Dorgan, c.140 letters to her son, concerning the domestic life of Sir Winston Churchill, chiefly 1945-46

CHURCHILL, SIR WINSTON--DORGAN, MARY

Series of c.140 autograph letters signed, to her son Joe, mostly written when working for the Churchill family

providing a unique insight into life "below stairs" with the Churchills during the final year of World War II and immediate post-war years at 28 Hyde Park Gate, and including charming vignettes from an awed description of Churchill's 71st birthday cake elaborately decorated "in the shape of the British Isles" (at a time when rationing made icing and marzipan a rare sight in Britain), to the heightened emotions around D-Day and Churchill's subsequent election defeat, to the social life of Hyde Park Gate with parties and guests including Eleanor Roosevelt and the Duke of Windsor, several hundred pages, some original envelopes, c.1945-65 (where dated) but chiefly 1945-46; with c.20 letters to Joe Dorgan from other correspondents, and two amateur photographs of the Churchills.

"...When I went to Churchills for 3 hrs today Mrs Churchill caught me by the two hands I was washing Bath room & she said Mrs D. Victory isn't it lovely. I said yes thanks to Mr Churchill & she told Mrs F to be sure & give me a glass of port it was good too, they were a bit sad. Mrs Sandys & Mrs Oliver were to lunch, Mr Churchill got over 1000 telegrams, letters & presents galore but he deserved everything (Good old CHURCHILL) they have bought that house in Hyde Park Gate..." (September 1945)

A UNIQUE DOMESTIC VIEW OF THE CHURCHILLS DURING THE 1940S. Mary Dorgan was an Irishwoman who provided domestic help to the Churchill family through the 1940s and into the 1950s. She wrote regular long letters to her son Joe (b.1922), especially in 1945 and 1946 when he was serving in the army (initially training in Suffolk, then on active service in Egypt, Palestine, and elsewhere). Working life with the Churchills had its perks - for instance when she was able to enliven her Pimlico home with orchids that had been thrown over Churchill's car by grateful Parisians - but these letters also describe the hardships that she shared with millions of other Londoners: dangers of German V-2 bombs, severe rationing, the dreariness and exhaustion of the immediate post-War period, and - above all - concern for her son. 

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