Aristocratic Gallery

Millicent, Duchess of Sutherland returns from the front, WW1

Millicent, Duchess of Sutherland, pictured at the Hague with her party of nurses after they had returned from the heavily bombarded town of Namur where they had set up a hospital. They moved from Namur to Maubeuge and then Brussels before the Germans gave them a pass to travel to Holland. The Duchess is seated in front holding a bunch of flowers with Dr. Morgan. Date: 1914

© Illustrated London News Ltd/Mary Evans

Mrs Wilfrid Ashley at the Venice Lido, Italy

Mrs Wilfrid Ashley (?-1954), later Lady Mount Temple, nee Muriel (Molly) Spencer and formerly the Hon Mrs Forbes-Sempill. Seen here at the Venice Lido, Italy, seeking inspiration for her work. She was involved in interior decoration and floral design, and ran a florist business called Flower Decorations.
1927

© Mary Evans Picture Library

Sketch cover featuring Lord Burghley in action

Lord Burghley, captain of Britain's Olympic team in 1932 jumping hurdles in a photograph on the front cover of The Sketch. David George Brownlow Cecil, 6th Marquess of Exeter (1905 - 1981), Lord Burghley was an athlete, sports official and Conservative party politician As an athlete, Burghley was a very keen practitioner who placed matchboxes on hurdles and practised knocking over the matchboxes with his lead foot without touching the hurdle. In 1927, his final year at Magdalene College, Cambridge, he amazed colleagues by sprinting around the Great Court at Trinity College in the time it took the college clock to toll 12 o'clock, inspiring the scene in the film Chariots of Fire (whose character Lord Andrew Lindsay is based upon Burghley) in which Harold Abrahams accomplishes the same feat. Lord Burghley did not allow his name to be used in the film because of the inaccurate historical depiction in the movie. There was never a race upon which Harold Abrahams beat Lord Burghley in this feat as the movie depicts. Burghley is also said to have set another unusual record by racing around the upper promenade deck of the Queen Mary in 57 seconds, dressed in everyday clothes. Burghley later served as president of the Amateur Athletic Association for 40 years, president of the International Amateur Athletic Federation for 30 years and as a member of the International Olympic Committee for 48 years. He was also chairman of the Organising Committee of the 1948 Summer Olympics. Date: 1932

© Illustrated London News Ltd/Mary Evans