LADY DOROTHY MARY CLAYTON EAST CLAYTON, NÉE DURRANT. 1906 - 1933
Dorothy's story is one which has always fascinated me from the moment I first heard of it several years ago now, and is one I feel particularly involved with as it very surprisingly linked my own family to her story at the time of her death, and ultimately led me to discover more of my own family history as well as that of Leverstock Green's.
Dorothy's story is one which gradually unfolded over a few years of research, with the ultimate twist in the story coming to light as a result of an American film company getting in touch with me about her.
Four Feathers Film Inc. of Orandell New Jersey contacted me just before Christmas 1997 completely out of the blue. I received a letter from the Film Company seeking information on Lady Dorothy and the Durrant family. They had been told by the Archivist at DBC that photographs of Dorothy's Father the Rev. Arthur Durrant, and the old Rectory in Leverstock Green were to be found in my book. They rather hoped I had more photographs including one of Dorothy, and they wanted permission to reproduce the photos I did have. It turns out that Four Feathers produce multimedia presentations for pre-productions and story boarding. With an end product of a video or CD-ROM. The particular project they contacted me over encompasses early aviators and explorers, hence the interest in Dorothy and her husband. It also sounds from the information the company provided me with, that they eventually hope to produce a full multimedia CD-ROM covering explorers and aviators and if the section on Dorothy was approved they would need broadcast quality photographs and on-camera interviews for inclusion. Although the on camera interviews were ultimately to materialise, I haven't heard from Four Feathers now for well over a year, so it looks as if the whole thing may have fizzled out.
The interest of Four Feathers Films prompted me to see if more could be discovered, in particular to see if a photograph of Lady Dorothy could be uncovered. Little did I realise when I started precisely how involved her story and that of her family was to become. I mentioned too earlier that there turned out to be a link with my family, namely my grandfather, who lived and worked on the Isle of Wight. By a strange quirk of fate it would also seem that by the likelihood of Dorothy having been the model for the principle character in a Prize winning novel, which in its turn was to be turned into a multi-million prize winning film, there would be further connections with the Island. More of that later!!!!!!!!
Dorothy's Story
Dorothy was born in Leverstock Green on September 26th 1906, the youngest child of the Rev. Arthur Durrant and his wife Alice Mable. The elder three children were Lorna, born July 22nd 1886; Michael Arthur, and Enid. Michael trained as an architect and was killed in the Great War. He is remembered along with others from Leverstock Green who gave their lives during that conflict, on the war memorial. As no record appears in our Parish registers of Michael or Enid's baptisms, I assume that they, like Lorna, were both born prior to the Durrants moving to Leverstock Green in 1899. Alice Durrant would have been 40 at the time Dorothy was born, and there was a twenty year difference in the ages of Lorna and Dorothy. Dorothy was baptised by her father in Holy Trinity Church on November 4th 1906.
By all accounts the Durrants, who were from a fairly "upper crust" family, and one of whose ancestors was Elizabeth Fry the famous prison visitor/reformer of the early eighteenth century, considered themselves rather socially superior to the general population of Leverstock Green. The Rev. Durrant was an extremely well educated man, having graduated from Emanuel College, Oxford. (Only the moneyed and privileged few had access to a University Education in the last century, and particularly either Oxford or Cambridge.) Mrs. Durrant was definitely considered "a lady" and quite a lot of entertaining went on at the Rectory. A frequent visitor was a Canon Pelly, Dorothy's Uncle. However, before we condemn this outlook, particularly in a member of the cloth and his family, we must remember that this was very much the norm at the beginning of the twentieth century, and would have increased the respect of the Leverstock Green community for their Vicar and his family rather than diminished it. (Click here to view picture of Rev. & Mrs. Durrant.)
As a member of "a well bred family", Dorothy was therefore not allowed to attend the village school, but received lessons at home with a governess. Mrs. Durrant invited Hilda Dell, a local girl, to share these lessons with Dorothy and to be a chosen playmate/companion. Hilda's elder sister Beryl, had been similarly invited to benefit from the governess imported for Dorothy's elder sister Enid. It was a great privilege for these local girls to be singled out in this way, particularly as their father was a local hay dealer. Several photographs of the Dell family (relatives of Madge Field's) appear in my book, particularly on pp103, 117 and 119.
