Nancie goes back to France 1934

In 1934 Nancie returned to France to look after the daughter of the Marquis and Marquise de Chabannes la Palice. Christened Genevieve, the little girl, was always known by her nickname, Coulou. Once again Nancie became very friendly with her employer, Eleonore whom she called Ayo. Eleonore was expecting her second child. Hugues de Chabannes la Palice was born not long after. Nancie adored babies all her life and thoroughly enjoyed her own when they came along and later her grandchildren were a great joy to her.
The marriage between Eleonore and her husband, Ebles de Chabannes, was not a very happy one. It had been arranged by their parents. She had the money and he had the title. Like all the french aristocrats, Ebles had an eye for the girls, especially English ones!  He was not very good at coping with financial matters but very good at spending his wife's money. Once, when Eleonore inherited some money, he spent it on a huge old villa in Trouville, called La Mare au Diable. His wife was not pleased.
Most of their time was spent at Le Maquis, a wonderful house at Valescure, near St Raphael, in the south of France. Many English aristocrats also built villas and lived in farms in the surrounding area and they all socialised with each other.
Eleonore's Mother was Sybille Bullock-Hall from Six Mile Bottom in Cambridgeshire. The name amused my brother and myself when we were young. She had married Louis Paul Jean Goulden, a French artist who made fabulous enamel works of art. Her sister Marie-Elizabeth, known as Zabet married the Count de Grancey. He inherited the Chateau de Medavy and became Governor of Les Invalides.
I remember dining at the chateau with my parents, Nancie and Jack, in the 1960s. There was a butler called Hans and he served everyone in order of precedence. There were several marquises and other aristocrats and we, being an ordinary English schoolmaster and his family, from Widnes, were served last, naturally. It was an amazing experience.

Nancie gets a job nearer to home, and visits Lytham St Annes

Nancie's next job, in April 1933, was with a family at number 83 Maxwell Drive, Bellahouston, Glasgow. They were called Kay and she describes them as 'a charming Jewish Family'. Mr Kay had a business in the Trongate in Glasgow. Nancie was to be Nursery-Governess to Mira, six, and Gordon, five. Mr Kay enjoyed playing tennis and liked Nancie to partner him. All that practice in the south of France stood her in good stead.

In the summer of 1933 the Kay Family went on holiday for the month of August, to Lytham St Annes, in Lancashire, taking Nancie with them. Little did she know at that time how this part of the country was going to become such a vital part of her life some six years later. In a strange 'reverse echo' she visited the town where she would marry Jack in September 1939. She even went to Jack's hometown, Fleetwood. Reading her 1933 diary really sends shivers down one's back, knowing what happened later but back then it was just a place to visit on holiday and have fun with the children. They also visited Blackpool and various relatives came to join them.

She stayed with the Kay Family for about nine months, losing touch with them. Mira became a Teacher and Gordon, a Doctor.

Around this time Nancie's Mother was in a Glasgow Nursing home for observation. Always very slim, she had a floating kidney and displaced organs, suffering back pain as a result. She lived until 1958 but was never very strong.

Nancie had realised that her romance with Harry Legroua was probably over but managed to enjoy herself in the company of another old Kilmacolm friend, Morton Raeburn. He later became the local Bank Manager. Every time she went back to Kilmacolm the faithful Duncan Harrigan would take her out and cheer her up. She was never short of an escort. They used to go regularly to the cinema in Glasgow, sometimes more than once a week.

Trips on the Clyde ( 'doon the watter') were another favourite outing and sometimes Nancie would miss the last bus and have to walk home from Port Glasgow. There were always relatives to visit when she was at home at the various farms around Kilmacolm.

About this time Nancie's Mother, Mary and her sister, Min, ran a hairdressing business from Ashton House in Cardwell Bay, Gourock.

Unfortunately Nancie's diary for 1934 went missing a few years ago, which is a great pity. During that year she took a job in Paris with the Marquis de Chabannes and his family. Eleonore, his wife was to become her greatest friend of all with their closeness only ending with Eleonore's death.

Romance in Le Havre and St Raphael.

Get out of bed and go dancing!

Sometime in 1932 Nancie returned to Kilmacolm with a hacking cough, probably due to all the cigarettes she'd smoked. She hadn't smoked until she met Esther in Le Havre and started with Esther's encouragement. The family doctor, Dr Ferguson, diagnosed a spot on her lung and, fearing TB, told her to stay in bed. After several weeks a specialist came to see her. He examined her and gave her his professional opinion. It was, in so many words, " Get up out of bed and go dancing". Nancie didn't need telling twice. She followed his advice. 

Whenever she came home from her travels abroad, her faithful friend Duncan Harrigan was always there to take her out. Before she left for Baghdad she had become unofficially engaged to Bill Park.

