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Norah Docker

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Norah Royce Docker, Lady Docker (née Turner; 23 June 1906 – 11 December 1983) was an English socialite. A dance hostess at a club in her youth, she married three times, on each occasion to an executive of a business that sold luxury goods.

Her third marriage, to Sir Bernard Docker, the chairman of Birmingham Small Arms Company (BSA) and its subsidiary, Daimler, was notable for the couple's extravagant lifestyle. This was often funded by tax writeoffs and company expenditure that could not be legitimately defended, which led to Sir Bernard's removal from BSA's board of directors. [1]

She was also banned from Monaco by Prince Rainier after an incident in which she tore up a Monegasque flag.[2]

Early life

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She was born in Derby in 1906 as Norah Royce Turner to Sydney and Amy Turner. She was the second eldest of four children: Bernice, her older sister by two years, Alma was six years younger, and brother Royce, the youngest.[3] The Turners moved to Birmingham, where her father bought into a car dealership. Her father committed suicide when she was 16, and she was the last to see her father alive.[4]

As a young woman, she became a dance hostess at London’s Cafe de Paris. She was courted by three men simultaneously, known as "The Judge, the Duke and the Frenchman" in her autobiography. 'The Judge' was Cecil Whiteley and 'The Duke' was the Ninth Duke of Marlborough. She had an affair with Clement Callingham and moved into his house while his divorce from his wife, Pamela, was being settled. Clement was a millionaire, the chairman of Henekeys whisky. Docker married Callingham at the Chelsea Registry Office as soon as his divorce became absolute.[5]

 

Book

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Her autobiography, Norah: The Autobiography of Lady Docker, was ghostwritten and edited by Showbusiness columnist Don Short. It is the only authorised book about Norah Docker.[6] It was published by WH Allen in 1969. The introduction reads: "At least I have not attempted to conceal anything from you and my conscience is calm, for I have told all with honesty. All I ask is that you judge me with the same honesty. And, finally, a word of apology to those thousands of people whose names I would like to have mentioned in this book: but just think of those thousands more who will feel greatly relieved when they find they have been left out..."[7]

Marriages

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She was married three times. The first, to chairman of Henekeys whisky company Clement Callingham from 1938 until his death in 1945, resulted in one son, Lance.[8]

The second, in 1946, to Sir William Collins, the president of Fortnum & Mason, lasted until his death in 1948.[9]

The third, in 1949, was to Sir Bernard Docker, chairman of Birmingham Small Arms Company (owner of Daimler), and a director of the Midland Bank, Anglo-Argentine Tramways Company and Thomas Cook and Son.

Public life

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Lady Docker loved publicity. "My close friends in Fleet Street have told me that I have been good entertainment value for money, for their millions of readers over the years, and frankly I have never objected!"[10]

In the summer of 1954, after a visit to Water Haigh colliery at Woodlesford near Leeds, Lady Docker invited several of the miners to a champagne party on the Dockers' yacht, Shemara, at which she danced the hornpipe.[11][12][13] The image was used for the front cover of the Autobiography in 1969.[14]

Lady Docker won a marbles championship in 1955 at Castleford's "Reight Neet Aht", a charity event for the Cancer Relief Fund, while wearing a sequin dress and diamonds.[15] The match was rigged,[13] the other players having been instructed to let her win.[15] The next year, while in Melbourne, Australia, to watch the 1956 Summer Olympics, she challenged the suburb of Collingwood to a marbles match.[16]

In 1969, her memoirs, Norah: The Autobiography of Lady Docker, ghostwritten and edited by Don Short, were published by W.H. Allen. One part reads: "I have planted my feet, delicately but boldly, on red carpets in the palaces and castles of some of the most sacred dynasties across the world. Sometimes I was also bowled straight back down those same carpets."[17]

Jewel thefts

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When the Dockers moved to Mayfair, there was a series of jewel thefts. To protect her maid Charlotte Reed, Norah converted the bidet in her bathroom into a stool in which to store her jewellery. After that, Norah discovered they had been robbed. The police were alerted, and became suspicious of Reed. They drove her away in a police car and dug up the garden in her sister's home in Ruislip.[18]

Docker Daimlers

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Main article: Docker Daimlers

In ‘Norah: The Autobiography of Lady Docker’, ‘The Golden Daimler’ is given its own chapter. ‘If I could find a single reason for my elevation to the dubious ranks of a celebrity, then I think, I would have a motor car to thank.’[19] She told her husband Sir Bernard Docker of her frustration that no one abroad had heard of Daimler cars.[7] To boost the car’s popularity, she asked Bernard: “Why can’t you manufacture a smaller Daimler, suitable for the family?”[20] Bernard invited her to join the company and to take on the project.[20]

 
Blue Clover, her second show car
 
Golden Zebra
for the Paris Show 1955
1951 – The Gold Car (a.k.a. Golden Daimler)

The Gold Car was a touring limousine on the Thirty-Six Straight-Eight chassis.[21] The car was covered with 7,000 tiny gold stars, and all plating that would normally have been chrome was gold.[22] This car was taken to Paris, the United States and Australia.

