Esme Langley

Dr Esmé Ross-Langley (née George) born 26 August 1919 in Guisborough, Yorkshire, was a British writer who made a major contribution to the social evolution of women in Britain. She is probably best known as the founder of the Minorities Research Group and Arena Three (magazine). She died on 20 August 1991 in St Albans City Hospital; of complications following a stroke.

Early Years

Esme was the only child of Ivy George, who named her Esmé after a character in a book. Her father William Gwyn Thomas was an international rugby player. He emigrated to the USA in 1923 but Esme's mother declined his invitation to follow later. Esme was brought up by her maternal grandparents Charles Henry George and Annie George (neé Langley) in Preston, Lancashire. She enjoyed cycling and swimming; a childhood hero was Johnny Weismuller in the Tarzan films.

Education

At school Esmé took an interest in languages, English in particular; she learned Latin, French and German and wanted to study Greek too but there were no classes available to her at the time. Later she studied Italian, Spanish, Swahili and Chichewa; just before her final illness, at the age of 72, she was studying Russian. After passing her Matriculation (University entrance) in 1935 Esmé abandoned formal education and at the age of 16 moved to London, found a boyfriend and through necessity lived a frugal life.

World War II

Why Should I Be Dismayed? - Written by Esme Langley under the 'Ann Bruce' pseudonym

Esmé served in the Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS) during World War II, teaching typing and shorthand. While grateful that her typing prowess kept her in work, she was irritated by employers who ignored her other skills. For example she regularly completed difficult crosswords like Ximenes and Azed, but when she applied to join the Bletchley Park team working on the German Enigma cipher, her military unit would not release her. Perhaps it was inevitable that she would become self-employed.

After her release from the British Army in November 1945 ("Military Conduct: Exemplary") Esmé was penniless, homeless and pregant. Her book about life as a single parent was recommended reading for social workers at the time.

BBC

Esmé got a job with the BBC Monitoring unit at Caversham Park near Reading and spent several years exploring languages and playing squash and chess with the Russian monitors there. She had another two children, by a Yugoslav journalist, but never wanted to live with him. In 1956 she arranged a mortgage, bought a house in Bromley, Kent and took in lodgers. There she met an African called Tchum and they considered marriage; Esmé decided against it on the grounds of likely prejudices against her existing and future children.

Arena Three

Esmé was a strong supporter of minorities of all kinds, and not afraid to speak her mind. In 1963 after learning new skills working for Sylvester Stein on the London Property Letter, she founded her own magazine publishing enterprise, the Minorities Research Group, from her basement flat in Hampstead. On legal advice she was the sole proprietor, so that she could not be charged with statutory conspiracy. She published Mainland (for the homeless) which flopped and then Arena Three (magazine) (for lesbians) which took over her life for many years.

Malawi

When Esmé considered that Arena Three had accomplished most of its aims, she moved to Malawi in 1971 with an Austin Champ and took a two-year secretarial assignment in the Office of the President. While there she learned basic Chichewa and Swahili. She named her dog St Leonards as a derogatory but deniable reference to Hastings Banda and his repressive regime. After an outspoken friend of hers disappeared, Esmé resigned her post a few months early and with her son's fianceé set off on a six-week tour of Southern Africa, smuggling a Jehovah's Witness to safety over the border on the way. Her Austin Champ broke down early in the journey but she continued on foot and hitchhiking through Mozambique, Zimbabwe and South Africa before returning home to England.

Music and Letters

After decades of smoking, Esmé had chronic bronchitis and emphysema. For health reasons she moved in 1986 from Hertfordshire to Torrevieja, Spain, and pursued her hobbies of Mozart, writing and gardening for her remaining years.

External links

• Family photos of Esmé
• Obituary: Esme Langley by Antony Grey published in The Independent on 28 August 1992