That was a useful ploy to keep other men at arms' length. Out in Baghdad, Nancie had met lots of young men who were serving in the RAF and was in great demand for dancing with at the various social occasions.

Whilst in Le Havre with the Doublets she had met Harry (Henry/Henri) Legroua who was to have quite a profound effect on her. He was a dashing, good-looking man and Nancie really fell for him.

All the other women did as well and 'threw themselves at him'. Nancie, however, had reservations.

Having seen how unhappy her employer, Charlotte was in her marriage; Nancie knew she didn't want to commit herself until she found the right man.  Harry was rather wild and exciting but definitely not good husband material, as far as she was concerned.

One evening when they were with a group of friends at the Bal de Couturiers at the Frascati Hotel in Le Havre a girl rushed up to Harry and grabbed him by the hand, pulling him into the Ladies' Powder Room. Nancie walked on with the rest of the group and Harry reappeared a little while later looking rather sheepish. She had no illusions about his reliability as a boyfriend, never mind a husband. As she put it: 'I realised that happiness and security were not within his power'

He wanted to marry her, he said, and in a grand gesture to prove his love, showed her eight letters that he had written to eight of the women in his life in Paris, telling them he had at last met the scots girl that he was going to marry. He made her read them before sealing and posting them. She later discovered that he'd put the wrong address on them all!

He was prone to dramatic demonstrations of his love. The most famous was the time he parked his sports car on the cliffs at Sainte Adresse and flashed his headlights at the cross channel ferry that Nancie was sailing home on, nearly causing an international incident! The Captain came onto the deck and joined her, watching the lights flashing and escorted her back to the ship's lounge.

She realised then that the man she would agree to marry one day would have to be very special and probably nothing like the dashing, romantic but unreliable Harry! They met again a few years later (1934?) when Nancie was living at The Maquis in St Raphael and he took her to Monte Carlo to see the Grand Prix. They saw some famous racing drivers such as Rudolf Caracciola and Earl Howe. He had a rendezvous there with some other friends. Nancie thought it was probably with a blonde, a special one. She enjoyed seeing him again, although it was briefly.

The Hotel Frascati in Le Havre was sadly destroyed by enemy bombing in 1944. The site is now occupied by a museum.

Nancie describes how she met Gerald Higby at the casino in Le Havre. She was there with a party and he asked her to dance. Then followed one of those conversations that went thus:

"Ah, you're a Scot. So is my Mother."

"Where is she from?" Nancie asked,

"Oh, a little village you will never have heard of," was the reply.

"Where is that?"

"It's called Kilmacolm."

Gales of laughter followed from Nancie, as you can imagine.

Gerald became rather serious about her but she didn't fancy him. His Mother was a Kinloch and one of Nancie's teachers at Kilmacolm  school was also a Kinloch.

Nancie had many proposals of marriage over the years but she didn't want to be tied down. She used to say she'd been engaged five times before she met Jack, which is probably true. She would say later that God had protected her on all her travels and kept her safe from unwise relationships. She also saw that money did not necessarily bring happiness. 

Sir Louis Greig helps The Bruderhof and is a good friend to King George VI

When the Cotswold Community of the 'Bruderhof' were looking for a country to go and settle in, one of the people they asked for help was Sir Louis Greig. Rosemary's Father, A.A. Warden was a Doctor and Louis was a Naval Surgeon. Both trained at Glasgow University but at different times.

Louis Greig was a close friend of King George VI. He was the son of a Glasgow Merchant and in 1911 was living at 18 Lynedoch Crescent, Kelvingrove, Glasgow. His middle name may have been Carron but that seems to be coincidental. (A.A.Warden's younger daughter Charlotte married an Edward Carron on her second marriage)

Sir Louis Greig was living at Thatched House Lodge, Richmond Park, in London, when he died in 1953. The Queen's cousin, Princess Alexandra and her husband, Sir Angus Ogilvy, later occupied this house. It is a privately owned royal residence, belonging to the Crown Estate. Sir Louis Greig was Equerry to King George VI and held the title of Deputy Ranger of Richmond Park. He helped in gaining permission for the 350 plus members of the  'Bruderhof' to emigrate to Paraguay by cutting down on the 'red tape'. England was not a good place for people of German origin in 1940 and Rosemary had married Josef Staengl, a German.

They also approached Eleonore Roosevelt, wife of the President of the USA, for help.

Louis Greig helped to speed up the process and the story of their journey to Paraguay and life there is told in  'Jungle Gems', Bud's daughter's blog. The Bruderhof were part of the Mennonite sect which resembled the Amish to some extent. It was not an easy life. Rosemary had to give up contact with her family to join them and even sent all her clothes to her sister Charlotte.

