Nancie and Jack at St Jean de Luz 1938 and Huntingford Family 1986 at Fairford

A House called "Fairford", and a New Chapter in Nancie's Life

Nancie accompanied Mimi and her Mother to London, where they stayed in Claridges Hotel. They had afternoon tea with Josephine Grove who had been Jean's companion and was the lady who originally interviewed Nancie for the job as Governess to Mimi. She lived at Branstone Lodge, 232 Kew Road, Richmond. This building has been supplanted by a block of flats.
That evening Nancie dined with her ex-employer and life-long friend, Eleonore, Marquise de Chabannes la Palice at an Indian restaurant in Swallow Street.
The following day Nancie had lunch with her Aunt Min who had come up to London for the day from Hampshire.
Nancie and Mimi left for Paris the day afterwards, the 8th July 1939 and had tea there with Mr Smith and 'Aunt Dolly'  .The latter sent a telegram when Nancie and Jack got married on September 23rd 1939 in Lytham St Annes, Lancashire but I'm not sure who she was exactly.
Nancie and her charge, Mimi, travelled to St Jean de Luz by train but there is no mention of Mimi's Mother Jean being with them.
Nancie found her good friend Maureen already on the beach and brought her up to speed with all the recent events in her life. Maureen returned the favour by telling Nancie all the latest St Jean de Luz gossip. Unfortunately Nancie does not go into any details in her diary, other than writing, "Lousy people!" Maureen also remained a close friend and correspondent until her death.
You may wonder why Nancie married Jack in Lytham. We can blame Mr Hitler again for that.
He invaded Poland, causing war to be declared on September 3rd 1939 and Jack's school in Widnes was evacuated to Blackpool.Lytham is nearby.
Nancie used to tell us children the story of the bike ride. She and Jack rode their bikes from Hough Green all the way to Fleetwood to see my grandparents. They stopped at a farm and a man at the gate told them that war had been declared. They came home fairly rapidly on the train!
Soon after they married Jack and Nancie bought a house in Lancaster Avenue, Hough Green, Widnes, opposite where they were lodging with Don and Eva Wedlake. The war intervened and they didn't move in until a few years later. The house had a name but they changed it to something with a special significance for them both, to "Fairford." That was our happy family home until their deaths. (Jack died in 2001 aged 90 and Nancie in 2004 aged 92.)
The last brief  entry in her diary, on July 23rd 1939, reads, "Jack arrives".
Marriage was a new adventure for Nancie. One chapter closed but another opened for her. My brother David and I owe a great debt to Herr Hitler. Nancie had seen such a lot of very rich and very unhappy people that she had sworn never to marry, herself.   Thank goodness she changed her mind!
Fairford has a special place in all our hearts.

Nancie returns to Paris and visits Fairford in Gloucestershire

Nancie continued to take Mimi to her dancing and riding lessons. She visited friends, wrote letters and read books in her spare time. She went to the Scots Kirk in Paris where the Reverend Donald Caskie was Minister and hoped that perhaps, one day, he would be able to marry them there. Unfortunately Hitler scuppered that idea, as you will see.
One of my favourite stories of this time was how she was walking along one day in Paris and noticed a very elegant couple walking in front. They suddenly turned into their residence and Nancie realised that the legs she had been admiring belonged to the Duchess of Windsor who had been on the arm of her husband, the Duke of Windsor.
It was about this time that Nancie's Uncle, Jim Holmes, who lived at Ibert, in Killearn, died. He had been like a Father to her sister, Nell and his death hit the family hard. He was buried in Killearn on February 1st 1939.
 The Easter school holidays in England started in April and Jack came over to Paris to see his fiancee. Mr Smith and Mrs Bond took them both out to dinner and then to the Folies Bergeres! They may even have seen Josephine Baker on this occasion but Nancie does not put it in her diary. She just wrote, "Wonderful show!" They had a biography of Josephine Baker, later in their bookcase with some very risque photograph of Josephine dressed in banana skins and little else.
In June 1939 Nancie and Mimi again visited Fairford in Gloucestershire to see Jean's Aunt Henrietta Ferris, now aged eighty-four. Jack came down from Widnes to meet Nancie at Fairford. He left just before Mimi's Mother, Jean Ferris, arrived. A few days later Jean, Mimi and Nancie went to London.