According to Betty Thomas, (born Marie Elizabeth Chambers), daughter of Hilda Dell, Dorothy was "a lively lass", generally thought to be very bright and adventurous. In 1920, when the Sunday School photograph on page 49 of my book was taken, (Click here to view) Dorothy would have been 13 years of age. Her sister Lorna has been positively identified by both Betty Thomas and Marjorie Ashby (nee Brigginshaw) as the lady in the large black hat at the very end of the back row, just in front of the window. Neither were able to positively identify Dorothy, but Marjorie thinks she may have been the girl in the white hat next to Lorna, as she is one of the few individuals she cannot name from the photograph. However, since discovering a studio portrait of Dorothy in a 1932 edition of The Daily Express I can say without hesitation that the girl in the large white hat next to Lorna is undoubtedly Dorothy. (Click here to view close-up of Dorothy)
Except that she acted as a bridesmaid at her sister Enid's wedding in August 1920, little else is known about Dorothy until she herself marries at the age of 25 on February 29th 1932, and this in itself was shrouded in mystery and unanswered questions. She apparently met Sir Robert Claytom East Clayton, a 24 old officer in the Royal Navy, on an ocean voyage and they were married on Leap Year Day in a London registry office. Dorothy had already achieved a reputation as a sculptress. The couple decided to devote themselves to exploring. But why did they marry in a register office?
According to Who Was Who 1933, Dorothy's husband, Sir Robert Alan Clayton East Clayton, RN; was the 9th Baronet of Marden (created 1732) and the 5th Baronet of Hall Place Maidenhead, (created 1838). He was a Lieutenant in the Royal Navy, and attached to the RAF from 1932, the year of his marriage to Dorothy. He was the only son of the 8th Baronet and Lady Frances Louise Helen Clayton, youngest daughter of the late Lieutenant Col. James Colquhoun, D.L. Sir Robert succeeded his father in 1926. He owned 1500 acres of land at Hall Place near Maidenhead. It is unlikely to have been because the couple were from differing denominations, as the Clayton's are extremely well represented by memorials etc. in their parish church. Why Dorothy chose to get married in a registry office rather than her father's church?
It took me a long time to find the likely answer to this question, which turned out to be linked to the story of her sister Lorna's doomed romance; Lorna's suiter have previously being deemed totally unsuitable by her father. Having many years previously emigrated to Canada to "make good", Lorna's suiter had returned to marry his middle-aged bride only to be rebuffed once more by his intended father-in-law, have their story made front page news, and his bride placed in a mental institution. The details of Lorna's story had been made highly public via the National daily papers. For details see page on Arthur Durrant & Family.
It now seems likely that Dorothy's wedding was a quiet one purely in order to avoid publicity. Her sister and her father had already in the months leading to Dorothy's marriage found themselves the centre of national as well as local gossip. At the time of Dorothy's marriage itself, even though the Rev. Durrant had by that time given his consent to the marriage, Lorna was being nursed in a sanatorium and it would have seemed cruel to have had the large society wedding expected of a couple in Robert & Dorothy's position. Such a wedding would undoubtedly have attracted the major press who would equally as undoubtedly have made capital out of it. They would probably have also made much out of her other sister's story, being the divorcee daughter of a "respected" clergyman..
Edith had trained as an artist, and initially made a highly suitable match to Charles Hazeldene Moore of the King's Light Infantry, the only son of Mr. & Mrs. Moore of "Redbourne House" near St. Albans. Their wedding took place in August 1920 in Leverstock Green and was reported in The Gazette for August 28th of that year. The Marriage took place at Holy Trinity Church, The Rev. Durrant giving the bride away, and the ceremony being conducted by Rev. Cannon E.J. Gallop. There were two bridesmaids, the bride's sister Dorothy and her cousin Miss Stella Pelly. The Hon Robert Grimston (son of Viscount Grimston, heir to the Earl of Verulam. Viscount Grimston lived with his fmily in Leverstock Green at his house "Pancake" which he had built shortly before WW1) and Master Richard Randolph acted as pages. Sadly the marriage was not to last, ending in divorce with Enid remarrying. She was said later to go to France to live after (presumably) marrying a Parisian artist. However, it was generally not considered "correct" to talk about Enid as she was divorced. At Dorothy's funeral Enid and her new husband, George Anson, were present. (It is uncertain if he was the French artist, or if she married for a third time.)
As it turned out, the Rev. Durrant would appear to have approved his youngest daughter's marriage, and later performed a Church Blessing on their union. But sadly Dorothy's marriage was not to last much more than six months, as Sir Robert died on 2nd September 1932, having apparently contracted a form of polio whilst on an expedition to Libya undertaken shortly after their marriage. It should also be remembered here that prior to the discovery of antibiotics and ant-viral drugs, the sudden death of otherwise healthy individuals due to various viral and bacterial infections was very common as the school log books and parish registers can grimly testify.
Te report in the Daily Mail of Sir Robert's death can be seen by clicking here or scrolling to the bottom. The Daily Express's report for Saturday September 3rd 1932 read as follows:
Rare Germ
Kills Young
Baronet
DELAYED ACTION
PERIL OF THE
DESERT
EXPLORER'S FATE
________
"Daily Express" Special
Correspondent.