The car was sold in 1959 for seven thousand, three hundred pounds, to an American motor-cycle distributor, William E. Johnson, Junior, of Pasadena. In her Autobiography, Norah says: ‘Unfortunately, the golden Daimler reached him stripped of its gold leaf - there was a Government order in force forbidding the export of gold. I can’t imagine they would have had much trouble in removing the gold. I found that I could scape it off with my fingernail, it was that thin.’[23]

1952 – Blue Clover

Also on the Thirty-Six Straight-Eight chassis, Blue Clover was a two-door sportsman's coupé

1953 – Silver Flash

The Silver Flash was an aluminium-bodied coupé based on the 3-litre Regency chassis. Its accessories included solid silver hairbrushes and red fitted luggage made from crocodile skin.[24]

The initial plans were for a two seater sports car, in a deep green with the interior trim scarlet crocodile. But Norah Docker was told it looked terrible. At the last minute, she instructed it to be resprayed in a metallic blue-grey. When asked for the name by a journalist, she went blank, before announcing it was called ‘Silver Flash.’[25]

1954 – Star Dust

based on the DF400 chassis Norah delivered it to the Hooper stand at Earls Court with silver stars embossed over the dark blue bodywork. It had chrome fittings with crocodile interior and silver brocade seating.[26]

1955 – Golden Zebra

The Golden Zebra was a two-door coupé based on the DK400 chassis.[27]

It was a cream and gold, fixed head sports car, with an ivory dashboard, cocktail cabinet, vanity box and built-in picnic basket. There was an ivory collapsible umbrella among the accessories. Lady Norah Docker’s initials were inscribed in gold letters on the door, and they had a gold replica of a zebra on the bonnet. The upholstery inside the car was real zebra-skin. ‘“Zebra?” questioned astonished reporters. “Yes,” I retorted. “It’s the best skin, because mink is too hot to sit on.” My answer was quoted all over the world, and it became the most famous of all my aphorisms.’[25]

Alongside the show cars kept for her personal use, Lady Docker also owned other Daimler cars, including an unmodified Conquest drophead coupé.[28]

The Shemara

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The Shemara yacht is also given its own chapter in the Autobiography. ‘We were very proud of the Shemara’s service. We could comfortably accommodate twelve people in the four double, and four single, cabins.’ The crew would often buy Norah dolls to help with her collection, and fluffy animals. ‘They gave our lounge a lot of the colour that was missing,’ she explained in her Autobiography. The Shemara could take on supplies and stores for six months’ sailing. Norah offered to sell the Shemara to Mr Onassis but he replied that he couldn’t think where to moor her. It was sold to a city property developer who offered £290,000. He claimed to have found defects aboard the Shemara which would cost £100,000 to put right. The Dockers contested it and the case went to High Court who ruled in the Dockers’ favour, saying they could only find one minor fault costing £100 to repair.[29]

Separation from BSA

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At the end of May 1956, Sir Bernard Docker was removed from the board of Birmingham Small Arms Company (BSA), where he had been chairman.[30]

The issues leading to the removal of the Dockers stemmed from the extravagant expenses they presented to the company, including the show cars made available for Lady Docker's personal use, a £5,000 gold and mink ensemble that Lady Docker wore at the 1956 Paris Motor Show that she tried to write off as a business expense as she "was only acting as a model" at the show,[31] and Glandyfi Castle, bought with £12,500 of BSA's money and refurbished for £25,000, again with company money.[32]

Lady Norah Docker shared the story in the chapter titled, ‘The B.S.A. Affair’ in the Autobiography: ‘Bernard sent out over ten thousand telegrams to share-holders, promising that they would know the full and honest facts behind his dismissal. Later, I despatched a letter, together with a photograph of myself (because I was foolish enough to believe people liked me!) to another seventeen thousand shareholders.’ The letter included Norah’s defence of her actions. ‘I have done all I can to help publicise the Company’s products, especially Daimler cars. There has been criticism of what I have done, but I would like the shareholders to know that I have received no financial benefit, in anyway whatsoever, for what I have done. I believe I did a very good job.’[33]

