Elsie Kipling
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Elsie Bambridge (; 2 February 1896 – 24 May 1976) was the second daughter of British writer
Rudyard Kipling Joseph Rudyard Kipling ( ; 30 December 1865 – 18 January 1936)''The Times'', (London) 18 January 1936, p. 12. was an English journalist, novelist, poet, and short-story writer. He was born in British Raj, British India, which inspired much ...
. She was the only one of the Kiplings' three children to survive beyond early adulthood. On 22 October 1924, Elsie Kipling married George Bambridge and in 1938 they bought
Wimpole Hall Wimpole Estate is a large estate containing Wimpole Hall, a country house located within the civil parish of Wimpole, Cambridgeshire, England, about southwest of Cambridge. The house, begun in 1640, and its of parkland and farmland are owned ...
, Cambridgeshire's largest
stately home 300px, Oxfordshire.html" ;"title="Blenheim Palace - Oxfordshire">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 To ...
. When her father died in 1936, she became the executor of his estate, which included all his papers and the copyright on all his works. Her obituary in ''
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 ...
'' stated she had two missions in life, "to maintain the traditions of her husband Captain George Bambridge and her father Rudyard Kipling". She was in the news in the U.K. and America in 1958 when she protected her father’s integrity as his executor by prohibiting a recording by
Frank Sinatra Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Honorific nicknames in popular music, Nicknamed the "Chairman of the Board" and "Ol' Blue Eyes", he is regarded as one of the Time 100: The Most I ...
of the song “ On the Road to Mandalay”, based on her father’s poem “
Mandalay Mandalay is the second-largest city in Myanmar, after Yangon. It is located on the east bank of the Irrawaddy River, 631 km (392 mi) north of Yangon. In 2014, the city had a population of 1,225,553. Mandalay was founded in 1857 by Ki ...
”, from being issued in the United Kingdom. She disapproved of the many liberties Sinatra took with the text. In the U. K. when Kipling died in 1936 all his works remained copyrighted for 70 years from the year of his death. On her death in 1976, having no children, she bequeathed her property and its contents to the
National Trust The National Trust () is a heritage and nature conservation charity and membership organisation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The Trust was founded in 1895 by Octavia Hill, Sir Robert Hunter and Hardwicke Rawnsley to "promote the ...
. The Trust later donated her father's manuscripts to the
University of Sussex The University of Sussex is a public university, public research university, research university located in Falmer, East Sussex, England. It lies mostly within the city boundaries of Brighton and Hove. Its large campus site is surrounded by the ...
in Brighton, to ensure better public access to them.Howard, Philip ''University library to have Kipling documents'' The Times, 16/9/77, p.1 She is buried in the graveyard of St Andrew's Church on the Wimpole estate.


See also

* Frederick Smith, 2nd Earl of Birkenhead, author of a biography about Bambridge's father, which she did not allow to be published


References


External links


Rudyard Kipling Papers and other Kipling related collections
at The Keep,
University of Sussex The University of Sussex is a public university, public research university, research university located in Falmer, East Sussex, England. It lies mostly within the city boundaries of Brighton and Hove. Its large campus site is surrounded by the ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bambridge, Elsie 1896 births 1976 deaths People from Dummerston, Vermont Family of Rudyard Kipling People from Wimpole 20th-century English women 20th-century American women 20th-century American people 20th-century English people