Osla Benning

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The Honourable

Lady Henniker-Major
Osla Benning.jpg
Benning in March 1939
Born
Margaret Osla Benning

(1921-08-23)23 August 1921
Montreal, Canada
Died29 October 1974(1974-10-29) (aged 53)
Kensington, London, England
NationalityCanadian
Spouse(s)
Children3

Margaret Osla Henniker-Major, Lady Henniker-Major (née Benning; 23 August 1921 – 29 October 1974) was a Canadian debutante, who worked at Bletchley Park, was Prince Philip's first girlfriend, and later married John Henniker-Major (later 8th Baron Henniker).

Early life[]

Osla Benning was born in Montreal, Canada,[1] on 23 August 1921,[2] the daughter of Edith Black and ,[3] and the goddaughter of Lord Louis Mountbatten.[4] She went to finishing school in Austria, and came out as a debutante in August 1939.[5][6]

World War II, Prince Philip and Bletchley Park[]

Hut 4, next to the mansion, used during the war for naval intelligence, now refurbished as a bar and restaurant for the museum

Benning went to stay with her godfather Lord Mountbatten, who mentioned to her friend (and fellow god-daughter) Sarah Baring that Prince Philip (Mountbatten's nephew) did not have a girlfriend and Baring acted as matchmaker.[5] According to Baring, "It was obvious that he was Osla's boyfriend in a simple, nice way, so to speak".[5] "I do know that he was her first love," says her daughter, Janie Spring. "She never told me about him for years. She just said: 'I fell in love with a naval officer.’"[5]

Early in the war, she and Baring went to build Hurricane fighter planes at a Hawker Siddeley factory[6] close to Slough, and shared a cottage nearby.[7]

A few months later, by summer 1941, they were both tested on their German language skills and posted to Hut 4 at Bletchley Park, the naval section, as linguists.[5][6][7]

Kate Quinn’s 2021 novel about Bletchley Park, The Rose Code, features a character named Osla Kendall, who is based heavily on Osla Benning.

Personal life[]

In 1946 she married John Henniker-Major, 8th Baron Henniker. They had two sons and one daughter:[8]

  • Mark Ian Philip Chandos Henniker-Major, 9th Baron Henniker (born 29 September 1947), married Lesley Antoinette Foskett
  • Hon. Charles John Giles Henniker-Major (2 September 1949 – 9 May 2012), married Sally Kemp Newby
  • Hon. Jane Elizabeth Henniker-Major (born 6 July 1954).

Her husband was knighted in the 1965 New Years Honours List and succeeded as the 8th Baron Henniker in 1980.[9]

Death[]

Benning died of cancer in Kensington,[2] London, on 29 October 1974,[4] at the age of 53.

References[]

  1. ^ New York Passenger Lists. Family Search. Retrieved 11 October 2017.
  2. ^ a b Margaret Osla Henniker-Major England and Wales Death Registration Index 1837-2007. Family Search. Retrieved 11 October 2017.
  3. ^ "Ancestry® | Genealogy, Family Trees & Family History Records". www.ancestry.ca. Retrieved 2021-04-09.
  4. ^ a b "Osla Benning". spartacus-educational.com. Retrieved 10 October 2017.
  5. ^ a b c d e "The romances of young Prince Philip". telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 10 October 2017.
  6. ^ a b c Fox, Elyse; Kintz, Laura; Mantzaris, Nicola (29 March 2018). "Women's History Month: Celebrating Women from the Kennedy Family Collection Nitrate Negatives". The JFK Library Archives: An Inside Look. Retrieved 15 April 2020.
  7. ^ a b "Sarah Baring". 15 February 2013. Retrieved 11 October 2017 – via www.telegraph.co.uk.
  8. ^ Clark, Peter (4 May 2004). "Obituary: Lord Henniker | Politics". The Guardian. Retrieved 10 October 2017.
  9. ^ The Guardian, 'Lord Henniker obituary' (4 May 2004).
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