Anne Wignall Explained
| Anne Wignall |
| Pseudonym: | Alice Acland, Anne Marreco |
| Birth Name: | Anne Acland-Troyte |
| Birth Date: | 12 June 1912 |
| Birth Place: | Kensington, London, England |
| Death Place: | Tiverton, Devon, England |
| Resting Place: | All Saints Church, Huntsham |
| Occupation: | Novelist, Biographer |
| Children: | 3 including 8th Earl of Wilton |
| Relatives: | Sir Gilbert Acland-Troyte (uncle), Charles Pym (grandfather), Sir Thomas Acland, 10th Baronet (great great grandfather) |
Anne Wignall, known as Baroness Ebury [1] [2] and Lady Ebury (née Acland-Troyte; 12 June 1912 – 23 June 1982), was an English socialite and author known as Alice Acland and Anne Marreco.
Family life
Anne Wignall was born Anne Acland-Troyte in the London Borough of Kensington, the daughter of Herbert Walter Acland-Troyte and Marjorie Florence Pym. She had one younger brother, John Acland-Troyte.
She married:
- On 1 July 1933, the 5th Baron Ebury (1914-1957). They had two sons, Francis Egerton Grosvenor, 8th Earl of Wilton (born 1934) and the Hon. Robert Victor Grosvenor (1936–1993). They were divorced in 1941. During their marriage they lived at Redheath (now York House School), Croxley Green, Watford,[3] Kingston Bagpuize House, North Berkshire (now in Oxfordshire)[4] and Day's House (now Philberd's Manor[5]), East Hanney, Berkshire.[6]
- On 23 December 1941, Henry Peregrine Rennie Hoare (1901–1981). They were divorced in 1947.
- On 13 November 1947, Lt.-Col. Frederick Wignall (1906–1956). They had one daughter, Caroline Louisa Wignall (born 1948). She was widowed in 1956.[7]
- On 25 September 1961, Anthony Marreco (1915–2006), a junior counsel at the Nuremberg Trials, and later a founding director of Amnesty International.
She changed her name back to Wignall by deed poll in 1969 and died in 1982 in Tiverton, Devon.[8] She is buried in the churchyard at All Saints Church, Huntsham close to her father's ancestral seat, Huntsham Court.
Bibliography
Anne Wignall wrote 11 books under two different names:[9]
As Alice Acland
- Caroline Norton (Constable, 1948), a biography of the English social reformer and author
- Templeford Park (Constable, 1954), a tale of country life in contemporary 1950s Britain
- A Stormy Spring (Constable, 1955), a novel set in Sussex, Bruges and Paris, about the life of a fictional young lady, Emily Satersham
- A Second Choice (Constable, 1956), a novel about a young girl in love with a philandering middle-aged married man
- A Person of Discretion (Collins, 1958), story of three sisters from Brussels becoming entangled in the black market and the resistance during the closing stages of the Second World War
- The Corsican Ladies (Peter Davies Ltd, 1974), historical novel based on the extensive autobiographical writings of Laure Junot
- The Secret Wife (Peter Davies Ltd, 1975), a historical novel based on the life of Françoise d'Aubigné
- The Ruling Passion (Peter Davies Ltd, 1976), historical novel based on the life of Diane de Poitiers, a mistress of Henry IV of France
As Anne Marreco
- The Charmer and the Charmed (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1963), a comedy of manners, in which the wife of a publisher falls in love with one of her husband's authors
- The Boat Boy (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1964), a novel in which the anti-hero brings chaos to rural Ireland
- The Rebel Countess – The Life and Times of Constance Markievicz (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1967), a biography of the Irish revolutionary and politician
Notes and References
- Web site: Burke's Peerage 107th Edition. C. Mosley. 19 May 2023 . [page 165] - After her marriage, Anne Acland-Troyte was styled as Baroness Ebury of Ebury Manor on 1 July 1933. From 1 July 1933, her married name became Grosvenor..
- Book: Debrett's Peerage . 1973 . Kelly's Directories . 1253 . 19 May 2023 . EBURY, BARON . (Grosvenor .) [Baron U.K. 1857. ] M VIRTUS NON - STEMMA ... Anne WIGNALL, da . of the late Major Herbert Walter Acland - Troyte, M.C. ... Hoare [M. Bristol ] ; 3rdly, 1947, as his second wife.
- The Sketch . The Sketch . 383 . 29 August 1934.
- The Bystander . The Bystander. 1707 . 1 . 2 September 1936.
- Book: Traditional Buildings in the Oxford Region . John Steane & James Ayres . Oxbow Books . 2013.
- Tatler . The Tatler . 1996 . 553 . 27 September 1939 . Addison . Joseph . Steele . Richard .
- Book: Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage . Patrick Montague-Smith . 1976.
- Book: Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage . Patrick Montague-Smith . 1976.
- Book: International Who's Who of Authors and Writers 2004 . Europa Publications . Psychology Press . 2003 . 578 . 9781857431797.