MAIDENHEAD, Friday.
A RARE and fatal tropical germ that remains latent in the system for a considerable time has caused the sudden death of Sir Robert Alan Clayton East-Clayton the twenty-four-year-old baronet of ancient ancestry.Sir Robert became ill on Monday and although five doctors and specialists were called and oxygen applied his condition became worse, and he died at his home Hall Place , Hurley, near here last night.It is most probable that the germ that caused death was picked up during his recent travels in the Libyan Desert. The germ induces a condition known as acute anterior poliomyelitis. The disease is similar to infantile paralysis.He went out with Count Ladislas de Almasy to find the lost oasis of Zerzura. The oasis was discovered, but during the expedition Si Robert and his companion were lost in the desert for two days. The privations then endured may, it is thought, have undermined his strength and made him more susceptible to the germ that caused his death.His mother Lady Clayton-East was on a caravan holiday in Scotland when Sir Robert became ill. She was traced by broadcast messages from BBC Scottish stations, and returned to Maidenhead immediately, only to hear that her son had died.Sir Robert was married on February 29 to Miss Dorothy Mary Durrant, the twenty-five year old daughter of the Rev. Arthur Durrant vicar of Leverstock Green, Hertfordshire. She is a talented sculptress.The paper also carried two photographs, one a rather fine studio type portrait of Lady Dorothy from which it could be seen that she bore a strong resemblance to her Mother Mrs. Alice Durrant; the other a smaller portrait of Sir Robert.
An additional snippet of information has recently come to light, in that on the 26th June 1932, the Claytons signed the guest book of the Royal Victoria Hotel in Pisa. As well as their signatures was the name and number of their plane, and the note Cairo-London. They were no doubt en-route for England after their trip to Libya. [Source: e-mail from the present owner of the Royal Victortia Hotel Pisa.] It is interesting to note that, althoug it was Sir Robert who had earlier added the "East Clayton" to his name, thier both signed thier names with just a single Clayton.
Less than six months after her husband's death, Dorothy herself was reported in The Hemel Hempstead Gazette for February 11 1933 as she set off on her own search for a lost oasis in Libya in an attempt to achieve what her husband had been unable to do. It interesting to note that the various newspaper reports I have so far uncovered all spell the name of the oasis slightly differently! They also don't always agree as to the facts. For example, compare the accounts in the Gazette and The Daily Express of Sir Robert's search for the lost Oasis.
LEVERSTOCK GREEN VICAR'S DAUGHTER'S FLIGHT
Lady Clayton to search for lost oasis
The news has been published this week that Lady Clayton East Clayton intends to start at the weekend on a flight to the Libyan Desert to search for the lost Oasis of Zerrura. It is stated that she is to make an attempt to find the oasis in a chain which formed an old caravan route from the Sudan to the coast. Flying in her own aeroplane, Lady East Clayton will use the maps and routes left by her husband, and is taking with her a reserve pilot, Lieut. Comdr. Raundall.
Prior to her marriage to Sir Robert Clayton East Clayton at a London Register Office, on February 29th 1932, Lady Clayton East Clayton was Miss Dorothy Mary Durrant. She is the daughter of the Rev. A. Durrant, Vicar of Leverstock Green. It will be remembered that Sir Robert Clayton East Clayton set off soon after his marriage to find the Oasis, but having been lost in the desert for several days. returned home without success. About five months later he died at his home, Hall Place, Hurley, near Maidenhead, from a form of infantile paralysis. It is believed that he became infected with the germ which caused the infantile paralysis while in Libya.
Lady Clayton East Clayton, who has the consent of the Egyptian Government for the expedition, expects to be away for some two months or so.
Sadly, within seven months of this expedition and within days of her 27th birthday, Dorothy herself was dead.
The following was among the first items in William Hickey's now famous society column in The Daily Express. In the edition for September 16th 1933, at the very end of The Names Make News column, was a small paragraph as follows:
KILLED YESTERDAY IN UNUSUAL AIRPLANE CRASH.
LADY CLAYTON EAST CLAYTON
Young attractive widow of young 9th Baronet. Married February 1932, husband died September 1932. Launched only a few weeks ago, new hairdressing fashion: over and through her blond hair were a sleek natural looking lock of black.
WILLIAM HICKEY [Daily Express]A few days later on September 19th 1933, at the top of page 7 in The Daily Express was splashed the following headline:
Two Fatal Days At Brooklands:
Graphic Inquest Stories
______u_______
LADY CLAYTON'S LEAP
TO DEATH
RACING MOTORIST WHO CRASHED
AT 110 MILES AN HOUR
(The article also included two photographs, one of Lady Clayton, a close-up of her face in her flying helmet. It is difficult to tell from the photo if it was taken at the time of her leap from the plane, or whether it was reproduced from another occasion. Under the photo was the caption: Lady Clayton jumped from her airplane at fifty miles an hour. The other photo was of Flying Officer William Kent who gave evidence at one of the other inquests.)
