Dorothy Una Ratcliffe

Dorothy Una Ratcliffe (20 April 1887 – 20 November 1967), often known as D.U.R., was a socialite, heiress and author. She wrote in a Yorkshire dialect, despite being born in Sussex and brought up in Surrey. She published 49 books, edited a magazine called The Microcosm, travelled all over the world, and was a prolific collector of books, manuscripts and other documents.

Life Born 20 April 1887 in Preston, Sussex, Dorothy was the eldest of four children born to George Benson Clough, a barrister originally from Scarborough, North Yorkshire, and Rose Emily Russell, a Londoner. Dorothy had two sisters, Winifred and Pauline, and a brother Hugh. Charles was the nephew of the self-made wealthy tycoon Edward Allen Brotherton, later Lord Brotherton of Wakefield. Charles was heir to Brotherton, who was a widower with no children as he had lost his wife and baby in childbirth. The newly married couple moved into a home near to Brotherton's own at Roundhay Hall (now Spire Hospital) in Leeds, West Yorkshire. They would later live at Roundhay Hall themselves.

Lord Brotherton became Lord Mayor of Leeds in 1913 – 1914 and Dorothy was his Lady Mayoress. This coincided with the outbreak of the First World War and Dorothy campaigned and fund-raised alongside Lord Brotherton, encouraging men to volunteer. In 1919, Dorothy wrote a poem dedicated to the 'Mothers, Wives & Sweethearts' of the Leeds Pals, which was read aloud at a thanksgiving dinner at Leeds Town Hall.

Dorothy's marriage to Charles was not a success due to his affairs. A treatment for a venereal disease that Charles gave to Dorothy left her unable to have children. Divorce would have led to a scandal for Charles and his family so instead D.U.R focused her attentions on her social life and on helping Brotherton with his political career. Around this time, she also began to write plays, poems and character sketches. In 1930, after Brotherton became ill and died, Dorothy was finally able to divorce Charles. Alfred was a long-term friend of Dorothy's having met her in the hills near Kirkby Malzeard in the 1920s while she was still married to Charles Ratcliffe.

After donating Temple Sowerby Manor to the National Trust, Dorothy and Alfred moved to Edinburgh where they lived at 42 Ann Street.

She had a deep love for the Yorkshire Dales and its dialects and customs. She published her first volume of Dales ballads, The Dales of Arcady, in 1918 and produced many subsequent volumes, poems and plays over the following years. She also had a passion for Gypsy and Traveller culture which provided another subject for her writing.

D.U.R counted writer Philip Larkin and painter Augustus John amongst her acquaintances.

'Gypsy library' and other collections While married to Charles Ratcliffe, Dorothy had encouraged and assisted Lord Brotherton in his collecting of early books and manuscripts, which would eventually become the Brotherton Collection. Her library reflects an outsider's interest and passion for Gypsy and Traveller culture. Dorothy was a vocal ally of Travelling communities, writing poems in support of their rights, publishing letters in local newspapers and writing to the National Council for Civil Liberties.

D.U.R was also a keen collector of art, furniture and ceramics. On her death in 1967 her collection of art, glass and fans was bequeathed to the City of Leeds.

Legacy The National Trust's Dorothy Una Ratcliffe Fellowship supports artists-in-residence schemes at its properties.

Selected works