“Norah, Lady Docker”的意思、由来-开放百科全书

Norah Docker, Lady Docker ({{nee|Turner}}; 1906–1983) was an English socialite. A dance hostess at a club in her youth, she married three times, on each occasion to an executive of a business that sold luxury goods. Her third marriage, to Sir Bernard Docker, the chairman of Birmingham Small Arms Company (BSA) and its subsidiary, Daimler, was notable for the couple's extravagant lifestyle. This was often funded by tax writeoffs and company expenditure that could not be legitimately defended, which led to Sir Bernard's removal from BSA's board of directors. She was also banned from the French Riviera by Prince Rainier after an incident in which she tore up a Monegasque flag.

Early life

She was born in Derby in 1906 as Norah Royce Turner to Sydney Turner and his wife, Amy. The Turners moved to Birmingham, where her father bought into a car dealership. Her father committed suicide when she was 16, after which she had to earn her own living.^[1]

As a young woman, she became a dance hostess at London's Café de Paris.^[2]^[2] Her male friends included the 9th Duke of Marlborough and, for many years, Clement Callingham, head of Henekeys wine and spirit merchants.^[3] She had an affair with Callingham, which resulted in an abortion, her being named in a divorce action by Callingham's wife, and then her marriage to the divorced Callingham.^[2]

Marriages

She was married three times. The first, to Clement Callingham from 1938 until his death in 1945, resulted in one son, Lance. The second, in 1946, to Sir William Collins, the president of Fortnum & Mason, lasted until his death in 1948. The third, in 1949, was to Sir Bernard Docker, chairman of Birmingham Small Arms Company and Daimler, and a director of the Midland Bank, Anglo-Argentine Tramways Company and Thomas Cook and Son.^[1]

Public life

Lady Docker loved publicity and was often in public view.^[4] In the summer of 1954, after a visit to a coal mine, Lady Docker invited several of the miners to a champagne party on the Dockers' yacht, Shemara, at which she danced the hornpipe.^[4]^[5]^[10]

Lady Docker won a marbles championship in 1955 at Castleford's "Reight Neet Aht", a charity event for the Cancer Relief Fund, while wearing a sequin dress and diamonds.^[6] The match was rigged,^[7] the other players having been instructed to let her win.^[6] The next year, while in Melbourne, Australia, to watch the 1956 Summer Olympics, she challenged the suburb of Collingwood to a marbles match.^[8]

Docker Daimlers

Sir Bernard Docker commissioned a series of Daimlers built to Lady Docker's specifications for the show circuit.^[3]

The Gold Car was a touring limousine on the Thirty-Six Straight-Eight chassis.^[9] The car was covered with 7,000 tiny gold stars, and all plating that would normally have been chrome was gold.^[10] This car was taken to Paris, the United States and Australia

Also on the Thirty-Six Straight-Eight chassis, Blue Clover was a two-door sportsman's coupé

The Silver Flash was an aluminium-bodied coupé based on the 3-litre Regency chassis. Its accessories included solid silver hairbrushes and red fitted luggage made from crocodile skin.^[11]

The Golden Zebra was a two-door coupé based on the DK400 chassis.^[12] Like the Gold Car, the Golden Zebra had all its metal trim pieces plated gold instead of chrome, beyond that, it had an ivory dashboard and zebra-skin upholstery.^[12]^[21]^[13] Explaining the zebra skin upholstery, Lady Docker said: "Because mink is too hot to sit on.".^[12]^[13]

Alongside the show cars kept for her personal use, Lady Docker also owned other Daimler cars, including an unmodified Conquest drophead coupé.^[14]

Separation from BSA

At the end of May 1956, Bernard Docker was removed from the board of Birmingham Small Arms Company (BSA), where he had been chairman.^[26] Lady Docker resigned from the board of directors of Hooper at the same time.^[15] The company, which owned the Docker Daimlers, had Lady Docker return them.^[16]

The issues leading to the removal of the Dockers stemmed from the extravagant expenses they presented to the company, including the show cars made available for Lady Docker's personal use, a £5,000 gold and mink ensemble that Lady Docker wore at the 1956 Paris Motor Show that she tried to write off as a business expense as she "was only acting as a model" at the show,^[15] and Glandyfi Castle, bought with £12,500 of BSA's money and refurbished for £25,000, again with company money.^[30]

Shortly after BSA disassociated itself from the Dockers, Lady Docker bought a Bentley Continental^[17] from Daimler's rival, Rolls-Royce.

