The story really begins in Scotland where there is a village named
after the Cartlands and where the family are reported in ancient
Chronicles as being in Lanarkshire as far back as AD 1200. Some of the
Cartlands moved south and Barbara Cartland's Great Grandfather had an
estate in Worcestershire. At the time of the Industrial Revolution in
1840 he moved to Warwickshre and built a large house in open
countryside at a place which is now known as Kings Norton in
Birmingham. A wealthy man with a Brass Factory in Birmingham, his
second son, James Cartland, became a great Financier and Barbara
Cartland's Grandfather.
James
Cartland helped to build up the City of Birmingham and was twice
offered a Baronetcy and a Knighthood - all of which he refused. James
married Flora Falkner who was a direct descendant of King Robert the
Bruce of Scotland. The couple only had one son, James Bertram Falkner
Cartland, who fell in love and married with Mary ( Polly ) Hamilton
Scobell. The couple moved to Worcestershire and on July 9th 1901 at
Vectis Lodge, Edgbaston - Barbara Cartland (Mary Barbara Hamilton
Cartland ) was born.
The
family, were originally born into an enviable degree of middle
class security, but the suicide of her paternal grandfather left them
short of money. The family were forced to move to Amerie Court in
Pershore. Tragedy struck once again when Major James Cartland was
killed in France in the final weeks of the ending of the First World
War. Barbara Cartland was just seventeen. When asked by her mother
where she would like to live, Barbara Cartland chose London and the
family, including her two brothers Ronald and Anthony, subsequently
moved to the capital. Her enterprising mother opened a London dress
shop to make ends meet "Poor I may be," Polly Cartland once said, "but
common I am not". Anthony and Ronald would both be killed in battle,
one day apart, in 1940.
After
attending Malvern Girls' College and Abbey House, an educational
institution in Hampshire, Cartland became a successful journalist and a
gossip columnist. Her first novel, "Jigsaw," was published in 1923. It
was a huge success and Barbara Cartland began to write seriously in
order to earn money.
In
1927 Barbara Cartland married Alexander George McCorquodale, a
former Officer of the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders who was heir to
a British printing fortune. They had a daughter called Raine who became
"Deb of the Year" in 1947 and much later the stepmother of Diana,
Prince of Wales.
In
1935, Barbara's brother, Ronald, was working in the Conservative
Central Office and anxious to become a candidate in the Labour held
Kings Norton Division of Birmingham. In those days a Member of
Parliament had to pay their own expenses of around £1,000. Ronald was
only earning £4 a week.
These
were turbulent times for the family as Barbara, had now divorced
her husband whose family confiscated his money and left Barbara and
Raine, aged four, with a Marriage Settlement of £500 per annum. The
divorce involved charges and countercharges of infidelity and Barbara
Cartland would later marry one of the men Alexander McCorquodale
accused her of dallying with, his cousin - Hugh Mc Corquodale.
At
this time Barbara Cartland was writing for a weekly magazine and
several newspapers but always under an assumed name so that no one knew
who the writer was. Determined that her brother should stand for Kings
Norton she wrote 10,000 words a day in order to pay for his Election
Expenses. The house that her Grandfather had built was still in Kings
Norton. Labour decided to field a well known politician. Barbara
Cartland wrote and canvassed on behalf of her brother who finally won
with a majority of nearly 6000. All the hard work and commitment had
paid off.
Ronald
and Anthony Cartland were both killed in the Second World War.
At the entrance to Tewkesbury Abbey in Gloucestershire there is a
Calvary erected to the memory of Barbara Cartland's Father, Mother and
two Brothers. Cartland Road in Kings Norton is named after the family.
Barbara Cartland went on to write a biography about Ronald which
included his best political speeches.
In 1936 Barbara Cartland married Hugh McCorquodale, an officer of the
Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders and who had received the Military Cross
for Gallantry. The couple had two sons, Ian and Glen. Barbara Cartland
speaks fondly about the family visits to Scotland.
"
I travel all over the world. I am thrilled by the exotic beauty of the
East and the vital virility of the West.
But
as I turn for home, my heart is in the Highlands"
Barbara
Cartland lived at Camfield Place, Hatfield, Hertfordshire. The
family still own the Estate which was originally settled on by a Knight
in 1275. It once featured a Tudor Manor House which was pulled down by
Beatrix Potter's Grandfather who rebuilt the house in 1867. Beatrix
Potter wrote that Camfield was the place that she loved best and where
she wrote "The Tale of Peter Rabbit. The estate features an Oak Tree,
planted by H.M. Queen Elizabeth in 1550 whilst she was imprisoned at
Hatfield.