"Death by Misadventure" was returned in each of the three inquests held at Weybridge yesterday on the victims of the tragic sequence of fatalities at Brooklands on Friday and Saturday.
The victims were:-
Lady Clayton-East -Clayton, widow of Sir Robert Clayton-East-Clayton the explorer who fell from her airplane while it was moving on the ground.
Flying Officer Leslie M. Few, pilot of an RAF Vickers Virginia bomber which crashed on landing: and
Mr. M.B.Watson, the racing motorist, whose machine caught fire and overturned while he was competing in the 500-miles race........................(Then followed details of FO Few's inquest which was held first.)
.................The first witness at the inquest on Lady Dorothy Mary Clayton -East-Clayton was her father, the Rev. Arthur Durrant who said that she was an experienced pilot.
Mr. Max Finlay, instructor at Brooklands Aero Club, said that Lady Clayton was a good amateur pilot. The airplane involved was her own. He had flown in it with her on the day of the accident and the previous day.
George Edward Lawdell, an instructor who was sitting in another machine, said that Lady Clayton's machine suddenly swerved to the left and then to the right.
"I saw her head and shoulders coming out of the cockpit as the machine was gathering speed. She stood up as if she were struggling to undo her safety belt, and jumped when the machine was racing along at fifty miles an hour."
Major Cooper, the air ministry expert, said that the only possible conclusion was that the throttle lever broke, and that Lady Clayton, acting on a sudden impulse leapt out without realising the speed of the machine.
The lever was exposed to the weather, and the breaking was probably due to lack of lubrication. That matter was one entirely for the private owner. The engine was quite controllable even with the lever broken, and it was extraordinary that she did not knock off the switches..........
(The rest was an account of Mr. Watson's inquest.)
Another national, The Times ran the following obituary on September 22nd:
LADY CLAYTON EAST CLAYTONThe funeral of Lady Clayton East Clayton took place yesterday in Leverstock Green Churchyard, Hertfordshire, conducted by the Rev. C.S. Carey and the Rev. Douglas Pelly (uncle). The chief mourners were:-
The Rev. A Durrant (father), Major and Mrs George Anson (brother-in-law and sister), Mr G.F. Norman Durrant (uncle), Miss Ella Durrant (aunt), Mr. & Mrs. Reginald Woolley (cousins), the Rev. Arthur Hackblock (uncle), Mr. Reginald G. Durrant (cousin), Mrs. Douglas Pelly (aunt), Brigadier-General Theodore Pelly and Mrs. Pelly (uncle & aunt), Miss Pamela Pelly (cousin), Mrs Godfrey Lawford and Mrs. Mortimer Rowland (aunts), the Hon. Blanche Arundell, and Mrs. Ada Rosedale (cousin).
Others present included:-
Lady Clayton-East, Miss Clayton-East, Colonel & Lady Janet Bailey, Miss J. Bailey, Mr. Douglas J. Bailey, Mr. O.N.Bailey, Mrs. Mitchell Innes, Miss P. Seymour, Miss J. Seymour, the Rev. F.C.Clare, Miss A. Campbell, Miss N. Campbell, Mrs.F. Rodd, Mr. G.G.R.Rodd, Mr. & Mrs. Rodd, Mr. Peter Rodd, the Rev. A.C. Jefferies, Miss Streatfield, Mr. Brown Teders, Lieutenant-Commander Rondell, Mr. Andrew Tracey, Mr. Claud Brighten, Mr. P. Webster and Mrs. A. Tuke.
It would seem that her rank, coupled with the fact that her death was the result of a flying accident, and anything to do with flying at the time was news - especially if it involved a woman - put the story of Lady Dorothy's death very much into the national, rather than local scene. No doubt , National papers other than The Times and The Express carried articles on her, and her death was also noted in specialist journals of the day. Flight magazine, for September 21st 1933 reported as follows:
" Accidents at Brooklands - It is with the greatest regret that FLIGHT has to record the death of Lady Clayton East-Clayton, which took place at Brooklands aerodrome on Friday September 15th. It appears that as she was about to take off., and when the machine was travelling across the ground, Lady Clayton climbed on to the edge of the cockpit abs dropped out on to the aerodrome. If, as at seems most likely, the throttle of the machine in some way or other jammed or broke off near the hand lever, it is difficult to explain why the pilot did not resort to the obvious remedy of switching off the engine. Another accident also occurred at Brooklands on the same day, due it seems to an error or judgement on the part of the pilot....." [S308]
Half a century later in the Vintage Aircraft Magazine, (No 28, Autumn 1983), the following eyewitness account of Lady Dorothy's death was reported by Bill in his reminiscences on Brooklands as he remembered it:
"..........But there was a dark side. I was there when Lady Clayton East-Clayton somehow contrived to fall out of her Spartan Arrow right in front of the Clubhouse as she was taking off one September morning in 1933. Her injuries were fatal and the aeroplane had to remain there until the Air Ministry Accident Inspector arrived, to Duncan Davis' disgust as he thought this unconduisive to Club recruitment.".
