Elizabeth MacKintosh (1896 - 1952)

Born 25 Jul 1896 in Inverness, Highland, Scotland, United Kingdom

Died 13 Feb 1952 at age 55 in London, England, United Kingdom

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Biography

Elizabeth MacKintosh is Notable.

Elizabeth MacKintoch was born on 25 July 1896 in Inverness, Highland, Scotland, UK. She was the first-born daughter of Colin MacKintosh, who owned fruit orchards, and his wife, Josephine MacKintosh, (née Horne). She graduated from the Inverness Royal Academy. Then, in 1914, matriculated at the Anstey Physical Training College in Erdington, a suburb of Birmingham, England. Upon graduation, Elizabeth worked in a physiotherapy clinic in Leeds, then taught in schools, first in Nottinghamshire, then in Oban, Scotland. Her summer holidays were spent in Inverness working as a Voluntary Aid Detachment nurse in Inverness to be near her family. Her fiancé's life was tragically cut short in 1917 in the battles for the Somme (France) during World War I. Elizabeth never married. In 1923, she returned to Inverness, Scotland, permanently to care for her invalid mother, after her mother's death that year, she stayed to keep house for her father. It was then that she began her literary career.^[1]

Writing under 2 pseudonyms: Josephine Tey [her 2nd great-grandmother's name] and Gordon Daviot, Elizabeth MacKintosh was one of England's most-read 20th Century mystery writers. Her The Daughter of Time (UK: 1951), a detective novel investigating maligned King Richard III and his supposed murder of the "Two Princes in the Tower" during the War of the Roses in the 15th Century, was named as the "greatest crime novel of all time" by the Crime Writers' Association in 1990.^[2]

As Gordon Daviot, Elizabeth also wrote some two dozen plays, some only one-act, but only one was a London success: Richard of Bordeaux, produced in 1932 at the New Theatre, starring up-and-coming leading man: John Gielgud, who went on to be one of England's finest 20th Century actors. Her only non-fiction book, Claverhouse, was written to vindicate John Graham, 1st Viscount Dundee, whom she felt had been maligned (much like King Richard III) by history.

A very private person, Elizabeth Mackintosh's true identity was virtually unknown during her lifetime. She eschewed any personal publicity or notoriety. In her last year, knowing her cancer had metastasized and was incurable, she refused to inform her friends and near the end did not see anyone outside her household. Elizabeth passed away at 55 years old from liver cancer at her sister Mary's home in London, England, on February 13, 1952. Her Times Obituary was published under her Gordon Daviot pseudonym.

Having no younger heirs, Elizabeth left her estate to England's National Trust. Following her wishes, after cremation, her ashes were scattered near the Scottish Highland village of Daviot, near Inverness, where she had spent many happy summer days with friends & family in her youth. Daviot was the inspiration for her first literary pseudonym, author Gordon Daviot. ^[3]

Sources

1. ↑ Josephine Tey (pseudonym) article on Wikipedia. Her legal name was Elizabeth MacKintosh.
2. ↑ The Top 100 Crime Novels of All Time article in Wikipedia
3. ↑ Find A Grave: Memorial #11570704

• Josephine Tey (pseudonym) article on Wikipedia. Her legal name was Elizabeth MacKintosh.

• Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com : accessed 07 October 2020), memorial page for Elizabeth Mackintosh (25 Jul 1896–13 Feb 1952), Find A Grave: Memorial #11570704, ; Maintained by Find A Grave Cremated, Ashes scattered.