Susan Lowndes Marques
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Susan Antonia Dorothea Priestley Lowndes Marques
OBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...
(15 February 1907 - 3 February 1993) was a writer and journalist who became a leading figure in the British community in
Lisbon Lisbon ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 567,131, as of 2023, within its administrative limits and 3,028,000 within the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, metropolis, as of 2025. Lisbon is mainlan ...
,
Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...
.


Family and early life

Generally known as Susan Lowndes, or Susan Lowndes Marques after her marriage to the Portuguese, Luís Marques, she was born into a distinguished family. Her great, great-grandfather was the British scientist and philosopher
Joseph Priestley Joseph Priestley (; 24 March 1733 – 6 February 1804) was an English chemist, Unitarian, Natural philosophy, natural philosopher, English Separatist, separatist theologian, Linguist, grammarian, multi-subject educator and Classical libera ...
, who was credited with the discovery of oxygen. Her grandmother was
Bessie Rayner Parkes Elizabeth Rayner Belloc (née Parkes; 16 June 1829 – 23 March 1925) was one of the most prominent English feminists and campaigners for women's rights in Victorian times and also a poet, essayist and journalist. Early life Bessie Rayner Pa ...
, a prominent British feminist and champion of women's suffrage. Her mother,
Marie Belloc Lowndes Marie Adelaide Elizabeth Rayner Lowndes (née Belloc; 5 August 1868 – 14 November 1947), who wrote as Marie Belloc Lowndes, was a prolific English novelist, and sister of author Hilaire Belloc. Active from 1898 until her death, she had a re ...
, was a well-known writer of crime novels and biographies, best known for her novel, ''The Lodger'', based on
Jack the Ripper Jack the Ripper was an unidentified serial killer who was active in and around the impoverished Whitechapel district of London, England, in 1888. In both criminal case files and the contemporaneous journalistic accounts, the killer was also ...
, which sold over a million copies and was made into a film by
Alfred Hitchcock Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock (13 August 1899 – 29 April 1980) was an English film director. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of cinema. In a career spanning six decades, he directed over 50 featu ...
in 1926. Her uncle was the poet and novelist
Hilaire Belloc Joseph Hilaire Pierre René Belloc ( ; ; 27 July 187016 July 1953) was a French-English writer, politician, and historian. Belloc was also an orator, poet, sailor, satirist, writer of letters, soldier, and political activist. His Catholic fait ...
.


Marriage and Lisbon

Brought up in inter-war London, Susan Lowndes was therefore always surrounded by books and met many writers who visited the family home. Her father, Frederick Lowndes, worked as an editor for ''The Times''. She was educated at St Mary's Convent,
Ascot Ascot, Ascott or Askot may refer to: Places Australia * Ascot, Queensland, suburb of Brisbane * Ascot, Queensland (Toowoomba Region), a locality * Ascot Park, South Australia, suburb of Adelaide * Ascot (Ballarat), town near Ballarat in Victoria ...
. On leaving school she did voluntary work and, for a time, ran an antique shop in London. In August 1938 she went with her father for a brief holiday in Lisbon, where she met Luís Artur de Oliveira Marques (1898-1976), an English-educated journalist. They were married in December of the same year in
Westminster Cathedral Westminster Cathedral, officially the Metropolitan Cathedral of the Most Precious Blood, is the largest Catholic Church in England and Wales, Roman Catholic church in England and Wales. The shrine is dedicated to the Blood of Jesus Ch ...
in London and made their home in Lisbon, later moving to
Monte Estoril Estoril () is a town in the civil parish of Cascais e Estoril of the Portuguese Municipality of Cascais, on the Portuguese Riviera. It is a popular tourist destination, with hotels, beaches, and the Casino Estoril. It has been home to numerou ...
. Her husband was the editor (later owner) of the '' Anglo-Portuguese News'', a newspaper targeted primarily at the British community in Portugal. She would carry on running it after his death until 1980. He was the Lisbon correspondent for the ''Daily Telegraph'', the ''Sunday Times'' and the ''New York Times'', as well as doing some English teaching. Writers remained at the centre of her life. Their son,
Paulo Lowndes Marques Paulo Henrique Lowndes Marques (21 August 1941-1 January 2011) was a Portuguese politician, lawyer, author, historian and conservationist. He was a founder member of the CDS – People's Party and Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs in Portuga ...
, recalled visits to Lisbon from
Evelyn Waugh Arthur Evelyn St. John Waugh (; 28 October 1903 – 10 April 1966) was an English writer of novels, biographies, and travel books; he was also a prolific journalist and book reviewer. His most famous works include the early satires ''Decli ...
,
Cyril Connolly Cyril Vernon Connolly CBE (10 September 1903 – 26 November 1974) was an English literary critic and writer. He was the editor of the influential literary magazine ''Horizon (British magazine), Horizon'' (1940–49) and wrote ''Enemies of Pro ...
,
Aldous Huxley Aldous Leonard Huxley ( ; 26 July 1894 – 22 November 1963) was an English writer and philosopher. His bibliography spans nearly 50 books, including non-fiction novel, non-fiction works, as well as essays, narratives, and poems. Born into the ...
and
Graham Greene Henry Graham Greene (2 October 1904 – 3 April 1991) was an English writer and journalist regarded by many as one of the leading novelists of the 20th century. Combining literary acclaim with widespread popularity, Greene acquired a re ...
. Other visitors included
Rose Macaulay Dame Emilie Rose Macaulay, (1 August 1881 – 30 October 1958) was an English writer, most noted for her award-winning novel ''The Towers of Trebizond'', about a small Anglo-Catholic group crossing Turkey by camel. The story is seen as a spiri ...
,
Angus Wilson Sir Angus Frank Johnstone-Wilson (11 August 191331 May 1991) was an English novelist and short story writer. He was one of England's first openly gay authors. He was awarded the 1958 James Tait Black Memorial Prize for '' The Middle Age of Mrs ...
and Sachaverell Sitwell.


