Durrell family

The Durrell family was an English family that became well known because two of its members were famous writers. It has been the subject of several autobiographies, the TV series My Family and Other Animals (1987), the television film by the same name, My Family and Other Animals (2005), the largely fictionalized TV series The Durrells (2016–2019), and the documentary What the Durells Did Next.

Family members

The family was founded by Lawrence Samuel Durrell (1884–1928), an Anglo-Indian engineer, and his wife Louisa Durrell (1886–1964). Their children were:

• Lawrence Durrell (1912–1990), a diplomat and writer, best known for writing The Alexandria Quartet, in addition to travel literature.
• Leslie Durrell (1917–1982),[1][2] the second oldest brother. He is described in Gerald Durrell's Corfu Trilogy — My Family and Other Animals, Birds, Beasts and Relatives and The Garden of the Gods — as having interests in guns, hunting, and sailing, and according to his sister's book Whatever Happened to Margo?, was interested in painting.[3]
• Margaret Durrell (1919–2007)[4], ran a boarding house in Bournemouth. Her account of that experience, Whatever Happened to Margo?, was published in 1995, about 40 years after she wrote it.
• Gerald Durrell (1925–1995), a popular naturalist, conservationist, television host and author, credited with redefining the modern zoo. Founder of the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust.
  • His first wife, Jacquie Durrell (b. 1929), author, naturalist and television host
  • His second wife, Lee McGeorge Durrell (b. 1949), author, naturalist and Honorary Director of the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust

Lawrence Samuel Durrell, Louisa Durrell and their children were all born in India during the British Raj as was Louisa Durrell's father. Following Lawrence Samuel Durrell's death in 1928, Mrs Durrell and her three younger children moved to the United Kingdom, where Lawrence had already been sent to be educated. In 1935 they moved to Corfu, following Lawrence's earlier move there with his wife Nancy. They remained in Corfu until 1939, when the outbreak of World War II forced most of them to return to England. Gerald's autobiographical Corfu Trilogy and several short stories record the family's time in Corfu, in a heavily fictionalised way.

References

1. {On his gravestone in Bournemouth North Cemetery Born Jalandhar Punjab India 10th March 1917 Died Westminster 13th August 1982 Aged 65) | url=https://whitemetropolis.wordpress.com/2011/11/23/whatever-happened-to-leslie/ | title=Whatever happened to Leslie | publisher=WordPress.com | work=Durrelliana | date=November 23, 2011 | accessdate=December 27, 2017 | author=Parash, Joanna|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130129010506/https://whitemetropolis.wordpress.com/2011/11/23/whatever-happened-to-leslie/%7Carchive-date= January 29, 2013|url-status=live}}
2. "Geni: Leslie Durell".
3. "Find a Grave - Leslie Durrell".
4. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/173831364/margaret-isabel_mabel-breeze_duncan