Edwin George Derrington (1914-1985)

PERSONAL DETAILS

Full name: Edwin George Derrington.
Date of birth: Wednesday, 11th March, 1914.
Birthplace: Monmouth, Monmouthshire, Wales.
Date of death: Sunday, 17th November, 1985. (aged 71 years).
Place of death: Keston Cottage, 28, Northbridge Street, Robertsbridge, East Sussex, England.
Signature:

FAMILY

PARENTS

SIBLINGS

1st WIFE

Vera Rosemary Derrington (née Stuart-Thompson) (1913-2003).

Date of marriage: 1940.
Place of marriage: Paddington, London, England.
Divorced: c1945.

2nd WIFE

Mona Vrendenberg Inglesby (1918-2006).

Date of marriage: 1946.
Place of marriage: Westminster, London, England.

Born in London, the child of wealthy parents - her father was a Dutch businessman, Julius Cato Vredenburg - she first gained prominence as an award-winning young horsewoman. At the age of nine, she demonstrated prowess as a pianist in concerts at the Wigmore Hall, at one of which she played Mozart's Concerto in E flat for two pianos with Betty Humby, later Lady Beecham.

She had also been studying ballet and when 12 years old became a pupil of Marie Rambert, staying with her until she was 17 and at the same time studying with Margaret Craske and Nicholas Legat. Her involvement with Rambert and the ballet club at the Mercury theatre brought her into contact with the young Frederick Ashton, and she appeared in his Foyer de Danse (1932). She also danced the vivid little role of Papillon in Michel Fokine's Le Carnaval when Rambert revived this Diaghilev production of 1910. A fragment of film exists which shows her very youthful promise.

In 1939 she danced for six weeks with Victor Dandré's Russian Ballet at Covent Garden, working with the teacher and former ballerina Lubov Egorova, who fostered her veneration for the Russian classic style. When war was declared she volunteered for ambulance driving, but her heart was set on creating a ballet company for which she would choreograph and dance. With her father's support, Mona, who adopted Inglesby as a stage name, eventually assembled 21 dancers with a repertoire of eight ballets and even an orchestra of 15 players. Leading the company, International Ballet, were the Russian Nina Tarakanova and the English virtuoso Harold Turner. Another early member was Moira Shearer.

The first performance was at the Alhambra theatre, Glasgow, on May 19 1941. At first the company concentrated on short works, both new and revivals - among the latter Fokine's Les Sylphides and Massine's Gaieté Parisienne, in which Mona danced the role of the Glove Seller, created by Tarakanova in 1938. As the company grew in size and resources, the emphasis was on the full-evening classics: Swan Lake, Giselle, Coppélia and The Sleeping Beauty.

For these stagings Mona called on the services of Nicholas Sergeyev, the former régisseur of the Imperial Russian Ballet, who had brought out of Russia his invaluable notations of these great ballets. She was to pass them on to the Harvard theatre collection, where they are housed and consulted to this day.

International Ballet had many West End seasons, but its most important work was touring the regions. Many people prominent in ballet today gained their first experience from seeing International Ballet in a regional theatre. It appeared at 1951's opening of the Royal Festival Hall, London, and there were tours to Italy, Spain and Switzerland.

Among Mona's most ambitious stagings were Andrée Howard's two-act version of Twelfth Night (1942) and a production of Milton's Masque of Comus, blending spoken word, song and dance. Her own ballets were the charming Endymion and the dramatic Everyman. As a dancer, she had sound technique and quiet charm of manner but never quite made the impact as a performer which she might have done with the aid of an artistic director other than herself.

The company disbanded in 1953 when Mona retired from the stage. Her last years were spent in a nursing home in Bexhill on Sea. Towards the end her memory failed but in lucid moments she could tell her son, Peter, that in her mind she could still "hear the music, see the stage".

In 1946, Mona married Major Edwin Derrington. He died in 1985. She is survived by Peter. – Taken from The Guardian 10th October 2006

RESIDENCES

1916 - Farmcote House, Bridgnorth, Shropshire, England.

1918 - Tufa Mount, Willard Road, Yardley, Birmingham, England.

1932-1936 - Guarlford Court, Clevelode Lane, Malvern, Worcestershire, England.

1939 - St. Stephens Gardens, Bayswater, London, England.

1947-1956 - 110A, Knightsbridge, Knightsbridge, London, England.

Demolished c1958.

1958-1965 - 9, Thurloe Close, Chelsea, London, England.

1985 - Keston Cottage, 28, Northbridge Street, Robertsbridge, East Sussex, England.

MILITARY SERVICE

Regiment: Royal Army Service Corps.
Regimental No.: 232783
Rank:

18/04/42 - 2nd Lieutenant
18/10/42 - W.S./Lieutenant
26/08/44 - T/Captain
Became Major.

OCCUPATION

1939: Entertainment Publicity Expat & Salesman

1946-1953 - International Ballet

Administrator

Associated-Rediffusion Theatrical Productions Ltd

Joint Managing Director

1962-1965 - Associated-Rediffusion Ltd. / Rediffusion Television, Television House, Kingsway, London / 49, Mount Street, Soho, London.

1963-1965 - Head of Administration

1962-1963 - Director of Production

1961-1965 - Assistant General Manager

July 1966-1971 - Association of Great Britain

Director of Labour Relations

1967 - Kent Plays Limited,

July 1968-1971 - Federation of Specialised Film Associations

Director of Labour Relations

1968-1981 - Central Casting Ltd., 5-7, Carnaby Street / 2, Lexington Street, Soho, London, England

Director