World War II

During World War 2, in addition to working on the ''Anglo-Portuguese News'', Susan Lowndes Marques and her husband helped out at the Press section of the British Embassy, reviewing the Portuguese press for items of British interest. The ''Anglo-Portuguese News'' was the only British newspaper published in Continental Europe during the war and received support from the British Government. Luís was referred to by
Joseph Goebbels Paul Joseph Goebbels (; 29 October 1897 – 1 May 1945) was a German Nazism, Nazi politician and philologist who was the ''Gauleiter'' (district leader) of Berlin, chief Propaganda in Nazi Germany, propagandist for the Nazi Party, and ...
as “a man to be destroyed” and in a German propaganda radio programme the paper was called “the voice of Churchill in Lisbon”. As a consequence, the couple was on the special embassy list for immediate evacuation should Portugal have been invaded and a large sum of cash was always kept at their house just in case. During the war they were also active in supporting the refugees who passed through Lisbon in large numbers.


A writer

After the war, Lowndes, writing under her maiden name, collaborated with
Ann Bridge Ann Bridge (11 September 1889 – 9 March 1974) is the pseudonym of Mary Ann Dolling (Sanders), Lady O'Malley, also known as Cottie Sanders. Bridge wrote 14 novels, mostly based on her experiences living in foreign countries, one book of short ...
, wife of the then British ambassador in Lisbon, Lord O'Malley, to publish ''The Selective Traveller in Portugal'' (1949), which became a classic in travel writing on Portugal. It involved the two authors in travelling throughout Portugal on poor roads in search of interesting places to recommend to potential visitors. She subsequently wrote ''Good Food from Spain and Portugal'' (1956) and ''Portugal: A Travellers' Guide'' (1982), as well as annually revising ''Fodor's Guide to Portugal''. Lowndes also wrote two small books on
Fatima Fatima bint Muhammad (; 605/15–632 CE), commonly known as Fatima al-Zahra' (), was the daughter of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and his wife Khadija. Fatima's husband was Ali, the fourth of the Rashidun caliphs and the first Shia imam. ...
for thousands of English-speaking pilgrims. She often gave lectures on Portuguese topics in Portugal and Britain. Together with her elder sister, Elizabeth, Countess of Iddesleigh, she edited ''The Diaries and Letters of Marie Belloc Lowndes'' (1971), which described the atmosphere of the interwar years in London. ''English Art in Portugal'', written together with Alice Berkeley, was published posthumously in 1994.


Children

Susan Lowndes and her husband had three children.
Paulo Lowndes Marques Paulo Henrique Lowndes Marques (21 August 1941-1 January 2011) was a Portuguese politician, lawyer, author, historian and conservationist. He was a founder member of the CDS – People's Party and Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs in Portuga ...
(1941-2011) was a lawyer, historian, a founding member of the
CDS – People's Party The CDS – People's Party (, derived from ''Centro Democrático e Social – Partido Popular'', CDS–PP)
and Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs in Portugal. Ana Vicente (1943-2015) was a leading supporter of women's rights and an author, including of children's books. She also wrote about life with her parents and compiled some of the letters of her mother. Her sister, Antonia Marques Leitão (born 1946), married the Portuguese diplomat Rui Burnay Morales de Los Rios da Silva Leitão.


Religious faith

Susan Lowndes was awarded an
OBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...
in 1975 for services to the British community in Lisbon. Someone with strong Catholic beliefs, she was, at the time of her death, the Lisbon correspondent of the London-based
Catholic Herald The ''Catholic Herald'' is a London-based Roman Catholic monthly magazine, founded in 1888 and a sister organisation to the non-profit Catholic Herald Institute, based in New York. After 126 years as a weekly newspaper, it became a magazine ...
and of the US
Catholic News Service Catholic News Service (CNS) is an American news agency owned by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) that reports on the Catholic Church. The agency's domestic (United States) service shut down on 30 December 2022, but CNS ...
. She attached great importance to charity, believing that Christianity was lived in solidarity with the most vulnerable people. Hundreds of letters of thanks in her archives attest to the assistance she gave others. She worked voluntarily at the British Hospital in Lisbon and at St. Julian's International School, among several other organizations. Towards the end of her life she established the British Retirement Home in São Pedro do Estoril for British people in Portugal who had fallen on hard times. She also had a very developed sense of humour. Two days before her death, when she was offered oxygen in the hospital, she referred back to her great, great-grandfather's discovery of oxygen, saying, “Dear Doctor Priestley”.


References


External links


Elizabeth Iddesleigh - Susan Lowndes Marques collection
at
Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private Jesuit research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic higher education, Ca ...

Catalogue of newspaper and magazine articles
maintained by the Centro de Estudos de História Religiosa da
Universidade Católica Portuguesa The Catholic University of Portugal ( Portuguese: ''Universidade Católica Portuguesa'', pronounced nivɨɾsiˈðad(ɨ) kɐˈtɔlikɐ puɾtuˈɣezɐ, also referred to as Católica or UCP for short, is a concordat university (non-state-run unive ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lowndes Marques, Susan 1907 births 1993 deaths Portuguese non-fiction writers British women travel writers British travel writers English women journalists Officers of the Order of the British Empire British emigrants to Portugal 20th-century Portuguese journalists 20th-century Portuguese women journalists English expatriates in Portugal