Prince Rainier and Monte Carlo feud

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In 1956, the Dockers were invited to the wedding of Prince Rainier and Princess Grace. On the morning of the wedding, the Dockers left for the Cathedral in the Silver Stardust Daimler. But they were told to abandon the car and go to the Cathedral by bus. Norah refused and Bernard got one of the few taxis available to take them to the wedding. Norah reported on the wedding in the New York Herald Tribune and the London Sunday Graphic. In her autobiography, she wrote, "I found it difficult to gloss over the truth. I condemned the commercialisation of the wedding and, in one article, I criticised Princess Grace, on a fashion count, for wearing a ridiculously-large brimmed hat on her arrival in Monaco."

She went to the Casino with Bernard and Lance instead. She saw the stage was empty and grabbed the microphone and said some unkind things about Prince Rainier and his former girlfriend, Gisele Pascal. "Fortunately, the club was empty apart from Bernard and Lance, a couple of isolated customers and the odd waiter." The next day over lunch in the Hotel de Paris, Norah told Bernard she wanted to leave and go to Cannes immediately. In the centre of their table, there was a crepe paper Monegasque flag and she tore it up. The following day, Norah learned she was banned from Monaco, and all the states along the French Riviera. Bernard, who had returned to London for a business meeting, went to rescue Norah but he was detained at Nice Airport on his arrival. He told officials that he was there to collect his wife and stepson, who then let him through.[34]

Decline

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Without their main source of income, the Dockers began to run out of money. In 1966, they sold their estate in Hampshire and moved to Jersey in the Channel Islands, becoming tax exiles. In the Autobiography, Norah explained her isolation. 'Now we feel alone in this world, long since forgotten by those we helped, with only a handful of true and trusted friends remaining.' 'It is sad to say, after all that has happened, that the world has become a lonely place for us. Those who professed to be our friends, stayed only as long as the apple looked inviting. Then they disappeared.'[35]

Death

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Lady Docker died on 11 December 1983, aged 77, in the Great Western Royal Hotel in London.[36] She is buried in the churchyard of St. James-the-Less in Stubbings, near Maidenhead.