Camfield Place, Hatfield,
Hertfordshire.
In
1989 Barbara Cartland was the first person ever to appear twice on
the famous television show 'This is your Life'
Barbara Cartland has championed many causes and taken part in a variety
of projects. She has been a County Councillor for nine years, drawn
attention to the condition of Housing and Homes for the elderly and
even had the law changed in order that Romany children should go to
school. This was one of the most unpopular causes she had ever
attempted but the provision of camps for Romany gypsies is down to
Barbara Cartland. She helped set up fourteen county council camps in
Hertfordshire and other counties followed suit. There is even a camp
named after her - Barbaraville!
You
might be tempted into thinking that Barbara Cartland lived in a
fantasy pink world of imagination if it were not for the fact that she
has achieved many great things. Her interests have been extensive and
she has even written countless books and articles about health and
encouraged the use of alternative medicine. In fact, Barbara Cartland
answered 40,000 letters a year, of which, 30,000 were about health. She
frequently wrote journals and reports about health products which was
unpaid work. This is a lady who was very much 'in touch' with the
modern world.
Barbara
Cartland was awarded for Achievement by Prime Minister Chirac
of France the honour bestowed upon her by the City of Paris in a
country where over thirty million copies her books had been sold. Since
this time the figure has risen to over sixty million.
Barbara
Cartland always had a soft spot for Birmingham and
visited it regularly for appearances on Pebble Mill and Birmingham
radio stations. She gave many interviews to Birmingham newspapers and
in particular the 'Birmingham Post' and she always said she was
delighted to have been born in a great city and proud of everything
that Birmingham had achieved.
Barbara
Cartland touched so many lives. Our thanks go to Ian
McCorquodale for providing us with his mothers final farewell - "How I
want to be Remembered", a document detailing her family history and an
insight into her ninety six years which have been saddened by family
tragedy and ecstatically happy through her love of her family.
Barbara
acknowledges that she has been shown great kindness and also a
certain amount of teasing and ridicule by the Press. However, according
to her publishers she has produced 724 books, sold over a billion
copies and entered the Guinness Book of Records as the best selling
author in the World. Published in every country this amazing lady can
afford to rise above those who might make fun of her. This marvellous
woman is beyond ridicule and has no need to prove anything to anyone.
The facts speak for themselves. Barbara Cartland is the most successful
writer of romantic fiction of all time. And - she was born in
Birmingham!
Barbara
Cartland was an amazingly prolific author. When her books were
selling so well in the late 1970's, her American and English publishers
came to her and asked for more Barbara Cartlands to satisfy the
demanding audience.
She
then doubled her output from 10 books a year to 20 books a year,
and this at the age of 77! She kept this up, extraordinarily for 20
years, between the ages of 77 and 97. This is something that has never
been achieved before by any author.
Eventually,
even her publishers could not cope with her output and when
she died in 2000 she left a legacy of 160 unpublished manuscripts which
are now being published by her son, Ian, on the internet and by mail
order, under the banner of the Barbara Cartland Pink Collection.
Will
there ever again be a writer with such genius and prolific writing
skills?
Awards
1945
- Received Certificate of Merit, Eastern Command, for being Welfare
Officer to 5000 troops in Bedfordshire
1953
- Made a Commander of the Order of St.John of Jerusalem. Invested by
H.R.H. The Duke of Gloucester at Buckingham Palace.
1972
- Invested as Dame of Grace of the Order of St.john in London by The
Lord Prior, Lord Cacia.
1981
- Recieves 'Achiever of the Year' from the National Home
Furnishing Association in Colorado Springs, U.S.A. for her designs for
wallpaper and fabrics.
1984
- Receives Bishop Wright Air Industry Award at Kennedy Airport for
inventing the aeroplane-towed Glider.
1988
- Recieves from Monsieur Chirac, The Prime Minister, the Gold
Medal of the City of Paris, at the Hotel de la Ville, Paris, for
selling 25 million books and giving a lot of employment.
1991
- Invested as Dame of the Order of the British Empire, by H.M. The
Queen at Buckingham Palace for her contribution to Literature.
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