Ingaret Giffard Papers

Papers of Ingaret Giffard, including draft manuscripts of mostly unpublished plays, novels, autobiographies and interview transcripts; newspaper cuttings mostly on the reception of Because we must; personal papers including correspondence; and photographic material.

Ingaret Stella Giffard was born in England in 1902. Following the death of her father in 1908, Ingaret spent many of her childhood years in India before returning to England. In the 1930s, she pursued a moderately successful career as an actress and playwright, with one of her plays, Because We Must, starring Vivien Leigh, Alan Napier, Howard Wyndham, and Bronson Albery, staged at Wyndham's Theatre in 1937. She married the businessman, Jimmy Young, and moved to the Sudan. Following the breakdown of their marriage and subsequent divorce, she married Laurens van der Post in 1949. Ingaret developed a strong interest in Jungian therapy after a course of treatment dramatically improved her mother's mental health and convinced Laurens to move with her to Switzerland, where the couple befriended Carl Jung and others (including Toni Wolff) among his inner circle. Returning to England, she worked as a Jungian analyst. She died on 5 May 1997, five months after the death of her husband.

The papers are arranged thematically: 

• A. Draft Manuscripts 
  • 1. Playscripts
  • 2. Novels
  • 3. Autobiographies
  • 4. Interview Transcripts
  • 5. Other Works
• B. Newspaper Cuttings
• C. Personal Papers
• D. Photographic Material

Open for consultation.

Purchased by Durham University as part of the Laurens van der Post collection from Lucia van der Post in May 2016, with the support of grants from the Friends of the National Libraries and the Arts Council England/Victoria & Albert Museum Purchase Grant Fund.

Online catalogue

Permission to make any published use of material from the collection must be sought in advance from the Sub-Librarian, Special Collections (e-mail PG.Library@durham.ac.uk) and, where appropriate, from the copyright owner. The Library will assist where possible with identifying copyright owners, but responsibility for ensuring copyright clearance rests with the user of the material.

The contents of the collection have been fully appraised and duplicates have been removed.

VDP