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{{Short description|British writer and biographer (1907–94)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2019}}
{{Use British English|date=June 2019}}
[[File:Frances Donaldson, Lady Donaldson of Knightsbridge, in the 1940s.jpg|thumb|Donaldson in the 1940s]]

'''Frances Annesley''', '''Lady Donaldson of Kingsbridge''' ({{née}} '''Lonsdale'''; 13 January 1907 – 27 March 1994), was a British writer and biographer.<ref name=ODNB />

==Biography==
Her father was the playwright [[Frederick Lonsdale]] and her mother was Leslie Brooke (née Hoggan). She made an unsuccessful marriage to Ronald McKenzie Cardwell in 1927. In 1935, she married her second husband, [[John George Stuart Donaldson, Baron Donaldson of Kingsbridge|John George Stuart Donaldson]], known as Jack, who became Baron Donaldson of Kingsbridge in 1967. They had three children,<ref name=ODNB>Michael De-la-Noy (2004). Donaldson [''née'' Lonsdale], Frances Annesley, Lady Donaldson of Kingsbridge. ''[[Oxford Dictionary of National Biography]]'' (Oxford University Press) {{doi|10.1093/ref:odnb/54860}}</ref> a daughter and two sons.<ref name=Times_obit />

During the Second World War when her husband was away she successfully took up farming,<ref name=Times_obit>Frances Donaldson. ''[[The Times]]'' (64914), p. 23 (29 March 1994)</ref> producing record crop and milk yields. She was invited to broadcast in wartime{{cn|date=January 2025}} and wrote several books about her experiences.<ref name=ODNB /><ref name=Times_obit />

Her body of work included topics such as farming and biographies on writers [[Evelyn Waugh]] and [[P. G. Wodehouse]], and King [[Edward VIII]].<ref name=ODNB /><ref name=Times_obit />

She died of cancer on 27 March 1994 in London.<ref name=ODNB />

== Works ==
* ''Approach to Farming'' (1941)<ref name=ODNB /><ref name=Times_obit />
* ''Four Years Harvest'' (1945)<ref name=ODNB />
* ''Milk Without Tears'' (1955)<ref name=ODNB />
* ''Farming in Britain Today'' (1969) with J. G. S. Donaldson and Derek Barber{{cn|date=January 2025}}
* ''Freddy Lonsdale'' (1957) — Lady Donaldson's biography of her father,<ref name=ODNB /><ref name=Times_obit /> "praised for its balance of candor and affection"<ref>[https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9803E6DC143FF933A05750C0A962958260 The New York Times, 30 March 1994, ''Frances Donaldson, Biographer, 87, Dies'']. [Accessed 2008-05-26].</ref>
* ''Child of the Twenties''<ref name=ODNB /> (1962)
* ''The Marconi Scandal'' (1962)<ref name=ODNB /><ref name=Times_obit />
* ''Evelyn Waugh: Portrait of a Country Neighbour'' (1967)<ref name=ODNB /><ref name=Times_obit /> — An appreciation, rather than a comprehensive biography
* ''Actor Managers'' (1970)<ref name=Times_obit />
* ''Edward VIII'' ([[Weidenfeld & Nicolson]], 1974) — Won the [[Wolfson History Prize]] in 1974, and was the basis for the seven-part television series ''[[Edward & Mrs. Simpson]]'' (1978),<ref name=ODNB /><ref name=Times_obit /> starring her nephew [[Edward Fox (actor)|actor Edward Fox]] as Edward{{cn|date=January 2025}}
* ''P. G. Wodehouse'' (1982)<ref name=ODNB /><ref name=Times_obit />
* ''Yours Plum'' (1990) Letters of P. G. Wodehouse<ref name=ODNB /><ref name=Times_obit />
* ''The British Council: the First Fifty Years'' (1984)<ref name=ODNB /><ref name=Times_obit />
* ''The Royal Opera House in the 20th Century'' (1988)<ref name=ODNB /><ref name=Times_obit />
* ''A Twentieth-Century Life'' (1992)<ref name=ODNB /><ref name=Times_obit />
*''Frances Donaldson: A Woman's War'' (2017) — An edition of her letters, written in 1939–1945 to her husband Jack. These precede all her published works, and although not originally written for publication, show her literary talent and interesting comment on events.{{cn|date=January 2025}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*{{IMDb name|id=0232100|name=Frances Donaldson}}
*{{NPG name |19157}}

{{Wolfson History Prize Winners}}
{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Donaldson, Frances}}
[[Category:1907 births]]
[[Category:1994 deaths]]
[[Category:British baronesses|Donaldson of Kingsbridge]]
[[Category:British biographers]]
[[Category:British women biographers]]
[[Category:20th-century English women writers]]
[[Category:Spouses of life peers]]
[[Category:Wolfson History Prize winners]]