The article also included a stunning aerial view of the Brooklands Aero Club, and surrounding race track, as well as a photograph of Lady Dorothy's Spartan Arrow plane, A-CHF - before the fatal accident.
The following long article is from the Hemel Hempstead Gazette of Saturday September 23 1933:
TRAGIC DEATH OF VICAR'S DAUGHTER KILLED AT BROOKLANDS
FUNERAL AT LEVERSTOCK GREEN
The people of the district were profoundly shocked on Friday last to hear the news of the tragic death of Lady Clayton East Clayton, the explorer, and daughter of the Rev. and late Mrs Durrant of Leverstock Green. Lady Clayton East Clayton was killed when she fell from an aeroplane at Brooklands.
The machine was taxiing along the ground at about 60 miles an hour, just before taking off, when Lady Clayton fell or jumped from the cockpit, striking the ground with great force.
HUNT FOR LOST OASIS
Sir Robert Clayton East Clayton died at his home, Hall Place, Hurley, near Maidenhead, almost exactly a year ago from a mysterious disease believed to have been contracted while searching for a lost oasis in the Libyan desert.
He met Lady Clayton on an ocean voyage and they were married on Leap Year Day last year. As Miss Dorothy Durrant she had already achieved a reputation as a sculptress. Sir Robert was then 24 and an officer in the Royal Navy. The couple decided to devote themselves to exploring.
Their first mission was to discover the lost oasis of Zerzuza. They went to Egypt and obtained permission of the Egyptian authorities to carry out their quest. Sir Robert went alone by motor and aeroplane, leaving Lady Clayton behind.
The expedition was unsuccessful and Sir Robert returned to England, where he fell ill and died suddenly last September.
Last February, a year after her marriage, Lady Clayton made a second attempt by aeroplane to discover the lost oasis. She was accompanied by a reserve pilot, Lt-Comdr. Raundall. This expedition also failed.
THE INQUEST
The inquest was held on Monday and the Rev. A. Durrant gave evidence. He said that his daughter was an experienced air pilot.
Max Finlay, a flying instructor to the Brooklands club, said Lady Clayton - East Clayton was a very good amateur pilot, she held an "A" licence. She had been flying alone for about 18 months. The machine was a light aeroplane of the Spartan type, new this year, and was her own property. Apart from another member of the club who flew to Folkestone, four or five weeks ago, nobody had been in it apart from Lady Clayton and himself.
On the morning of the accident he flew in the machine with Lady Clayton. He was in the front cockpit, where he had the controls. but Lady Clayton actually controlled the machine during the half hour they were in the air.
Mr Finlay explained that although Lady Clayton was a good pilot, it was not unusual for owners to invite the instructor to take the first flight of the day with them. She had not been in the machine for four or five weeks, except on a flight the day before, as she had been abroad.
While she was away the machine was in a Brooklands Aero Club hangar. It would not be overhauled without her instructions, and she had not given any.
The broken control rod of the machine was produced in court.
The coroner (to Mr Finlay): If the control rod broke away, what would happen? The throttle would remain where it was. If it were open it would remain open.
And Lady Clayton being in the back would have no means of stopping the engine? Yes, she would, There was the switch. All she had to do was to put her hand over the side and switch off.
Did she know that? Oh yes. She had used the switches.
Mr Finlay agreed with Major Cooper (Air Ministry inspector of accidents) that it was customary for private owners to have their machines looked over at the end of very 25 hours' flying. As his machine had been flying about 25 hours she would probably have had it looked over shortly.
Ernest Nicholls, chief inspector of the Spartan Aircraft Company who had made the machine, said it left the works on June 28th. The throttle control lever which had broken off was obviously rusty. After it had broken off , the thing to do was switch off the engine with the other lever.
Mr Nicholls agreed that if the lever came off in the pilot's hand when the machine was taking off it would be very embarrassing and possibly difficult.
George Edward Lowdell, an aviation instructor, said he was sitting in his machine, ready to take off, when he saw Lady Clayton's machine suddenly swerve to the left and then to the right. Then he saw her head and shoulders completely out of the cockpit. The machine meanwhile was gathering speed.
