Lady Cynthia Mary Evelyn Asquith (née Charteris; 27 September 1887 – 31 March 1960) was an English writer and socialite, known for her ghost stories and diaries. Richard Dalby, ''The Virago Book of Ghost Stories''.Virago, London, , 1987 (p. 236). She also wrote novels, edited a number of

anthologies In book publishing, an anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler; it may be a collection of plays, poems, short stories, songs, or related fiction/non-fiction excerpts by different authors. There are also thematic and ge ...

, wrote for children and covered the

British Royal family The British royal family comprises Charles III and other members of his family. There is no strict legal or formal definition of who is or is not a member, although the Royal Household has issued different lists outlining who is considere ...

Early life

Lady Cynthia was born at Clouds House, East Knoyle,

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated to Wilts) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It borders Gloucestershire to the north, Oxfordshire to the north-east, Berkshire to the east, Hampshire to the south-east, Dorset to the south, and Somerset to ...

on 27 September 1887, one of seven children of Hugo Richard Charteris, 11th Earl of Wemyss (1857–1937), and Mary Constance Wyndham, of The Souls fame. Among her siblings were Hugo Francis Charteris, Lord Elcho (who married Lady Violet Manners, the daughter of

Henry Manners, 8th Duke of Rutland Henry John Brinsley Manners, 8th Duke of Rutland, (16 April 1852 – 8 May 1925), styled Marquess of Granby between 1888 and 1906, was a British peer and Conservative Party (UK), Conservative politician. Early life and education Rutland was b ...

, and was

killed in action Killed in action (KIA) is a casualty classification generally used by militaries to describe the deaths of their personnel at the hands of enemy or hostile forces at the moment of action. The United States Department of Defense, for example, ...

in the

Great 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 ...

), Guy Lawrence Charteris, Colin Charteris (who died young), Lady Mary Charteris (wife of Capt. Algernon Walter Strickland and, after his death, John George Lyon), Yvo Alan Charteris (also killed in action during the Great War), and Lady Irene Charteris (wife of

Ivor Windsor-Clive, 2nd Earl of Plymouth Ivor Miles Windsor-Clive, 2nd Earl of Plymouth, (4 February 1889 – 1 October 1943), was an English nobleman and Conservative Party politician. Early life Ivor Windsor-Clive was born on 4 February 1889. He was the second, and only surviving, ...

). Her paternal grandparents were Francis Charteris, 10th Earl of Wemyss and his first wife Lady Anne Frederica Anson (second daughter of

Thomas Anson, 1st Earl of Lichfield Thomas William Anson, 1st Earl of Lichfield Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, PC (20 October 1795 – 18 March 1854), known as Viscount Anson from 1818–31, was a British Whig (British political faction), Whig politician from the An ...

). Her maternal grandparents were Capt. Hon. Percy Scawen Wyndham MP for Cumberland West (second son of George Wyndham, 1st Baron Leconfield), and the former Madeleine Eden Campbell (sixth daughter of Maj.-Gen. Sir Guy Campbell, 1st Baronet).

Career

In 1913, Asquith met

D. H. Lawrence David Herbert Lawrence (11 September 1885 – 2 March 1930) was an English novelist, short story writer, poet, playwright, literary critic, travel writer, essayist, and painter. His modernist works reflect on modernity, social alienation ...

Margate Margate is a seaside resort, seaside town in the Thanet District of Kent, England. It is located on the north coast of Kent and covers an area of long, north-east of Canterbury and includes Cliftonville, Garlinge, Palm Bay, UK, Palm Bay and W ...

and became a friend and correspondent. She took a position as secretary to the

Peter Pan Peter Pan is a fictional character created by Scottish novelist and playwright J. M. Barrie. A free-spirited and mischievous young boy who can fly and never grows up, Peter Pan spends his never-ending childhood having adventures on the mythical ...

creator

J. M. Barrie Sir James Matthew Barrie, 1st Baronet, (; 9 May 1860 19 June 1937) was a Scottish novelist and playwright, best remembered as the creator of Peter Pan. He was born and educated in Scotland and then moved to London, where he wrote several succe ...