Sir Louis Greig was a great support to his friend King George VI. His grandson, Geordie Greig, who is now Editor of The Mail on Sunday, wrote a book called  'The Kingmaker. In the well known film, 'The King's Speech' much of the credit went to Lionel Logue for the king's progress in public-speaking but his great friend, Louis Greig was also instrumental in the King's improvement.

My husband's Australian Cleveland cousins are actually related to Lionel Logue, oddly enough.

Rosemary 'Bud' Warden, Amanda Staengl, Alixe Lacomblez and Jean Louis Doublet

I recently came across the blog written by Rosemary's daughter about her life in Paraguay. (See 'Jungle Gems' also on blogspot.). It was reading this that made me start writing my own blog.

I always check out the background of the people my Mother met on her travels. It is amazing just what comes up on a 'Google' search these days. Much of this information wasn't on line 20 years ago and I recommend just putting in a name to see what appears. This particular day I put in,

'Kay Warden Villa Serpolette'

Up came the blog written by Rosemary's daughter. Amanda was born in 1942 and lived in the jungles of Paraguay until 1961. Her Mother,  'Bud', had married Josef Staengl in 1940 in England, and they were living in the 'Cotswold Community' of the 'Bruderhof', a religious sect. Britain had begun to intern anyone with German connections so the entire community left England and went to Paraguay. It is an amazing story, reminiscent of the 'covered wagon' tales from the USA. Even crossing the Atlantic had its risks as the German submarines were already attacking shipping there. Do read the blog if you are interested as I found it fascinating.

Jean Louis Doublet, grandson of Charlotte, spotted it and tried to contact Amanda. He went to the Villa Serpolette as a boy and remembered his 'Auntie Bud' coming to Paris. He now lives in Cyprus, having spent ten years in the USA and is married to an American lady from Maryland. Another quick google showed that he, too, is a Journalist. I hope to contact him eventually. His Aunt, Alixe Lacomblez, one of the little girls that Nancie looked after, alerted him to the blog. She still lives in Le Havre, I gather.

Nancie joins the Doublet and Warden Family at Le Havre and Cannes in December 1930

After a few weeks at home Nancie answered an advertisement for a companion-help to a family in Le Havre, in France. She went to Edinburgh to be interviewed by a relative of the French family and got the job. On December 2nd 1930 she set off for Le Havre where she was to stay for two years.

Charlotte Doublet was the daughter of a Scottish Doctor who had practised medicine in Paris until his retirement to Cannes in 1930. Charlotte and her French husband, Jean Doublet had two children when Nancie started to work for them. Pierre was six and Claude, 4. As had happened in Baghdad, another baby, Alixe, was born during her stay.

Charlotte's Father was the noted tennis player, Archibald Adam Warden  (Dr A. A. Warden) who won a bronze medal at the 1900 Olympics.

He won it in the mixed doubles, playing with Hedwiga Rosenbaumova of Bohemia. He continued to play tennis at his home, Villa Serpolette, in Cannes for the rest of his life.

Unfortunately, Charlotte's marriage to Jean Doublet was not a happy one. She suffered very badly with asthmatic arracks. Nancie was left to cope with the children, the shopping and dealing with the servants.

This might be the right moment to mention the fact that Nancie was treated as a member of the family, and not a servant, in all the positions she held. She was a Governess, not a nursemaid and a companion to her various employers, more often than not becoming a close friend and confidant

 and forging a relationship which would last long after the 'job' ended. She corresponded with all these friends until she died.

She also said that her experiences put her off marriage for a long time. She was 28 when she married Jack and as I mentioned previously only agreed to that because of the impending war!

Charlotte and her family took Nancie down to Cannes to the Villa Serpolette for the summer.

She had a wonderful time, swimming and playing tennis and socialising with Charlotte's siblings.

There was Rosemary (always known as 'Bud'), Ken and Kay. I think I am right in thinking that Kay was a chap. Mrs Warden was very good to her and insisted that she went off with all the young people to their picnics on the Ile Sainte Marguerite, Agay and various other places, while she looked after the children. Nancie said there were usually about fifteen of them round the huge table for meals and she really enjoyed the company of her own age group at last. The kitchen was very large and in a semi-basement. Dr Warden would wipe the plates with sheets of paper from a pad before the next course. Nancie describes it as 'one of those blockpads that doctors have' so it may even have been previously used for writing prescriptions!

There were also two German girls staying at the villa, as paying guests. There was no mention of war in those days.

The young folk spent all day on the beach in and out of the water, their bathing suits drying in minutes in the sun. They had a small beach at the Palm Beach end of Cannes which never had more than a dozen people on it. Nancie claimed it was one of the most happy and carefree summers of her life. 