"She stood up in the machine as if she were struggling and endeavouring to undo her safety belt." Mr Lowdell continued: "She got her right foot out on the right side of the fuselage and then jumped when the machine was racing along at about 50 miles per hour."
Marcus Michael Kaye said he was sitting outside the clubhouse watching the flying and saw Lady Clayton's machine swerve.
"As it came opposite the clubhouse I saw the pilot apparently getting out of the machine. She fumbled with her safety belt and stood up in the pilot's seat. Then she leapt or was thrown from the machine. She turned a somersault as she fell to the ground."
Dr Gardner said Lady Clayton was unconscious when she was admitted to hospital. She had a broken arm and bruises on the head. Her condition was hopeless and she died within about an hour from cerebral haemorrhage due to a fracture of the skull. The fracture was consistent with falling on the hard ground.
Major Cooper said the only defect in the machine not manifestly due to the crash was the broken throttle control lever and rod. He thought that the lever could have been operated satisfactorily if it had not been allowed to become rusty. The fracture was probably the result of lack of lubrication.
A verdict of "Death from misadventure" was returned.
THE FUNERAL
The funeral of Lady Clayton East Clayton took place at Leverstock Green Church on Thursday. The clergy and choir preceding the cortege were met at the church door by the crucifix, thurifier and acolytes. Psalms 39 and 90 were chanted and the Rev. Douglas Pelly, uncle of the deceased, read the lesson. The service and committal rites at the graveside were conducted by the Rev. C. S. Cary, of St Saviour's. St Albans. The hymn "Abide with me" was sung, and Mrs Grimwood, who was at the organ, played as the cortege left the church, "Pleasant are They Courts Above".
The grave was next to that of Lady Clayton East Clayton's mother and had been lined with variegated ivy, Michaelmas daisies and asters. Rain fell heavily throughout the solemn service but this did not prevent a large number of villagers attending to pay a last tribute of respect.
When I first read the above Gazette report, not only was I saddened by her story, but found it very easy to picture as I was intimately aquainted with Brooklands and Weybridge Cottage Hospital where she would have been taken after the accident. My father moved from the Isle of Wight to work at Vickers-Armstrong, the aircraft manufacturers based at Brooklands (Weybridge, in Surrey) in 1955, where he continued to work until his retirement in 1983 - though by then it was known as British Aerospace; the most famous of all the aeroplanes designed at Brooklands, and on which both my parents worked being Concorde. My mother also worked there from about 1963, and for much of that time she worked in an office immediately next door to the Brooklands Clubhouse, (built in 1907 when Brooklands was built as the world's first motor-racing track,) which for most of the time I knew it served as one of the canteens or "the mess" for the white-collar staff at the factory. What was left of the motor-racing trackway and embankment was an integral part of the factory. The Aero Clubhouse - a 1930's Art-Deco building, was on the Byfleet side of the track, and had only just been opened at the time of Dorothy's fatal accident immediately in front of it. This building is still standing, and is now used as offices. It is also frequently filmed for its architectural style and had featured in episodes of Poirot and similar dramas set in the early 1930's. When my parents worked at British Aerospace it was used as the Sports and Social Club for the staff, and I had attended several functions there over the years.
Most people will be familiar with the film: Those Magnificent Men In Their Flying Machines. Although set in the pre First War Years, rather than the early thirties of Dorothy's time, and Featured the Great Air Race; the film was a parody of what actually took place at Brooklands and the Great Air Race of 1911. Brooklands was called Brookley in the film, but included many real film clips from Brooklands, and everyone who remembers the film will remember the sewage works, and the dome of the Clubhouse used as a lookout and from which the fire-engine was summoned every time a plane crash landed. These features really existed, and the smell from the sewerage works was part of my childhood! Pilots overshooting the small runway at Brooklands frequently ended up sampling its waters!
Reading on I was shattered to find my grandfather -Ernest Nicholls - mentioned in the account of the inquest. As far as I knew at the time he had worked for Saunders-Roe at East Cowes on the Isle of Wight. As he had retired shortly after I was born, and died when I was 9 I had not been familiar with what he had done. It turns out that the Spartan Company was a subsidiary of Saunders-Roe; and that Granddad had risen to become not only their Chief Inspector of Aircraft for Spartan and Saunders-Roe, but also prior to the establishment of the Air Registration board, he was area surveyor for Lloyds Register of Shipping in connection with issuing air worthiness certificates to planes. It was therefore not really surprising that he should be called to give evidence at Dorothy's inquest.
