Norah, Lady Docker

Norah Docker, Lady Docker (born Norah Royce Turner, 1906–1983) was an English socialite.

Daughter of Amy and Sydney Turner, she was originally a successful dance hall hostess and was noted for her colourful lifestyle.

Marriages

Norah Royce Turner was married three times the first to Clement Callingham, head of Henekeys wine and spirit merchants. They married in 1938 and he died in 1945. They had one son, Lance. The second in 1946 was to Sir William Collins, the president of Fortnum & Mason and he died in 1948. The third in 1949 was to Sir Bernard Docker, chairman of Birmingham Small Arms, Daimler and a director of the Midland Bank, Anglo-Argentine Tramways and Thomas Cook and Son

Sir Bernard and Lady Norah Docker were in their time, the 1940s and 50s, beloved by the press and the paparazzi. Sir Bernard and his wife Norah were, however, neither restrained nor well-behaved.

Lady Docker famously played marbles with factory workers, attended a party given by a notorious criminal, even danced the hornpipe for bemused miners on board their huge yacht.^[1]

She was ostracised after dancing on the national flag in Monaco during an evening of excess.

The couple have been described as "gracelessly gaudy", known for indulgence in all forms, from mink coats and champagne receptions to specially-customised Daimlers, fitted successively with gold plate, lizard skin, even crocodile leather and zebra – more comfortable to sit on than mink, apparently.

"We bring glamour and happiness into drab lives," said Lady Docker. "The working class loves everything I do."

There are shades of currently-running company scandals in Sir Bernard’s historic freedom with company cash.

Golden Zebra
for the Paris Show 1955

Though the Birmingham Small Arms profits were falling off, they were still spending, and dipping into expense accounts, resulting finally in the sacking from the board. It was a severe blow for Bernard, whose father Dudley had helped found the Midlands-based empire. The straw that broke the shareholder’s patience was the golden dress ordered by Lady Docker to match the gold showroom and the gold-plated Daimler being featured in Paris.^[2] The 20,000-dollar outfit was charged against tax as "I was doing nothing more than acting as a model". When the tax man objected, they tried to bill the company.

In eventual tax exile in a small bungalow in Jersey, Lady Docker was quoted on the subject of her island neighbours: "They’re the most frightfully boring, dreadful people that have ever been born."

After her husband’s business downfall, Lady Docker went off to shop for a Bentley, made by Daimler’s arch rivals Rolls-Royce. "Actually, I’ve always loved Bentleys," she said.

Lady Docker is buried in the churchyard of St. James-the-Less in Stubbings, near Maidenhead.

Common Usage

The term 'Lady Docker' is also used in a derogatory way in the north of England (specifically Lancashire), to describe a woman who has pretensions to be of high station but who in reality is anything but.

For example, 'Who does she think she is - Lady Docker?' or 'Here comes Lady Docker'

It is interchangeable with 'Lady Muck' or the male equivalent 'Lord Muck'.

References

1. ^ Dockers entertain Miners - British Pathe
2. ^ Lady Docker's Golden Chariot

External links

• Lady Docker at the National Portrait Gallery

Persondata
Name	Docker, Norah
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	1906
Place of birth
Date of death	1983
Place of death

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