Feud with Monaco

Up until 1958, the Dockers often went to Monaco, where, in September 1952, they were banned from the Monte Carlo Casino after Lady Docker slapped a waiter in the face.^[18]

The Dockers were invited to the christening of Prince Albert in April 1958. They brought Lady Docker's son, Lance Callingham, with them, but he was not allowed to attend.^[19] Later, at the Hôtel de Paris,^[19] Lady Docker, still furious about the incident,^[20] tore up a paper Monegasque flag^[19]^[20] that had been at her table.^[19] In response, the government of Monaco had her expelled^[19]^[20] and the Princely Family of Monaco returned the Dockers' christening gifts to them.^[20] Through a 1951 treaty with France,^[42] the ban on Lady Docker was extended throughout the French Riviera.^[20]^[42]^[45]

News of a reconciliation between Lady Docker and the Princely Family of Monaco was reported by the North American Newspaper Alliance in February 1959.^[21]^[22] However, in September 1960, Lady Docker announced that she would invest in a company to build a waterfront casino in Cannes to rival the Monte Carlo Casino.^[23]

Decline

Without their main source of income, the Dockers began to run out of money. In 1965, Bernard Docker put his yacht Shemara on the market for £600,000; it was eventually sold for £290,000.^[24]

In 1966, the Dockers sold their estate in Hampshire and moved to Jersey in the Channel Islands, becoming tax exiles.^[3] Lady Docker later said of the people of Jersey: "They are the most frightfully boring, dreadful people that have ever been born."^[25]^[26]

Death

Lady Docker died on 11 December 1983 in the Great Western Royal Hotel in London.^[27] She is buried in the churchyard of St. James-the-Less in Stubbings, near Maidenhead.

Common usage

The term 'Lady Docker' is also used in a derogatory way in the north of England, specifically Lancashire, to describe a woman who has pretensions to be of high station but who in reality is anything but.

For example, 'Who does she think she is – Lady Docker?' or 'Here comes Lady Docker'. It is interchangeable with 'Lady Muck' or the male equivalent, 'Lord Muck'.