My husband Martin,our two sons and I were spurred into a nostalgic days outing to the Brooklands Museum, but they had no information about Dorothy other than that which I could give them, and to which I can now add. I have written to Dame Barbara Cartland who was an important member of the Brooklands Motor Racing Club in the 1920's and 30's and who also flew her own planes at Brooklands, but she cannot recollect Dorothy at all. A helpful member of staff from The Isle of Wight County Press has sent me a copy of my grandfather's obituary, and has promised to see if they can find a report on the incident in the County Press of the time, as the plane hadn't long left the Spartan works on the Island when the fatal accident occurred.
For anyone wishing for an enjoyable outing, I would recommend a visit to the Brooklands Museum. The old clubhouse has been lovingly restored and has lots of interesting exhibits including many early automobiles and racing cars as well as a history of the motor racing industry. They have a restored "Motoring Village" just as it would have been in the 1930's, and the remaining section of racing embankment is a truly impressive site, especially when viewed from the Members Bridge. They also have a large display of aircraft, most of which were built or flown at Brooklands, including the Wellington Bomber pulled out of Loch Ness not so many years ago. It is a museum well worth a trip around the M25 to reach, and of interest to all age groups. Telephone the Museum on 01932 857381 for a leaflet giving details and how to get there.
Dorothy & the link to The English Patient.
But Dorothy's story was not to end there. The film crew who had originally set me off on further detailed research into the Durrants, also led to the near certainty that Dorothy Durrant was the real life inspiration for the heroin in the book The English Patient. The following are two articles I wrote for Chambersbury News which will explain.
"The English Patient" at Holy Trinity.
I never imagined when I began delving into the history of Leverstock Green, that I would end up spending three hours wandering around and in Holy Trinity fully wired for sound, virtually blind (as I had whilst inside the church to remove my glasses as they reflected badly in the camera lens!), and accompanied by a five man film crew whilst being interviewed to camera for a Television documentary. Even less did I imagine that the story of an adventurous daughter of one of our past Vicar's would turn out to have been the inspiration for a character in a novel, which subsequently was turned into an extremely successful and well know film. Truth often turns out stranger than fiction, and there have been plenty of interesting twists and turns in this particular tale.
Those of you who read my articles last year on Lady Dorothy Clayton East Clayton née Durrant, daughter of Holy Trinity's Vicar Rev. Arthur Durrant, will recall that she died tragically in September 1933, aged only 26, as a result of an aircraft accident at Brooklands in Surrey. She was buried in Holy Trinity's churchyard next door to her mother, and three years later her father was laid to rest on her other side.
Dorothy had been the youngest of the Durrant children, and the only one to be born and brought up in Leverstock Green. She didn't go to the village school, but had a governess at the Vicarage to provide her education. Little is know about Dorothy until her marriage to Sir Robert Clayton East Clayton on February 29th 1932 at a London Registry office, other than she had apparently made something of a name for herself as a sculptress. Sir Robert was an officer in the Royal Navy, attached to the RAF, and they apparently met whilst on an ocean voyage. After their marriage they announced they were going to devote their lives to exploration, and it wasn't long before they set off to the Libyan Desert, together with Count Ladislas D'Almasy, other RAF personnel, and a member of the Egyptian Government Desert Survey to try to find a lost Oasis. It is however, unclear whether this expedition was a military one or a purely personal enterprise.
A few months after their return from this failed expedition Sir Robert was taken fatally ill with what was reported to have been a type of acute anterior poliomyelitis, supposedly picked up whilst Sir Robert was in the Libyan Desert. A year following Sir Robert's death Dorothy is known to have gone back to the Desert to see if she could find the lost oasis; later travelling on an expedition to Lapland.
Dorothy was an experience pilot, and it was whilst manoevering her Spartan Arrow plane in front of the newly built Brooklands Aero Club building, that the throttle leaver apparently broke. Evidence is somewhat confusing after that, but it would seem that Dorothy either jumped out of the plane or was thrown out, but she somersaulted and hit her head on the hard runway surface. The injury proved fatal.
There had always seemed to me and many others who read the accounts of the inquest and various other reports, that there was something not quite right about the whole accident, particularly given that the plane was only a few moths old and as it was still Autumn hadn't yet been exposed to the vagaries of a British winter; in addition the plane had been flown quite happily and jointly by Dorothy and an instructor earlier that day without problems. Yet despite this, the throttle leaver had broken off completely -according to contemporary reports it was suggested that it had rusted through and was lacking in lubrication. Although not impossible, this does seem highly improbable
Which brings me back to the film crew. Janet Osen, a researcher who works for Four Feathers Film Inc. from New Jersey in the States has undertaken some research which is tending to suggest that the accident to the plane may have been as a result of sabotage - and it is just remotely possible that her husband's death was too. When they went on the expedition to Libya, Sir Robert was accompanied by a Count Ladislas D'Almasy. Yet it is reported that there was extreme animosity between Dorothy and the Count, though no one seemed to know why. An article in The Sunday Times, 2nd May 2004 has now shed light in this, stating that " The real Dorothy Clayton despised Almasy becasue he was homosexual". They went on to quote John Bierman, a former BBC foreign affairs correspondant who has spent years undertaking research for his book "The Secret Life of Laszio Almasy" as saying that: "She would never even shake his hand in public."
