WHATELY, Mrs Thomas (Belinda nee BELLVILLE) 1930-2024
Richard R
She was d of Anthony Seymour BELLVILLE 1902-70 scion of that gentry family of Tedstone Court and his 1st w Audrey Dorothy Campbell 1907-97 d of Capt Archibald Glen KIDSTON 1871-1913 sometime head of that gentry family of Redenham Park and as her 1st h Hélène Adeline Blanche CHAPMAN 1873-1957 (Lady Windham) scion of that gentry family f/o Donhead House. She m 1952 Thomas David MC 1924-2008 s of Brevet-Maj Ellis George WHATELY 1882-1969 and Edith Winifred Rhoda MILBURN 1892-1984 (gd of William MILBURN 1826-1903 who was f of Sir John Davidson MILBURN 1st Bt 1851-1907), and had three daus:
1. Sophia Louise b 1955: m 1982 reg Q3 Northumberland Jonathan Guy b 1953 (succ his gf as family head) s of David Alan COLTMAN-ROGERS 1924-57 (only s of Capt Guy COLTMAN-ROGERS 1891-1976 of that gentry family of Stanage Park and his 1st w a gd of 3rd Earl of ELLESMERE 1847-1914 who was gf of 6th Duke of SUTHERLAND 1915-2000, etc) and Jane 1926-2008 d of Brig-Gen Charles Richard WOODROFFE CMG CVO CBE 1878-1965 and his 2nd w Islay Mary Cecil MORETON-MACDONALD 1891-1968 (gt gd of 1st Earl of DUCIE 1776-1840, as well 2xgt gd of 1st Earl of CARNARVON 1741-1811, etc).
2. Victoria Mary b 1959: m 1997 Thomas Scott Anthony b 1966 s of Capt Hon Anthony George LOWTHER MBE 1925-81 (gs of 6th Earl of LONSDALE 1867-1953, as well gt gs of Sir Robert SHEFFIELD 5th Bt 1824-1886 and 4xgt gs of 2nd Earl of LANESBOROUGH 1728-79, etc) and Lavinia 1931-2003 d of Thomas Haskins JOYCE 1898-1951 of San Francisco and Mary Elizabeth MARTIN 1902-65, and had issue:
2.1 Henry Anthony LOWTHER b 1998
2.1 Eleanor Lavinia LOWTHER b 2001
3. Polly Maria b 1967 (Countess of Leicester): m 1996 the 8th Earl of LEICESTER b 1965, and had issue:
3.1 EDWARD HORATIO Coke (Viscount Coke) b 11 June 2003
3.1 Lady Hermione Belinda COKE b 1998
3.2 Lady Juno Carey COKE b 2000
3.3 Lady Elizabeth Valeria COKE b 2006
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Belinda Bellville, fashion designer who dressed British high society and the Royal family – obituary
She made Princess Diana’s trousseau and ‘would always know to within an inch how much decolletage [a] Duchess would stand at dinner’
Belinda Bellville, who has died aged 94, founded the fashion house Bellville et Cie (later Bellville Sassoon), whose young, fresh designs became a staple in the wardrobes of society ladies, brides-to-be and members of the Royal family over four decades.
She was dubbed “Belinda Bellville, the top peoples’ darling” by the press, and her patrons included Princesses Margaret and Alexandra and the Duchess of Kent, as well as Audrey Hepburn, Julie Christie, Jackie Kennedy and Catherine Deneuve.
“Titled ladies applaud the titled models” reported the Daily Mail of one of her early shows in the 1950s. “200 women crowd into an elegant drawing room in Park Lane to see 18-year-old Lady Beatty and five other models show off the latest creations of Belinda Bellville. The Duchess of Westminster, Lady Derby, Lady Rupert Neville, Lady Oppenheimer, and Lady Ebury squeezed on to little gilt chairs. The less fortunate had to strain to see from the corridor outside. The street was jammed with Bentleys and Rolls-Royces.”
When Lady Pamela Mountbatten married David Hicks in 1960, her wedding trousseau was designed by Bellville – as was the dress worn by her bridesmaid Princess Anne. The designer Cath Kidston, whose mother was Belinda’s first cousin, recalled being told how when Belinda went to Buckingham Palace for the fitting of the dress – a yellow ruffled affair – the Queen came along to see it and said “It’s very nice”, then turned to Belinda and said, “Will it wash?”…..
The oldest of three children, Belinda Bellville was born on March 29 1930. Her father was Anthony Seymour Bellville, whose family wealth came from Keen’s mustard. Her mother was Audrey Kidston, whose family owned Clyde Shipping……
In 1952 she married David Whately, a partner in a firm which made mobiles and abstract sculptures for advertising, and later a financier……
Belinda Bellville stepped back from the company in 1982, but remained a consultant. She moved with her family to a house outside Shaftesbury in Dorset, while the company continued to flourish under David Sassoon.
The family moved to north Norfolk in 2001 and her husband David died in 2008. Belinda survived major brain surgery in 2011, but continued to live happily in Norfolk, always commenting on the fashion choices of her visitors.
She is survived by three daughters.
Belinda Bellville, born March 29 1930, died May 5 2024
Richard R
Obit in the Times of 3 June 2024:
E X T R A C T
Belinda Bellville obituary, couturier who made Diana a fashion icon
‘Top people’s darling’ who dressed Jackie Kennedy, Elizabeth Taylor and Joan Collins
Late on a Friday afternoon in February 1981, a few days before the official photoshoot that would announce her engagement to Prince Charles, 19-year-old Lady Diana Spencer paid a visit to Bellville Sassoon in Knightsbridge, the couturier favoured by the British aristocracy.
Nervously fingering the satin gowns, she was met by an imperious French vendeuse who, failing to recognise her, suggested she go next door to Harrods because they were closing. The cobalt-blue skirt set that she would wear beside Charles several days later had, to Belinda Bellville and David Sassoon’s horror, been hurriedly picked out from a rack at the department store.
They called Diana to apologise and her mother, Frances Shand Kydd, a regular client, persuaded her to return…
… Bellville in particular prioritised discretion over publicity and referred to Diana in the appointments book as “Miss Buckingham”. Such intimate knowledge of the vagaries of the upper classes came naturally to her. A former debutante and, in Sassoon’s words, “a very intimidating designer”, Bellville had been dressing socialites and royals, including Princess Margaret and the future Queen Camilla, since 1953, when she opened her boutique Bellville et Cie in Knightsbridge…
… The eldest of three, Belinda Bellville was born in Leicestershire in 1930 to Anthony, a scion of Keen’s mustard dynasty, and Audrey (née Kidston). Cath Kidston was Belinda’s cousin. “I used to go and stay with her and watch her go out to work,” Kidston said. “She was fun, creative and interested in everything. She was someone I could aspire to be like.”…
… Belinda was presented at court in 1947, after a brief spell at Miss Faunce’s school at Wimborne St Giles in Dorset. In 1952 she married David Whately, a partner in a company that sold phones and abstract sculptures for advertising. He was later a financier…
… Bellville remained a consultant but moved with her family to live a quieter life in Shaftesbury, Dorset, and then north Norfolk in 2001. Her husband died in 2008; she is survived by three daughters…
Belinda Bellville, fashion designer, was born on March 29, 1930. She died on May 5, 2024, aged 94
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/belinda-bellville-bkjt5ghj5