References

1. ^¹{{cite book |last=Rippon |first=Nicola |title=Derbyshire's Own |date=20 April 2006 |publisher=The History Press |isbn=978-0-7509-4259-1}}
2. ^{{cite book |last1= Douglas-Scott-Montagu|first1= Edward John Barrington|author-link1= Edward Douglas-Scott-Montagu, 3rd Baron Montagu of Beaulieu|last2= Burgess-Wise|first2= David|author-link2= David Burgess-Wise |lastauthoramp= yes |year= 1995|title= Daimler Century: The full history of Britain's oldest car maker|url= |deadurl= |others= Foreword by HRH The Duke of Edinburgh|location= Sparkford, Nr Yeovil, Somerset, UK|publisher= Patrick Stephens|isbn= 1-85260-494-8|lccn= |chapter= Chapter Eight: War and Peace|page= 255|quote=... but she did succeed in getting a job as a dance hostess at the fashionable Café de Paris ... |ref= Century}}
3. ^¹²{{cite book |last=Davenport-Hines |first=R. P. T. |title=Dudley Docker: The Life and Times of a Trade Warrior |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kHx7hVRhKfYC&dq=Dudley+Docker:+The+Life+and+Times+of+a+Trade+Warrior&source=gbs_navlinks_s |accessdate=13 May 2011 |year=2004 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge, UK |isbn=978-0-521-89400-5 |pages=231–233 |chapter=11. Birmingham Small Arms 1918–44 |quote=}}
4. ^¹²³{{cite journal |last1=Clemens |first1=Martin |editor-last= |editor-first= |editor-link= |date=12 December 1993 |title=Rear Window: Flash, brash, and fawned over by Fleet Street – When scandal wasn't royal |journal=The Independent |volume= |issue= |series= |pages= |location=London, UK |publisher=Independent Print |issn=0951-9467 |oclc=185201487 |accessdate=8 May 2012 |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/rear-window-flash-brash-and-fawned-over-by-fleet-street--when-scandal-wasnt-royal-1466954.html |quote=Their lives were a series of publicity stunts: most famously, in the summer of 1954, they threw a party on the Shemara for 45 Leeds coalminers.}}
5. ^{{cite video |people= |year =1954 |title =Dockers Entertain Miners |url =http://www.britishpathe.com/record.php?id=40760 |medium =Newsreel |publisher =British Pathe |location= |accessdate =7 May 2012 |id= |oclc =}}
6. ^¹{{cite journal |editor-last=Luce |editor-first=Henry R. |editor-link=Henry Luce |date=14 March 1955 |title=Soundtrack – The golden marble |journal=Sports Illustrated |volume=2 |issue=11 |pages=12–13 |location= |publisher=Time |issn=0038-822X |accessdate=7 May 2012 |url=http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1129412/2/index.htm |quote=Her opponents had, it is true, been carefully coached against winning—Castleford had already prepared a golden marble on a golden stand as first prize and fully intended to present it to her.}}
7. ^¹{{cite journal |date=11 April 1955 |title=A High Lady's High Jinks |journal=LIFE |volume=38 |issue=15 |pages=111–114 |location= |publisher=Time |issn=0024-3019 |accessdate=7 May 2012 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=glYEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA111&dq=Norah+Docker+LIFE+magazine&hl=en&sa=X&ei=F46oT_HAEIbetgftvOWWDA&ved=0CDAQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false |quote=Rigged marble match for cancer fund charity was fixed to let Lady Docker win, but she played an excellent game in defeating 10 factory girls.}}
8. ^{{cite journal |editor-last= |editor-first= |editor-link= |date=14 August 1956 |title=Marbles Challenge from Lady Docker |journal=The Age |volume= |issue= |series= |page=11 |location=Melbourne, Australia |publisher=Fairfax Media |issn=0312-6307 |oclc=224060909 |accessdate=7 May 2012 |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1300&dat=19560814&id=yohVAAAAIBAJ&sjid=PZUDAAAAIBAJ&pg=5020,1897692}}
9. ^{{cite book |last= Smith|first= Brian E.|year= 1980|title= The Daimler Tradition|url= |publisher= Transport Bookman|location= Isleworth, UK|page= 250|isbn= 0-85184-014-0|accessdate= }}
10. ^{{cite news |title=Daimler: extravagant design and magnificent bodywork |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/motoring/features/daimler-extravagant-design-and-magnificent-bodywork-569402.html |newspaper=The Independent |location=London, UK |publisher=Independent Print |issn=0951-9467 |oclc=185201487 |date=10 February 2004 |accessdate=25 May 2012 |quote=Nora's first design, of 1951, was known as The Gold Car, a limousine embellished with 7,000 gold stars; from bonnet to tailpipe all that should have been chrome was gold, and the interior was trimmed in golden camphor wood and gold brocade.}}