At the time of both the original expedition, and later Dorothy's own, the situation in Europe was beginning to head towards war. Perhaps Dorothy and her husband had stumbled on something in the desert they shouldn't know about, or perhaps the Count had affinities with the growing power of Hitler and Nazi Germany; perhaps he resented Dorothy's influence as a new wife over Sir Robert. Although speculation, there is enough circumstantial evidence to make the whole story of Sir Robert and Lady Dorothy their explorations and their tragic deaths an important part of a series of American TV documentaries entitled "Mirage: The World War II Desert Series". What makes it even more interesting is that it would seem Leverstock Green's own Dorothy Durrant was the real life person on whom the character Katherine Clifton in the novel "The English Patient" was loosely based. The novel which was subsequently turned into an award winning film by Minghella.
Nearly seventy-years after her death, Dorothy's story meant that the full paraphernalia of a roving film crew - cameraman, lighting man, sound man, the director and the researcher, together with their driver and mountains of extremely hi tech equipment descended on Holy Trinity which became an "outside location" for three hours. The verdict of the film crew was that they were really glad they came (originally the intention was to interview me in London) as not only was the church "real pretty, and looks just like the old pictures", the graveyard was looking at its best, with numerous wild flowers in full bloom, and there was plenty of colour from the plants in the borders. The sun shone over everything, and even bushes were in just the right places to screen out the Trinity Room and the oil tank -this please the cameraman greatly.
However, having today been walked continuously round the churchyard in the very hot sun, sometimes backwards whilst making sure I didn't look directly at the camera, or trip over the sound recordist; then boiled by great banks of lights inside the church whilst a huge boom hovered over my head and I was made to repeat a phrase for the umpteenth time, I have decided that film actors and TV personalities perhaps have to work harder than I had thought!
Barbara Chapman
15th June 1999 - updated 18th august 2007
The English Patient - a postscriptby Barbara ChapmanFollowing my article in last month's Chambersbury News, I've been fortunate to borrow both the video and the Booker Prize winning novel (1992) of The English Patient from the library; intrigued to see if I too could link Dorothy Durrant to the Katherine Clifton in the story.
Although I have yet to read more than a few chapters of the book, there is an obvious link between Dorothy and the story in the person of "the English patient" Count Ladislaus D'Almásy. He was a genuine Hungarian explorer, educated and living in England and who as a member of the Royal Geographic Society undertook explorations in the desert, including that in 1932 in which Sir Robert Clayton and his new wife took part. Indeed the cover photograph on the copy of the novel I've been loaned was one of Almásy's, taken during that particular expedition, and now amongst the archive of the Royal Geographical Society in London.
With the Count retaining his own name in the book, and the obvious connection to Zerzura in the Libyan desert, it is not too large a leap of imagination to infer that the newly married couple Geoffrey and Katherine Clifton of the book's expedition in search of Zerzura were based on the genuine newly weds Sir Robert and Lady Dorothy Clayton - even the names Clayton and Clifton only differ by two letters.
The preface to the book (fictional) begins:
"Most of you, I am sure, remember the tragic circumstances of the death of Geoffrey Clifton at Gilf Kebir, followed later by the disappearance of his wife Katherine Clifton, which took place during the 1939 desert expedition in search of Zerzura..................
I shall be interested to see how many other similarities are obvious between what is currently known about Dorothy Clayton née Durrant, and the character in the book. The disclaimer in the book states "that the portraits of the characters who appear in it are fictitional, as are some of the events and journeys." It is however, interesting to speculate how much is fiction, and how much drawn from fact.
POSTSCRIPTS, JULY 2001/2002
Although I have heard no further from the film company, I did undertake a search on the Internet recently with DOROTHY CLAYTON EAST CLAYTON. The result was amazing. There are a large number of sites which refer to her and her husband quite clearly as the models for Katherine Clifton and her husband in the novels. There is also a great deal of information concerning the search by numerous bodies in the 1920's and 30's for the lost oasis, and various related material. I even found the "lost oasis" to be one of the strands in the Amelia Peabody Novel "The Last Camel Died at Noon" by Elizabeth Peters.
If you can add to my information on Lady Dorothy, and particulaly if you have photographs of her, members of ther family or her art work, please let me know.
Barbara Chapman
