University of Texas at Austin

Georgia Doble Sitwell:

An Inventory of Her Collection at the Harry Ransom Center

Creator: Sitwell, Georgia Doble, 1906-1980
Title: Georgia Doble Sitwell Collection
Dates: 1901-1974
Extent: 8 boxes (3.36 linear feet), 1 oversize folder
Abstract: The Georgia Doble Sitwell Collection is composed primarily of personal correspondence, with a small quantity of business papers having to do with investments and financial matters relating to her Canadian family.
RLIN Record #: TXRC03-A?
Language: English and French
Access: Open for research


Administrative Information


Acquisition: Purchase, 1964-1990
Processed by: Chelsea Dinsmore, Isabel Morales, Richard Workman 2003
Repository:

Harry Ransom Center, The University of Texas at Austin

Biographical Sketch


Georgia Doble, the Canadian-born wife of Sacheverell Sitwell, was born in 1906 to a banker of Cornish descent. She met Sitwell at a party in 1924 while participating in the social gaiety of the London season. Georgia was familiar with Sitwell’s Southern Baroque Art and enjoyed his company, but she waited almost a year before accepting his marriage proposals. They were married in Paris on October 12, 1925. Their first son, Reresby, was born in 1927 and his younger brother, Francis, in 1935.
Georgia found it difficult to blend in with the Sitwell family, which had more than the usual share of dynamics. She did her best to play the self-assigned role of muse, but Sitwell was not a social man and Georgia missed the busy whirl of London. She attended many social events without him, which led to a great deal of friction between them. They both had affairs over the years, but remained deeply attached to one another throughout their lives. Georgia died in 1980.

Sources:


Bradford, Sarah. Sacheverell Sitwell: Splendours and Miseries. London: Sinclair-Stevenson, 1993.
National Portrait Gallery. The Sitwells and the Art of the 1920s and 1930s. London: National Portrait Gallery Publications, 1994.

Scope and Contents


The Georgia Doble Sitwell Collection is composed primarily of personal correspondence, with a small quantity of business papers having to do with investments and financial matters relating to her Canadian family. The collection is organized in two series: Series I. Correspondence, 1901-1974 (7 boxes); and Series II. Business Papers, 1926-1974 (1 box). Portions of this collection were previously accessible through a preliminary inventory of the Sacheverell Sitwell Collection. They have been re-cataloged as part of a retrospective conversion project.
The personal correspondence series is notable for the variety of people represented. Along with members of the Sitwell family and their close associates, including David Horner and Frank Magro, Georgia's correspondents included Lawrence Audrain, John Lehmann, Loelia Lindsay, René Massigli, Evelyn Waugh, and Mae West. There are also several folders of correspondents identified by first name only. An index of all correspondents is found at the end of this finding aid. Business papers include statements from the firms Coutts and Lloyds, correspondence with publishers regarding Sacheverell's work, and general business papers, including an automobile certificate of ownership.

Related Material


Other materials related to Georgia Sitwell may be found in the following manuscript collections at the Ransom Center:
  • Lehmann, John
  • Patmore, Derek
  • Sitwell, Edith, Dame
  • Sitwell, Osbert
  • Sitwell, Sacheverell

Index Terms


People

Aberconway, Christabel Mary Melville Macnaghten McLaren, Baroness.
Audrain, Lawrence A.
Bryher, 1894-1983.
Horner, David.
Lehmann, John, 1907-
Lindsay, Loelia, 1902-
Magro, Frank.
Massigli, René Lucien Daniel.
Sitwell, Edith, Dame, 1887-1964.
Sitwell, George Reresby, Sir, 1860-1943.
Sitwell, Osbert, 1892-1969.
Waugh, Evelyn, 1903-1966.
West, Mae.

Subjects

Sitwell, Sacheverell, 1897-1988.
Sitwell family.

Places

England -- Social life and customs -- 20th century.

Document Types

Business records.

Container List