11. ^{{cite book |last1= Lewin|first1= Tony|last2= Borroff|first2= Ryan|title= How To: Design Cars Like a Pro: A Comprehensive Guide to Car Design from the Top Professionals|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=GThBf3VpqsYC&source=gbs_navlinks_s|accessdate= 23 June 2013|year= 2003|publisher= Motorbooks International|location= St. Paul, MN USA|isbn= 0-7603-1641-4|page= 181|chapter=03.04 The Ten Best Forgotten|chapterurl= |quote=Based on the Daimler Regency model, it sported slightly more restrained solid silver hairbrushes and propelling pencils built into the interior, plus fitted red crocodile skin luggage.|ref=Forgotten}}
12. ^¹²{{cite web |url=http://www.bonhams.com/auctions/14267/lot/632/ |title=632 The ex-London Motor Show 1955 Daimler DK400 'Golden Zebra' Coupé Coachwork by Hooper & Co Registration no. TYL 575 Chassis no. 92705 Engine no. 48771 |date=4 December 2006 |work=Auctions at Bonhams |accessdate=26 May 2012 |quote=In 1966 Golden Zebra, which cost £12,000 to build (many times the value of the average semi-detached house at the time) was offered for sale by Daimler distributors Henlys of Chester with 25,000 miles on the clock for only £1,400. }}
13. ^¹*{{cite web |url=http://www.autoblog.com/2006/11/28/auction-action-50-year-old-blingmobile-on-the-block/ |title=Auction Action: 50-year-old blingmobile on the block |first=Chris |last=Tutor |date=28 November 2006 |work=AutoBlog |publisher=AOL |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090627030904/http://www.autoblog.com/2006/11/28/auction-action-50-year-old-blingmobile-on-the-block/ |archivedate=27 June 2009 |deadurl=no |accessdate=26 May 2012 |quote=The four-liter coupe featured gold plated exterior trim, an ivory dashboard and, of course, authentic zebra-hide seats. When asked why she chose zebra, Lady Docker replied: "Because mink is too hot to sit on."}}*{{cite news |title=The gear box: Christmas on wheels – Docker Daimler Golden Zebra |first=Martin |last=Buckley |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring/caraccessories/2744431/The-gear-box-Christmas-on-wheels.html |newspaper=The Daily Telegraph |publisher=Telegraph Media Group |location=London, UK |issn=0307-1235 |oclc= 49632006 |date=25 November 2006 |page= |pages= |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130703111607/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring/caraccessories/2744431/The-gear-box-Christmas-on-wheels.html |archivedate=3 July 2013|deadurl= no |accessdate=29 January 2017 |quote=When asked why she chose zebra, Lady Docker replied: 'Because mink is too hot to sit on.' }}
14. ^{{cite web |url=http://www.bonhams.com/auctions/20145/lot/114/ |title=114 Formerly the property of Lady Docker,1957 Daimler Conquest 'New Drop-Head Coupé' Chassis no. 90541 Engine no. 73088 |date=15 September 2012|work=Bonhams.com |publisher=Bonhams |type=Auction catalogue |format= |doi= |doibroken= |id= |archiveurl= |archivedate= |deadurl=no |accessdate=7 January 2013 |quote=The 'New Drop-Head Coupé' offered here was originally owned by the flamboyant Lady Norah Docker, wife of Daimler chairman, Sir Bernard Docker, who was also head of its parent company, the BSA Group.|ref=}}
15. ^¹{{cite news |title=Wife's Spending Blamed – Sir Bernard Docker Bounced From Post |first=Jack |last=Stepler |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=DDBkAAAAIBAJ&sjid=6nsNAAAAIBAJ&pg=3390,10783&hl=en |agency=The Herald's London Bureau |newspaper=The Calgary Herald |location=Calgary, Alberta, Canada |issn=1197-2823 |oclc=29533985 |date=1 June 1956 |pages=1–2 |accessdate=14 May 2012 |quote=}}
16. ^¹{{cite news |title=Fight Pledged: British Mogul Fired As Head Of Key Firm – Ouster Also Means Wife Must Forgo Her Gold-Trimmed Auto |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1350&dat=19560601&id=TpxOAAAAIBAJ&sjid=tQAEAAAAIBAJ&pg=7548,3589488 |agency=Reuters |newspaper=Toledo Blade |location=Toledo, OH USA |issn= |oclc=12962717 |date=1 June 1956 |page=31 |accessdate=14 May 2012 |quote=The board of the Birmingham Small Arms Co.—key firm in a $70,000,000 industrial empire—announced that Sir Bernard 'has ceased to be a director.' The board gave no reasons for this, merely naming John Young Sangster as the new chairman.}}
17. ^¹{{cite journal |editor-last= |editor-first= |title=Lady Docker's Golden Chariot |date=August 1956 |journal=Mechanix Illustrated |volume=52 |issue=8 |pages=49–51 |location= |publisher=Fawcett Publications |issn=0025-6587 |accessdate=14 May 2012 |url=http://blog.modernmechanix.com/lady-dockers-golden-chariot/ |archiveurl= |archivedate= |quote=Undaunted, Lady Nora (sic) ordered a Bentley Continental, also a plush job.}}