References

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  1. ^ Spranklen, Annabelle (1 September 2018). "Lady Docker: The Fifties socialite whose extravagant lifestyle scandalised Britain". Tatler. Retrieved 16 October 2024.
  2. ^ Wainwright, Martin (12 December 2013). "From the archive, 12 December 1983: The woman who liked millionaire husbands". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 16 October 2024.
  3. ^ Docker & Short 1969, p. 16.
  4. ^ Docker & Short 1969, p. 15.
  5. ^ Docker & Short 1969, pp. 47, 54.
  6. ^ "The Best Out-of-Print Books (and Where to Buy Them)". The Spectator. 28 November 2022.
  7. ^ a b Docker & Short 1969, p. 7.
  8. ^ Docker & Short 1969, p. 56.
  9. ^ Docker, Short, Norah, Don (1969). Norah The Autobiography of Lady Docker. WH Allen. p. 62. ISBN 0491006993.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  10. ^ Docker & Short 1969, p. 238.
  11. ^ Clemens, Martin (12 December 1993). "Rear Window: Flash, brash, and fawned over by Fleet Street – When scandal wasn't royal". The Independent. London, UK: Independent Print. ISSN 0951-9467. OCLC 185201487. Archived from the original on 21 June 2022. Retrieved 8 May 2012. Their lives were a series of publicity stunts: most famously, in the summer of 1954, they threw a party on the Shemara for 45 Leeds coalminers.
  12. ^ Dockers Entertain Miners (Newsreel). British Pathe. 1954. Retrieved 7 May 2012.
  13. ^ a b "A High Lady's High Jinks". LIFE. Vol. 38, no. 15. Time. 11 April 1955. pp. 111–114. ISSN 0024-3019. Retrieved 7 May 2012. Rigged marble match for cancer fund charity was fixed to let Lady Docker win, but she played an excellent game in defeating 10 factory girls.
  14. ^ Docker & Short 1969, cover.
  15. ^ a b Luce, Henry R., ed. (14 March 1955). "Soundtrack – The golden marble". Sports Illustrated. Vol. 2, no. 11. Time. pp. 12–13. ISSN 0038-822X. Archived from the original on 19 April 2013. Retrieved 7 May 2012. Her opponents had, it is true, been carefully coached against winning—Castleford had already prepared a golden marble on a golden stand as first prize and fully intended to present it to her.
  16. ^ "Marbles Challenge from Lady Docker". The Age. Melbourne, Australia: Fairfax Media: 11. 14 August 1956. ISSN 0312-6307. OCLC 224060909. Retrieved 7 May 2012.
  17. ^ Docker & Short 1969, p. 9.
  18. ^ Docker & Short 1969, p. 121.
  19. ^ Docker & Short 1969, p. 107.
  20. ^ a b Docker & Short 1969, p. 108.
  21. ^ Smith, Brian E. (1980). The Daimler Tradition. Isleworth, UK: Transport Bookman. p. 250. ISBN 0-85184-014-0.
  22. ^ "Daimler: extravagant design and magnificent bodywork". The Independent. London, UK: Independent Print. 10 February 2004. ISSN 0951-9467. OCLC 185201487. Archived from the original on 5 March 2013. Retrieved 25 May 2012. Nora's first design, of 1951, was known as The Gold Car, a limousine embellished with 7,000 gold stars; from bonnet to tailpipe all that should have been chrome was gold, and the interior was trimmed in golden camphor wood and gold brocade.
  23. ^ Docker & Short 1969, p. 117.
  24. ^ Lewin, Tony; Borroff, Ryan (2003). "03.04 The Ten Best Forgotten". How To: Design Cars Like a Pro: A Comprehensive Guide to Car Design from the Top Professionals. St. Paul, MN USA: Motorbooks International. p. 181. ISBN 0-7603-1641-4. Retrieved 23 June 2013. Based on the Daimler Regency model, it sported slightly more restrained solid silver hairbrushes and propelling pencils built into the interior, plus fitted red crocodile skin luggage.[permanent dead link‍]
  25. ^ a b Docker & Short 1969, p. 114.
  26. ^ Docker & Short 1969, p. 113.
  27. ^ "632 The ex-London Motor Show 1955 Daimler DK400 'Golden Zebra' Coupé Coachwork by Hooper & Co Registration no. TYL 575 Chassis no. 92705 Engine no. 48771". Auctions at Bonhams. 4 December 2006. Retrieved 26 May 2012. In 1966 Golden Zebra, which cost £12,000 to build (many times the value of the average semi-detached house at the time) was offered for sale by Daimler distributors Henlys of Chester with 25,000 miles on the clock for only £1,400.
  28. ^ "114 Formerly the property of Lady Docker,1957 Daimler Conquest 'New Drop-Head Coupé' Chassis no. 90541 Engine no. 73088". Bonhams.com (Auction catalogue). Bonhams. 15 September 2012. Retrieved 7 January 2013. The 'New Drop-Head Coupé' offered here was originally owned by the flamboyant Lady Norah Docker, wife of Daimler chairman, Sir Bernard Docker, who was also head of its parent company, the BSA Group.
  29. ^ Docker & Short 1969, p. 154.
  30. ^ Docker, Short, Norah, Don (1969). Norah The Autobiography of Lady Docker. WH Allen. ISBN 0491006993.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  31. ^ Stepler, Jack (1 June 1956). "Wife's Spending Blamed – Sir Bernard Docker Bounced From Post". The Calgary Herald. Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The Herald's London Bureau. pp. 1–2. ISSN 1197-2823. OCLC 29533985. Retrieved 14 May 2012.
  32. ^ Delingpole, James (12 May 2007). "Castle for keeps". The Daily Telegraph. London, UK. ISSN 0307-1235. OCLC 49632006. Archived from the original on 21 February 2009. Retrieved 7 May 2012. Sir Bernard bought it through the company for £12,500 and spent more than double that on doing it up at BSA's expense. When news of this got out, the shareholders revolted.
  33. ^ Docker & Short 1969, p. 223.
  34. ^ Docker & Short 1969, p. 175.
  35. ^ Docker & Short 1969, p. 247.
  36. ^ "Obituaries: Flamboyant socialite Lady Norah Docker". The Gazette. Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Associated Press. 12 December 1983. p. C-7. ISSN 0384-1294. OCLC 456824368. Retrieved 13 May 2012. A spokesman at London's Great Western Hotel said Lady Docker, widow of industrialist Sir Bernard Docker, was found dead Saturday by members of the hotel's housekeeping staff. He said she 'passed away peacefully in her sleep.'

Sources

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  • Docker, Norah; Short, Don (1969). Norah: the Autobiography of Lady Docker. ISBN. London: W.H. Allen. ISBN 0491006993.
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