For faster navigation, this Iframe is preloading the Wikiwand page for Diana Kingsmill Wright.

Diana Kingsmill Wright

Diana Kingsmill Wright
BornDiana Kingsmill
24 December 1908[1]
Ottawa, Ontario
Died24 January 1982(1982-01-24) (aged 73)[2]
Occupationathlete, journalist, environmentalist
NationalityCanadian
Period1920s-1970s
SpouseVictor Gordon-Lennox (1932–1940)
J. F. C. Wright (1944–1970)

Diana Kingsmill Wright (24 December 1908 – 24 January 1982) was a Canadian athlete, journalist and activist.[3]

Biography

[edit]

Diana Kingsmill Wright was born in Ottawa, Ontario, on 24 December 1908. She was the daughter of Naval Service of Canada admiral Sir Charles Kingsmill,[3] She was raised and educated in Canada and England.

In her youth, she was a competitive figure skater, who was a winner of the Devonshire Cup.[4] She was later a member of the Canadian alpine skiing team at the 1936 Winter Olympics,[5] and competed despite having suffered a broken hand.[6]

She married Victor Gordon-Lennox, the son of British politician Lord Walter Gordon-Lennox, in 1932.[7] In this era she was a friend of actor David Niven,[3] who wrote about her in his autobiography The Moon Is a Balloon.[8]

She returned to Ottawa in 1940 after separating from Gordon-Lennox.[9] She remarried historian J. F. C. Wright in 1944, in the Parliament Hill office of J. S. Woodsworth,[10] and moved with Wright to Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.[3] Active in the Saskatchewan chapter of the Cooperative Commonwealth Federation, the Wrights became co-editors of Union Farmer, the newspaper of the Saskatchewan Farmers' Union, in 1950.[3] Wright died by suicide in 1970.[10]

In the 1960s, she was active in Voice of Women. She leased the Kingsmill family summer home on Grindstone Island to the Society of Friends to serve as a Quaker retreat centre and an institution for peace studies.[11] She later served as editor of Environment Probe,[3] and served on an advisory committee to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation on its coverage of agriculture and farming issues.[3]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Diana Gordon-Lennox". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on April 18, 2020. Retrieved December 28, 2018.
  2. ^ "Wright, Diana". Montreal Gazette. Postmedia Network. January 26, 1982. p. 48. Retrieved December 28, 2018 – via Newspapers.com. Free access icon
  3. ^ a b c d e f g "Diana Kingsmill Wright" Archived 2014-10-18 at the Wayback Machine. Saskatchewan Eco Network.
  4. ^ "Canada in Switzerland". Winnipeg Tribune, February 6, 1925.
  5. ^ "Ottawa Ski Star Chosen on Team". Ottawa Journal, September 16, 1935.
  6. ^ "Applaud Efforts Diana Lennox". Ottawa Journal, February 8, 1936.
  7. ^ "Diana Kingsmill Is Bride of Capt. Gordon-Lennox". Winnipeg Tribune, December 28, 1932.
  8. ^ Niven, David (1971). The Moon's a Balloon. London: Hamish Hamilton. ISBN 0-340-15817-4.
  9. ^ "Ottawa Women Enter Inter-City Ski Meet". Ottawa Journal, January 27, 1940.
  10. ^ a b "Biography - Wright, James Frederick Church" . Saskatoon Public Library Local History Collections.
  11. ^ "Rebels run retreat". Ottawa Citizen, August 27, 1980.
{{bottomLinkPreText}} {{bottomLinkText}}
Diana Kingsmill Wright
Listen to this article

This browser is not supported by Wikiwand :(
Wikiwand requires a browser with modern capabilities in order to provide you with the best reading experience.
Please download and use one of the following browsers:

This article was just edited, click to reload
This article has been deleted on Wikipedia (Why?)

Back to homepage

Please click Add in the dialog above
Please click Allow in the top-left corner,
then click Install Now in the dialog
Please click Open in the download dialog,
then click Install
Please click the "Downloads" icon in the Safari toolbar, open the first download in the list,
then click Install
{{::$root.activation.text}}

Install Wikiwand

Install on Chrome Install on Firefox
Don't forget to rate us

Tell your friends about Wikiwand!

Gmail Facebook Twitter Link

Enjoying Wikiwand?

Tell your friends and spread the love:
Share on Gmail Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Buffer

Our magic isn't perfect

You can help our automatic cover photo selection by reporting an unsuitable photo.

This photo is visually disturbing This photo is not a good choice

Thank you for helping!


Your input will affect cover photo selection, along with input from other users.

X

Get ready for Wikiwand 2.0 🎉! the new version arrives on September 1st! Don't want to wait?