18. ^{{cite news |title=Millionaire's wife slaps Monte Carlo waiter |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article50521138#pstart2036380 |newspaper=The Courier-Mail |publisher= |location=Brisbane, Australia |issn=1322-5235 |date=12 September 1952 |page=1 |accessdate=9 July 2012 |quote=Lady Docker told the Daily Mail to-day: 'It is quite true that I socked one of the little men at the Casino. I socked hime good and hard, too.'}}
19. ^¹²³⁴{{cite news |title=Monaco Peeved at Lady Docker – Charges Insult To Royal Family, Flag |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1955&dat=19580422&id=oQkrAAAAIBAJ&sjid=1JkFAAAAIBAJ&pg=3705,2371787 |agency=Associated Press |newspaper=Reading Eagle |location=Reading, PA USA |id= |date=22 April 1958 |page=19 |accessdate=7 May 2012 |quote=}}
20. ^¹²³⁴{{cite news |title=Monaco Government Expel Lady Docker |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2507&dat=19580423&id=TXxAAAAAIBAJ&sjid=oqMMAAAAIBAJ&pg=3369,6601932 |agency=Reuters and Associated Press |newspaper=The Herald |publisher=George Outram and Co. |location=Glasgow, UK |id= |date=23 April 1958 |page=11 |accessdate=7 May 2012 |quote=Lady Docker has admitted tearing up a paper Monacan flag. She said she was 'furious' because her son Lance, aged 19, had not been invited to attend celebrations of the christening of Prince Rainier's son, Prince Albert.}}
21. ^¹{{cite news |title=Prince Rainier, Lady Docker, May End the Paper Flag Feud |first=Omer |last=Anderson |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1499&dat=19590204&id=9jEoAAAAIBAJ&sjid=siUEAAAAIBAJ&pg=2216,2250411 |agency=North American Newspaper Alliance |newspaper=Milwaukee Journal |location=Milwaukee WI USA |id= |date=4 February 1959 |at=Green Sheet page |accessdate=9 May 2012}}
22. ^{{cite news |title=Reconciliation on the Riviera – Prince Rainier and Lady Docker Patch Things Up |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2206&dat=19590207&id=Zq0yAAAAIBAJ&sjid=teoFAAAAIBAJ&pg=2557,2985615 |agency=North American Newspaper Alliance |newspaper=The Miami News |location=Miami, FL USA |date=7 February 1959 |page=3A |accessdate=9 May 2012}}
23. ^¹²{{cite news |title=A gambling war looms on the Riviera |first=Anthea |last=Goddard |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1301&dat=19600904&id=j_pjAAAAIBAJ&sjid=GeYDAAAAIBAJ&pg=3759,1185618 |newspaper=The Sun-Herald |location=Sydney, Australia |id= |date=4 September 1960 |page=53 |accessdate=9 May 2012 |quote=This has irritated her, and ever since Prince Rainier slapped down the ban, she has sought some way to defeat it.}}
24. ^{{cite journal |last1=Howorth |first1=Michael |editor-last=Linnington |editor-first=Andrew |date=September 2011 |title=Vintage vessel set to be saved in rebuild project |journal=Nautilus International Telegraph |volume=44 |issue=09 |page=8 |location=St. Albans, Hertfordshire UK |publisher=Century One Publishing |issn=0040-2575 |doi= |quote=In 1965 Shemara was put up for sale for £600,000. After a great deal of legal wrangling, the superyachtpassed to the ownership of reclusive property tycoon Harry Hyams of Oldham Estates for £290,000}}
25. ^¹{{cite news |title=Castle for keeps |first=James |last=Delingpole |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/property/3357996/Castle-for-keeps.html |newspaper=The Daily Telegraph |publisher=Telegraph Media Group |location=London, UK |issn=0307-1235 |oclc=49632006 |date=12 May 2007 |accessdate=7 May 2012 |quote=Sir Bernard bought it through the company for £12,500 and spent more than double that on doing it up at BSA's expense. When news of this got out, the shareholders revolted.}}
26. ^{{cite news |title=Castle's owners lived life to excess; HISTORIC HOMES. |url=http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Castle%27s+owners+lived+life+to+excess%3B+HISTORIC+HOMES.-a0162329352 |agency= |newspaper=Birmingham Post |publisher=Birmingham Post & Mail |location=Birmingham, UK |issn=0963-7915 |accessdate=7 May 2012 |quote=}}
27. ^{{cite news |title=Obituaries: Flamboyant socialite Lady Norah Docker |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1946&dat=19831212&id=ZhgiAAAAIBAJ&sjid=hqUFAAAAIBAJ&pg=6757,161120 |agency=Associated Press |newspaper=The Gazette |location=Montreal, Quebec, Canada |issn=0384-1294 |oclc=456824368 |date=12 December 1983 |page=C-7 |accessdate=13 May 2012 |quote=A spokesman at London's Great Western Hotel said Lady Docker, widow of industrialist Sir Bernard Docker, was found dead Saturday by members of the hotel's housekeeping staff. He said she 'passed away peacefully in her sleep.'}}