Iris Vivienne Morley (10 May 1910 – 27 July 1953) was an English historian, writer and journalist.
Morley was born at Carshalton, Surrey, the daughter of Colonel Lyddon Charteris Morley CBE and Gladys Vivienne Charteris Braddell.[1] She married Ronald Gordon Coates of the Devonshire Regiment on 10 January 1929. The couple divorced in 1934 and she married Alaric Jacob on 2 August 1934.
With Jacob, she was in America for a period where he was based as a foreign correspondent, and they stayed there until the beginning of World War II. During the war, she wrote her trilogy of historical novels - Cry Treason (1940), We Stood For Freedom (1941) and The Mighty Years (1943) - with James Scott, the Duke of Monmouth, and William III, as central characters. Jacob was away for two years at this time reporting from war zones.[2]
She accompanied her husband to Moscow in January 1944[3] and wrote her work Soviet Ballet published in 1945. Morley was a journalist for The Observer and The Yorkshire Post. She became a Communist and her ideas strongly influenced her husband. She appears in Jacob's book Scenes from a Bourgeois Life published in 1949 as Miranda Ireton.[4]
That same year, she and her husband were included on Orwell's list of people he considered unsuitable to be authors for the Information Research Department. This list was prepared in March 1949 by George Orwell for his friend Celia Kirwan at the IRD, a propaganda unit set up at the Foreign Office by the Labour government.[5]
In August 1948, Jacob had joined the BBC monitoring service at Caversham, but in February 1951 he was "suddenly refused establishment rights, which meant he would receive no pension."[6] By this, time Jacob and his wife were separated but his establishment and pension rights were only restored shortly after Iris Morley died in 1953.[7]
Jacob and Morley had a daughter. After her death he married the actress Kathleen Byron.
Publicationsedit
The Proud Paladin New York: William Morrow & Co, 1936
Cry Treason London: Peter Davies, 1940
We Stood for Freedom New York: William Morrow and Co, 1942
The Mighty Years London: Peter Davies, 1943
Soviet Ballet London: Collins, 1945
Nothing but Propaganda London: Peter Davies, 1946
Not Without Fantasy London: Peter Davies, 1947
The Rose and the Star In collaboration with Phyllis Manchester 1949
^Alaric Jacob Scenes from a Bourgeois Life Secker & Warburg 1949
^The Guardian John Ezard Blair's babe Did love turn Orwell into a government stooge? Saturday 21 June 2003
^Mark Hollingsworth and Richard Norton-Taylor: "Blacklist: The Inside Story of Political Vetting", Hogarth Press 1988
^Timothy Garton Ash: "Orwell's List", The New York Review of Books, Nr. 14, 25 September 2003
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography Brian Pearce, ‘Morley , Iris Vivienne (1910–1953)’, rev., first published September 2004
April 11, 2024
iris, morley, iris, vivienne, morley, 1910, july, 1953, english, historian, writer, journalist, morley, born, carshalton, surrey, daughter, colonel, lyddon, charteris, morley, gladys, vivienne, charteris, braddell, married, ronald, gordon, coates, devonshire, . Iris Vivienne Morley 10 May 1910 27 July 1953 was an English historian writer and journalist Morley was born at Carshalton Surrey the daughter of Colonel Lyddon Charteris Morley CBE and Gladys Vivienne Charteris Braddell 1 She married Ronald Gordon Coates of the Devonshire Regiment on 10 January 1929 The couple divorced in 1934 and she married Alaric Jacob on 2 August 1934 With Jacob she was in America for a period where he was based as a foreign correspondent and they stayed there until the beginning of World War II During the war she wrote her trilogy of historical novels Cry Treason 1940 We Stood For Freedom 1941 and The Mighty Years 1943 with James Scott the Duke of Monmouth and William III as central characters Jacob was away for two years at this time reporting from war zones 2 She accompanied her husband to Moscow in January 1944 3 and wrote her work Soviet Ballet published in 1945 Morley was a journalist for The Observer and The Yorkshire Post She became a Communist and her ideas strongly influenced her husband She appears in Jacob s book Scenes from a Bourgeois Life published in 1949 as Miranda Ireton 4 That same year she and her husband were included on Orwell s list of people he considered unsuitable to be authors for the Information Research Department This list was prepared in March 1949 by George Orwell for his friend Celia Kirwan at the IRD a propaganda unit set up at the Foreign Office by the Labour government 5 In August 1948 Jacob had joined the BBC monitoring service at Caversham but in February 1951 he was suddenly refused establishment rights which meant he would receive no pension 6 By this time Jacob and his wife were separated but his establishment and pension rights were only restored shortly after Iris Morley died in 1953 7 Jacob and Morley had a daughter After her death he married the actress Kathleen Byron Publications editThe Proud Paladin New York William Morrow amp Co 1936 Cry Treason London Peter Davies 1940 We Stood for Freedom New York William Morrow and Co 1942 The Mighty Years London Peter Davies 1943 Soviet Ballet London Collins 1945 Nothing but Propaganda London Peter Davies 1946 Not Without Fantasy London Peter Davies 1947 The Rose and the Star In collaboration with Phyllis Manchester 1949 The Rack London Peter Davies 1952 A Thousand Lives London Andre DeutschReferences edit NASSAU ANCESTORS Alaric Jacob A Traveller s War Collins 1944 Alaric Jacob A Window in Moscow Collins 1946 Alaric Jacob Scenes from a Bourgeois Life Secker amp Warburg 1949 The Guardian John Ezard Blair s babe Did love turn Orwell into a government stooge Saturday 21 June 2003 Mark Hollingsworth and Richard Norton Taylor Blacklist The Inside Story of Political Vetting Hogarth Press 1988 Timothy Garton Ash Orwell s List The New York Review of Books Nr 14 25 September 2003 Oxford Dictionary of National Biography Brian Pearce Morley Iris Vivienne 1910 1953 rev first published September 2004 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Iris Morley amp oldid 1093244271, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
