marriage in 1951 was to Malcolm Lawrence Duncan (1930–1981), known as Mac, who at the time combined his

National Service National service is a system of compulsory or voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term ''national service'' comes from the United Kingdom's National Service (Armed Forces) Act ...

as a corporal in the Life Guards stationed at

Bovington Bovington Camp () is a British Army military base in Dorset, South West England. Together with Lulworth Camp it forms part of Bovington Garrison. The garrison is home to The Armour Centre and contains two barracks complexes and two forest and ...

with evenings as a member of Ron Weldon's band in Bournemouth, playing jazz trombone.Profile: Mac Duncan
Sandy Brown Jazz. Retrieved 8 August 2024. Duncan would go on to have some success as a jazz musician, playing with

Ken Colyer Kenneth Colyer (18 April 1928 – 8 March 1988) was an English jazz trumpeter and cornetist, devoted to New Orleans jazz. His band was also known for skiffle interludes. Biography He was born in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, England, but grew up ...

and visiting Americans such as

Red Allen Henry James "Red" Allen Jr. (January 7, 1908 – April 17, 1967) was an American jazz trumpeter and vocalist whose playing has been described by Joachim-Ernst Berendt and others as the first to fully incorporate the innovations of Louis Armst ...

and George Lewis, as well as leading his own bands. The couple's son Malcolm died soon after his birth in 1952, and by 1954 Margo and Mac had separated. Margo describes her life as a single mother, member of the Durrell clan, and boarding-housekeeper in ''Whatever Happened to Margo?'', which was published in 1995, decades after she wrote it. ''

'' described it as a "charming book" with "the full quota of the Durrell wit". * Gerald Malcolm Durrell (born 7 January 1925,

Bihar and Orissa Bihar and Orissa was a province of British India, which included the present-day Indian states of Bihar, Jharkhand, and parts of Odisha. The territories were conquered by the British in the 18th and 19th centuries, and were governed by the then ...

, today

Jharkhand Jharkhand (; ) is a States and union territories of India, state in East India, eastern India. The state shares its border with the states of West Bengal to the east, Chhattisgarh to the west, Uttar Pradesh to the northwest, Bihar to the north ...

; d. 30 January 1995,

St Helier St Helier (; Jèrriais: ; ) is the Capital city, capital of Jersey, the largest of the Channel Islands in the English Channel. It is the most populous of the twelve parishes of Jersey, with a population of 35,822, over one-third of the island' ...

Jersey Jersey ( ; ), officially the Bailiwick of Jersey, is an autonomous and self-governing island territory of the British Islands. Although as a British Crown Dependency it is not a sovereign state, it has its own distinguishing civil and gov ...

). A popular naturalist, best-selling writer, television host and conservationist, Gerald founded the

Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust is a conservation organization with a mission to save species from extinction. Gerald Durrell founded the Jersey Wildlife Preservation Trust as a charitable institution in 1963 with the dodo as its symbol. Th ...

and is credited with redefining the modern

zoo A zoo (short for zoological garden; also called an animal park or menagerie) is a facility where animals are kept within enclosures for public exhibition and often bred for conservation purposes. The term ''zoological garden'' refers to zoology, ...

.Tim Hitchley
"Gerald Durrell, 70, Who Prized Animals, Dies"
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', 1 February 1995. Retrieved 14 August 2024
Archived
from the original 31 March 2016. His first wife, Jacqueline Sonia Wolfenden (b. 1929), is an author, naturalist and television host; the couple divorced in 1979. His second wife, Lee McGeorge (b. 1949), is an author, naturalist and honorary director of the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust.

References

{{Gerald Durrell English families Literary families