!939 : Nancie Thomson receives a marriage proposal from Jack Huntingford

On 21st December 1938 Nancie left Paris travelled back to England. Jack met her off the train at Preston Station. They continued by train to Fleetwood where Jack introduced her to his parents, David and Alice Huntingford. We only ever knew them as our grandparents, Gran and Pop. Presumably Nancie called them Mr and Mrs Huntingford on this occasion. They lived at 'Lemnos', 68 Agnew Road, Fleetwood.( See picture below.)
Jack's brother, Alan Huntingford came round with his girlfriend, Marjorie Bussey to play cards. (Newmarket, apparently!)
Nancie still smoked at this time so I don't think Gran and Pop would have approved but there is nothing in her diary to suggest any outward disapproval. Jack's Uncle Arthur and Aunt Ethel were invited for tea on Christmas Day and returned the invitation on Boxing Day. They lived in a house called 'Sylmar' on Poulton Road. Everyone seemed to get on really well.
On 28th December Jack and Nancie went to Scotland on the train. Alan and Marjorie came to see them off at the station.
Nancie and Jack spent Christmas 1938 at Rosemount, Kilmacolm, Renfrewshire with her family. Her brother Bill also brought his girlfriend, Anne. They all saw the New Year in together.
It was on the 2nd January 1939 that Jack plucked up the courage to pop the question and, thank goodness, Nancie said ,"Yes!" Two days later they bought the ring and carried on visiting all the relatives to give them the good news.
Jack had to leave on 7th January as the new school term was starting at the Wade Deacon GS for Boys in Widnes

. A couple of days later Nancie returned to Paris to carry on looking after Mimi.

Paris in the winter of 1938/39 and more on Mrs Bond

After their return to Paris Nancie was left to do the unpacking and Mimi and her Mother  'went off somewhere'. Later Mimi went to the manege to ride. Presumably the new pony had come north with them but I'm not sure. The day after their arrival Mimi went to Fontainebleau with her parents so Nancie went to the cinema.
Mr Smith was there and also Mrs Bond, hovering in the background. Edward Smith stayed at the American Artists' Centre, at 261 Boulevard Raspail, in Paris and Mrs Bond at 104 Rue Cambronne, the road leading up to the Eiffel Tower. These addresses were in Nancie's address book so I don't know what date they apply to.
Mrs Bond would appear to have been born Katherine Kramer, daughter of Elizabeth Meihle Kramer and was born in New York on Christmas Day, 1899. She died in Spain on 21st March, 1987, aged 87. She was, as far as I can ascertain, the daughter of Henry and Elizabeth Kramer (nee Meihle) who lived in Manhattan. After her Father died her Mother worked in a club in Manhattan. I think she may have become a companion or a housekeeper to Jean Ferris. Her death is recorded in the US Social Security Index and she is buried in Mount Olivet Cemetery , Queen's County, New York.
 It is amazing just what one can find out about people with very little to go on. Passenger lists are invaluable and censuses are very useful.

A New Romance for Nancie and another new car for the d'Espinays: a 1938 Rosengarten

One of my favourite stories, when I was a little girl, was how Jack had seen Nancie on the beach at St Jean de Luz in the summer of 1937. She had small children with her and he presumed she was a) French and b) married. Being a shy chap he hadn't approached her. Happily, in the summer of 1938 he summoned up the courage to speak to her and discovered that she was a) Scottish and b) unmarried. By this time she had seen enough of others'  marriages to put her off for life!
Luckily Jack got on really well with four year old Mimi, as well as Nancie, her Governess, and they spent as much time as they could together before Jack had to return to England, where he was teaching.This was at the beginning of September.
On the 25th September Mimi celebrated her 5th birthday. Her presents included a pony,a pedal car and a kitten (a minou, as Nancie called it in her diary.) Many years late, we had a kitten whose name was 'Minou'. Now I know why!
Mimi was showered with expensive gifts. She lacked for nothing, except perhaps a well-balanced Mother! Nancie related that in the evening there was a 'big shindy' (sic) but gives no details. The Marquis and Marquise left at 10pm.
Nancie stayed up late talking with Mr Smith and Mrs Bond, the Housekeeper. I'm not sure of her title but she seemed to run the household. The next day they all left St Jean de Luz for Paris.
A new car arrived not long after Mimi's birthday. It was called a Rosengarten. Carlos, the chauffeur took Mimi and Nancie for a ride to Le Bourget in it.

Ferdinand Pinner Earle, Film Producer

As I mentioned in a previous post, Jean Harris, now the Marquise d'Espinay, was very friendly with the artist and film producer, Ferdinand Pinner Earle. He caused a great scandal in the early 1900s when he dumped his first wife in order to marry another woman.
He later divorced her and married for a third time. In 1914 a French court found him guilty of kidnapping his son, in a case reminiscent of Jean Harris's situation with her husband, Irving Drought Harris.
His last wife was a Belgian girl called Denise who was only sixteen when she married him. Earle died in 1951, leaving four sons and four daughters.