, with whom she became close friends, continuing to work for him until his death in 1937. Barrie left most of his estate to her, except for the Peter Pan works.Chaney, Lisa. ''Hide-and-Seek with Angels - A Life of J. M. Barrie'', Hutchinson, 2005. Author L. P. Hartley became a lifelong friend after they met in the early 1920s. Asquith became known for editing ''The Ghost Book'', an anthology of supernatural fiction, including work by D. H. Lawrence,

Algernon Blackwood Algernon Henry Blackwood, CBE (14 March 1869 – 10 December 1951) was an English broadcasting narrator, journalist, novelist and short story writer, and among the most prolific ghost story writers in the history of the genre. The literary cr ...

Arthur Machen Arthur Machen ( or ; 3 March 1863 – 15 December 1947) was the pen-name of Arthur Llewellyn Jones, a Welsh people, Welsh author and mysticism, mystic of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He is best known for his influential supernatural ...

Oliver Onions George Oliver Onions (13 November 1873 – 9 April 1961), who published under the name Oliver Onions, was an English writer of short stories and novels. He wrote in various genres, but is perhaps best remembered for his ghost stories, notably ...

, and May Sinclair. Mike Ashley and William Contento, ''The Supernatural Index: A Listing of Fantasy, Supernatural, Occult, Weird, and Horror Anthologies''. Greenwood Publishing, 1995. , pp. 728–729. One of Asquith's stories, "The Follower", was adapted for

BBC Radio BBC Radio is an operational business division and service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a royal charter since 1927. The service provides national radio stations cove ...

, along with others by Algernon Blackwood,

Marjorie Bowen Margaret Gabrielle Vere Long (née Campbell; 1 November 1885 – 23 December 1952), who used the pseudonyms Marjorie Bowen, George R. Preedy, Joseph Shearing, Robert Paye, John Winch, and Margaret Campbell or Mrs. Vere Campbell,Jessica Amanda Sa ...

, and

Noel Streatfeild Mary Noel Streatfeild OBE (24 December 1895 – 11 September 1986) was an English author, best known for children's books including the "Shoes" books, which were not a series (though some books made references to others). Random House, the U.S. ...

; all were later reprinted in the

Cecil Madden Cecil Charles Madden, MBE (29 November 1902 – 27 May 1987), was an English pioneer of television production. In 1936, he moved from BBC radio to its experimental television service, and was responsible for many programmes until the service was ...

anthology ''My Grimmest Nightmare'' (1935). She contributed to the

screenplay A screenplay, or script, is a written work produced for a film, television show (also known as a '' teleplay''), or video game by screenwriters (cf. ''stage play''). Screenplays can be original works or adaptations from existing pieces of w ...

of the 1937 film '' Dreaming Lips'', which starred Elisabeth Bergner. In 1957, Asquith appeared as a contestant in the ITV Quiz show ''The 64,000 Question'' (hosted by

Jerry Desmonde Jerry Desmonde (born James Robert Sadler; 20 July 1908 – 11 February 1967) was an English actor and presenter. He is perhaps best known for his work as a double act, comedic foil in duos with Norman Wisdom and Sid Field. Early life Jerry ...

) where she won the top prize of £3,200 answering questions on the works of

Jane Austen Jane Austen ( ; 16 December 1775 – 18 July 1817) was an English novelist known primarily for #List of works, her six novels, which implicitly interpret, critique, and comment on the English landed gentry at the end of the 18th century ...

Personal life

On 28 July 1910, Lady Cynthia married Herbert Asquith (1881–1947), second son of

H. H. Asquith Herbert Henry Asquith, 1st Earl of Oxford and Asquith (12 September 1852 – 15 February 1928) was a British statesman and Liberal Party (UK), Liberal politician who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1908 to 1916. He was the last ...

, the Liberal

Prime Minister of the United Kingdom The prime minister of the United Kingdom is the head of government of the United Kingdom. The prime minister Advice (constitutional law), advises the Monarchy of the United Kingdom, sovereign on the exercise of much of the Royal prerogative ...

from 1908 to 1916, with whom he is sometimes confused. They had three children: *John Michael Asquith (1911–1937), who suffered mental problems and died in an institution. *Michael Henry Asquith (1914–2004), who married in 1938 Diana Eveline Montagu Battye, daughter of Lt.-Col. Perceval Lawrence Montagu Battye. They divorced in 1952; he married secondly Helga Brigitta Ebba Elizabeth Ritter, daughter of Dr Walther Sigmund Casimir Ritter, in 1953. *Simon Roland Anthony Asquith (1919–1973), who married in 1942 Vivien Lawrence Jones, daughter of Sir Lawrence Jones, 5th Baronet and Lady Evelyn Alice Grey (a daughter of

Albert Grey, 4th Earl Grey Albert Henry George Grey, 4th Earl Grey, (28 November 185129 August 1917) was a British peer and politician who served as Governor General of Canada from 1904 to 1911, the ninth since Canadian Confederation. He was a radical Liberal aristocrat ...

