Elsie Bambridge

Elsie Bambridge (née Kipling; 2 February 1896 – 24 May 1976) was the daughter of English writer Rudyard Kipling and Caroline Starr Balestier. She was the only one of the Kipling's three children to survive beyond adolescence.[1]

Elsie Bambridge
Born	Elsie Kipling (1896-02-02)2 February 1896 Vermont, U.S.
Died	24 April 1976(1976-04-24) (aged 80) Wimpole Estate
Nationality	American/British
Other names	Bird
Spouse(s)	George Bambridge ​ ( m. 1924; died 1943)
Parent(s)	Rudyard Kipling Caroline Starr Balestier

On 22 October 1924, Elsie Kipling married George Bambridge and in 1938 they bought Wimpole Hall, Cambridgeshire's largest stately home.[2] Her obituary, in The Times, stated she had two missions in life, "to maintain the traditions of her husband Captain George Bambridge and her father Rudyard Kipling".[3] On her death, in 1976, having no children, she bequeathed her property and its contents to the National Trust. The Trust later donated her father's manuscripts to the University of Sussex in Brighton, to ensure better public access to them.[4] She is buried in the graveyard of St Andrew's church on the estate.

References

1. Lycett, Andrew Rudyard Kipling, Weidenfeld & Nicolson: 1999 ISBN 0-297-81907-0 p.588
2. Souden, David Wimpole Hall National Trust: 1991 ISBN 978-1-84359-034-7 p.41
3. Mrs George Bambridge The Times, 5/6/76, p. 16
4. Howard, Philip University library to have Kipling documents The Times, 16/9/77, p.1