Biography
Born Winifred May Birkin, she was the second child and eldest of three daughters of Colonel Charles Wilfred Birkin (fourth son of a British textile magnate or lace king of Nottinghamshire, Sir Thomas Isaac Birkin, 1st Bt.) and his American wife, the former Claire Lloyd Howe. She was the mistress of the Prince of Wales from 1918 to 1923, after which she remained his close confidante until 1934 and the beginning of his relationship with Wallis Simpson.
The actress Jane Birkin is a distant relative; the elder daughter of a much younger first cousin.
Freda Birkin was twice married, firstly 9 July 1913 (divorced 1931) to The Right Honourable William Dudley Ward, Liberal MP for Southampton. They had two daughters. Though her first husband's family surname was Ward, the combination "Dudley Ward" eventually became their official surname, through common usage.
Her second husband was Pedro Jose Isidro Manuel Ricardo Mones, Marques de Casa Maury. They married 20 October 1937, and divorced 1954. From 1938, the Marques and Marquesa de Casa Maury took up residence in Maida Vale, north-west London, at 58 Hamilton Terrace, a house commissioned from the architects Burnet, Tait & Lorne.
Issue (by first husband):
- Penelope Ann Rachel Dudley Ward (1914–1982), the actress Penelope Dudley-Ward, later Lady Reed, known as Pempie, who married 1stly 1939 (divorced 1944) Anthony Pelissier, by whom she had a daughter, and secondly in 1948 film director Sir Carol Reed, by whom she had a son.
- Tracy Reed (b. 1942 as Clare Pelissier), actress; first wife of actor Edward Fox; they had one daughter.
- Claire Angela Louise Dudley Ward (1916–1999) later Lady Laycock, or Angie, who married in 1935 the commando leader Major-General Sir Robert Laycock, by whom she had two sons and three daughters. Of her five children, her son
- Joseph William Peter Laycock (Joe Laycock) (1938–1980) was married to the actress Lucy Fleming, née Eve Lucinda Fleming, niece of the writer Ian Fleming, the creator of James Bond; they have issue.
Read more about this topic: Freda Dudley Ward
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