BARING, Mrs Nicholas ((Elizabeth) Diana nee CRAWFURD) d 2024
Richard R
She was d of Brig Charles CRAWFURD. She m 1972 Nicholas Hugo b 1934 s of Lt Francis Anthony BARING 1909-ka1940 (gs of 1st Baron REVELSTOKE 1828-97) and Lady Rose Gwendolen Louisa McDONNELL 1909-93 d of 7th Earl of ANTRIM 1878-1932 and Margaret Isabel TALBOT 1878-1974 (gt gd of 2nd Earl TALBOT 1777-1849, etc etc), and had three sons.
Richard R
Her father Brig Charles Hamilton Payne CRAWFORD c1908-1943 (s of Suffragan Bishop of Stafford Rt Rev Lionel Payne CRAWFURD 1864-1934) m 1935 reg Q2 London (Hilda) Rosabel WHIDBORNE 1906-59
E X T R A C T
Diana Baring obituary, literary agent who launched the career of Frederick Forsyth
Formidable literary agent who transformed the way authors were rewarded
… Diana Crawfurd was born in Peshawar in what was then India (today Pakistan) in 1938, the eldest of three daughters of Charles Crawfurd, a gunnery officer, and Rosabel (née Whidborne). Returning from India as war broke out, her father was sent to France with the British Expeditionary Force, and was among those evacuated from Dunkirk. He survived, but died in a glider operation in Sicily in 1943, when Diana was only five. Her mother suffered from arthritis, and the family moved around various houses in England before ending up in London, from where Diana was sent to the girls’ school St Mary’s, Wantage, then run by nuns. Formal education did not rank high on the curriculum, and Diana, a voracious book reader, rebelled. She was nearly expelled after holding a midnight party in the school swimming pool…
…In 1971 she met the merchant banker Nicholas Baring, at a party given by Douglas-Home and his wife Jessica. Crawfurd had known Baring’s sister at school. They fell in love, marrying in 1972, and moving to what was to become their home at Shalbourne in Berkshire. They had three sons, Francis, who is involved with Forest School, an outdoor education experience; Toby, an orthopaedic surgeon; and Ned, a founder of the Little Gym franchise for mothers and children…
…Her marriage to Nicholas was a long and happy one, but she was never entirely at ease living in the so-called “banker belt” of the English counties, always preferring the company of writers and artists to that of the self-assured and wealthy. In retirement she remained closely in touch with her favourite clients, and they in turn revered her. [Writer Robin] Lane Fox was not alone in saying: “I owed my life’s work to Diana,” adding: “She always showed her writers to their best advantage.”
Diana Baring, literary agent, was born on May 1, 1938. She died of pancreatic cancer on February 20, 2024, aged 85