Jacquemine Charrott Lodwidge

Jacquemine Charrott-Lodwidge
Born	Jacqueline Lodwidge (1919-07-20) 20 July 1919 Langport, Somerset, England
Died	20 February 2012(2012-02-20) (aged 92) Somerset, England
Occupation(s)	Author, art director, bookseller
Years active	1940s–1980s
Known for	Crime and magic writing; art direction in UK cinema; bookselling

Jacquemine Francesca Anastasia Charrott Lodwidge (née Jacqueline Lodwidge) (20 July 1919 – 20 February 2012) was a British author specializing in crime and magic, an art director in UK cinema, and a bookseller.

During World War II, she served with the Free French forces in the Syrian desert and worked as a welfare officer for the British Red Cross in Lebanon.

Early life

Lodwidge was born in Langport, Somerset, in July 1919. She was the daughter of Dr William Charrott Lodwidge MRCS LRCP, who served as the medical officer of health for Langport Rural District Council. Having previously held the rank of Captain in the Royal Army Medical Corps during the First World War, Dr Lodwidge originally hailed from Basingstoke. After his first wife passed away in 1917, he remarried in 1918 to Louise Elise Marie Kermarec (1894–1977), known as Lisette. Jacquemine was their sole offspring.

Due to health issues, Dr Lodwidge retired in 1928 and died the following year in April 1929, leaving an estate worth £883. After his passing, Jacquemine was brought up by her French mother in Langport.

Career

At the outbreak of the Second World War, Lodwidge, fluent in French, enlisted with the Auxiliary Territorial Service before joining the army of Free France (France Libre) in February 1942. She spent two years working alongside Bedouin communities in the Syrian desert, distributing medical aid. By September 1945, she had taken on the role of welfare officer for Syria and Lebanon with the British Red Cross.

Following the war, she returned to Somerset and assisted with school theatrical productions in 1947. She pursued studies in architectural history and spent several years living in Greece. By the early 1950s, she resided in Kensington, relocating to Cambridge by 1955, where she adopted the surname Charrott-Lodwidge. Around 1960, she worked as a researcher for BBC television, contributing to shows such as Our Street. In 1962, while residing on the Thames at Duke Shore, Limehouse Reach, she engaged in television scriptwriting. During this period, she accumulated an extensive collection of children's and illustrated books for research purposes. Her expertise supported Andrew Sinclair’s The last of the best: the aristocracy of Europe in the twentieth century (1969) and George Woodcock’s works The British in the Far East (1969) and The British in the Middle East (1970).

In 1974, Ivor Powell credited her contributions to Astrology in the kitchen, and that same year she co-authored The Book of Spells alongside David Norris.

Transitioning into film during the 1970s, Lodwidge began as a fashion coordinator before advancing to art director roles for both cinema and television productions. After her mother passed away in 1977, she curtailed her travel but maintained her research activities. In 1980, she settled into a cottage named Underwall in Langport and established Pelekas Books, selling items from her personal collection via a gazebo inspired by Corfu’s Pelekas. R. H. Lewis remarked on its distinctive atmosphere featuring elements reminiscent of film sets such as a spiral staircase. Pelekas Books remained operational through at least 1984.

Her filmography includes art direction on Henry Herbert’s Malachi's Cove (1973) and Emily (1976), which starred Koo Stark.

Additionally, Lodwidge collaborated with Daniel Farson on investigations into the Jack the Ripper case, controversially proposing King Leopold II of Belgium as a potential suspect due to his infamous reputation, oppressive rule over Congo, and possible London connections highlighted through psychic research into the murders.

Personal life

On 22 February 1992, Lodwidge wed Commander Derek George Harbroe ('Jake') Wright DSC, who was a Brooke Bond tea merchant and had an esteemed naval service during wartime, specializing in motor-torpedo boats. He passed away in 2008 at the age of ninety-two.

Lodwidge herself died in Somerset in February 2012, also aged 92.

Films

• The Breaking of Bumbo (1970): fashion coordinator
• Under Milk Wood (1972): production researcher
• Blue Blood (1973): art director
• Malachi's Cove (1973): art director
• Autobiography of a Princess (1975): set designer
• Spanish Fly (1975): art director
• Emily (1976): art director
• The Ups and Downs of a Handyman (1976): art director
• Keep It Up Downstairs (1976): art director

Publications

• David Norris, Jacquemine Charrott-Lodwidge, The Book of Spells (Lorrimer, 1974)