It was while she was in Cannes that Nancie met Vladimir Goluboff, a young Russian whose Mother was a friend of Mrs Wardens. Vladimir used to take Nancie to Juan les Pins where they danced in a nightclub called 'Le Boeuf sous les Toits'. Every evening the young ones would go to the Tennis Club and dance. Amongst the members was the handsome young Maharajah of Jaiphur.

On one of the train journeys from Le Havre to Cannes Charlotte had had a bad asthma attack and when they reached Cannes Dr Warden had had to carry her bodily off the train. He had trained in medicine in Scotland but was forced to retrain at the School of Medicine in Paris before he was allowed to practise there. He had retired to Villa Serpolette in Cannes, where, in his eighties, he still played tennis. One of his tennis partners was the King of Sweden, also an octogenarian.

Nancie made another lifelong friend in Le Havre - a scots girl called Esther Dewar who was teaching at The Berlitz School and lived in a 'pension'. She had an MA in French from Glasgow University.

   Nancie attended the English Church in Le Havre where she met the Bideleux Family and Mr A.B. Clark who later lived in The Sailors' Rest in Greenock. His French wife was sadly killed in an air raid in Scotland during the Second World War. Maisie Bideleux later married Ken Warden. Also in Le Havre Nancie met Gerald Higby, a cousin of Gordon Craig's. (a relative of one of Nancie's friends in later years - one of those amazing coincidences).

Another life-long friend from those days was Newton Robbins, a tall, handsome, young American who was a student from Boston, Massachusetts and had come across the Atlantic to Cannes, on a sailing ship. He, like Kay Warden, played the trombone!

Charlotte Doublet had been madly in love with Jean and had married him against her parents' wishes. A few years later she hated him so much that she ran off to live in Paris, with another man, Edouard Caron. Having recovered from her latest asthma attack, she left, taking Claude with her and leaving the other two children with Nancie, When Jean returned home he was absolutely furious and raced off to Paris, in the middle of the night, returning with Claudie, as she was known to the family. Nancie felt that Jean had neglected his young wife and didn't condemn her for leaving him but she was worried about the effect of the split on the children. She stayed on to look after the three children. Jean was rarely at home but when his 'tetchy old Mother' came to help look after the children Nancie found that she interfered too much so she decided to head back to Scotland.

Nancie hated leaving the children, as she had got very attached to them, just as she had to the previous family she'd been with. She realised at this point that two years was probably the maximum time she should spend with a family as the longer she stayed the harder it would be to leave her charges.

By this time she was twenty and felt a much travelled and experienced person. Her French had improved enough for her to get around, do the shopping, housekeeping and even cope with servants.

Charlotte kept in touch for many years. She divorced Jean Doublet married her lover, Edouard Caron and they had a son, Gilles Caron. They too, divorced eventually, in 1946. Gilles became a photojournalist, covering many high profile conflicts in the 1960s. He disappeared on April 5th 1970, on the road from Cambodia to Vietnam, probably a victim of Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge. He was 30 and left a wife and two little girls. Nothing more has ever been heard of him.

    

Nancie leaves her job with the Holt Family but remains a friend for life

After about a month's stay at Woodbury Salterton Mrs Holt disappeared to Berlin, and then Marseilles, accompanied by her brother, Stuart Macphail. She didn't tell Nancie where she was going or when she'd be back. Mrs Godfrey told Nancie that she was to take the children to Shenstone in Staffordshire to stay with a family called Nevinson. When Nancie realised that she was expected to travel alone with the three children she said it was impossible, especially with twenty pieces of luggage. Mrs Godfrey eventually agreed to accompany her.

Nancie was pleased to find that there were three young people of her age group in the household. She also received a visit from a Kilmacolm friend, John Bryson who was on his way to Birmingham with a car. Apart from her Mother's visit to Woodley Salterton that was Nancie's first contact with someone from home in 18 months. She was able to catch up with all the village gossip from her own generation.

'Jan' as James, the baby, was called, produced his first tooth during this visit. Nancie was as thrilled as she would have been if he was her own child. His Mother, of course, was still away,' gallivanting' in the south of France.

After their stay in Staffordshire Nancie went home to Scotland for a holiday. She had a date to return to the Holt Family but received a telegram ordering her to come a day early. She refused and was told to 'come early or not at all.'  Then the bank manager arrived to tell her that Mrs Holt had stopped her pay cheque. She was furious. That was the abrupt end to Nancie's first job abroad.

The strange thing is that she stayed friendly with all the Holt Family, including Mrs Holt and they would visit her regularly and write to her over the next sixty years. Major and Mrs Holt had another son, Patrick, after Nancie left. Her 'first' baby James went on to marry and have six children of his own. Nancie was so proud of them all and regarded them as 'honorary grandchildren'. Every Christmas James would write and tell her about his expanding family and she shared all their joys and sorrows over the years.