) Lady Cynthia's husband died in

Bath Bath may refer to: * Bathing, immersion in a fluid ** Bathtub, a large open container for water, in which a person may wash their body ** Public bathing, a public place where people bathe * Thermae, ancient Roman public bathing facilities Plac ...

on 5 August 1947 aged 66, and Lady Cynthia herself on 31 March 1960, aged 72.

Works

''The child at home''
(1923)
''Sails of Gold''
(1927)
''The Duchess of York''
(1927), biography
''The treasure cave, a book of new prose and verse''
(1928)
''Haply I May Remember''
(1930)
''She Walks In Beauty''
(1934) *''The Spring House'' (1936), novel
''Her Majesty The Queen. An Entirely New And Complete Biography. Written With The Approval Of Her Majesty''
(1937) *''The Family Life of Queen Elizabeth'' (1937) * The King’s Daughters (1938), biography *'' Dreaming Lips'' (1937), screenplay *''One Sparkling Wave'' (1943), novel *''

This Mortal Coil This Mortal Coil were a British music collective led by Ivo Watts-Russell, founder of the British record label 4AD. Although Watts-Russell and John Fryer were the only two official members, the band's recorded output featured a large rotat ...

'' (1947), stories: "In a Nutshell", "The White Moth", "The Corner Shop", "God Grante That She Lye Stille", "The Playfellow", "The Nurse Never Told", "The Lovely Voice", "The First Night", "The Follower" *''Haply I May Remember'' (1950) *''What Dreams May Come'' (1951), stories (contents the same as ''This Mortal Coil'', but with "The Follower" omitted and "The Nurse Never Told" retitled as "From What Beginnings?") * ''Remember and be Glad'' (1952) *''Portrait of Barrie'' (1954) *''Married to Tolstoy'' (1960), biography * ''Lady Cynthia Asquith Diaries 1915–1918'' (1968) *''Thomas Hardy at Max Gate'' (1969)

As editor

*''The Flying Carpet'' (1925) *''Treasure Ship'' (1926) *''The Ghost Book'' (1927) *''The Black Cap'' (1928) *''The Funny Bone '' (1928) *''Shudders'' (1929) *''The Children's Cargo'' (1930) *''When Churchyards Yawn'' (1931) *''My Grimmest Nightmare'' (1935) *''The Second Ghost Book'' (1952) *''The Third Ghost Book'' (1955)

Adaptations

"God Grante That She Lye Stille", first published in ''When Churchyards Yawn'', was adapted in 1961 by Robert Hardy Andrews as an episode of the

anthology In book publishing, an anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler; it may be a collection of plays, poems, short stories, songs, or related fiction/non-fiction excerpts by different authors. There are also thematic and g ...

TV series A television show, TV program (), or simply a TV show, is the general reference to any content produced for viewing on a television set that is broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, and cable, or distributed digitally on streaming platf ...

'' Thriller''.IMDB
/ref>

References

External links

*
Asquith, (Lady) Cynthia
in ''

The Encyclopedia of Fantasy ''The Encyclopedia of Fantasy'' is a 1997 reference work covering fantasy fiction, edited by John Clute and John Grant (author), John Grant. As of November 2012, the full text of ''The Encyclopedia of Fantasy'' is available online, as a compani ...

'' * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Asquith, Cynthia 1887 births 1960 deaths 20th-century English biographers 20th-century English diarists 20th-century English novelists 20th-century English screenwriters 20th-century English short story writers 20th-century English women writers Writers from Wiltshire Deaths from meningitis Neurological disease deaths in England Infectious disease deaths in England English women short story writers English horror writers British ghost story writers Cynthia Asquith, Lady Cynthia Daughters of Scottish earls Science fiction editors English women novelists British women horror writers British women anthologists English women biographers English socialites British speculative fiction editors English book editors Private secretaries J. M. Barrie