To Orwell Today,
re: ORWELL'S INEZ SPOKE NEWSPEAK

I am trying to verify the birth and dates (or at least years) of Inez Holden. On your web site Orwell Today, in reply to a question about Inez Holden I see that you give her dates as 1906-1974. Wikipedia gives her dates as 1904-1974. Do you have any opinions on the difference in the birth year? Do you feel certain that 1906 is correct and that Wikipedia is simply making a careless error, for example?

Thank you,
Jack Hall
Principal Cataloger
University of Houston Libraries

Greetings Jack,

The dates I used for Inez Holden - born in 1906, died in 1974 - came from a footnote on the bottom of page 38 from the book GEORGE ORWELL: THE LOST WRITINGS, edited by W. J. West, - a very reliable source. According to the back cover "W. J. West is a bibliophile and British scholar whose personal interest in Orwell prompted his researches into the BBC archives...".

West's book is a compilation of the writings Orwell did for the BBC during the two years he worked for them, ie August 1941 to November 1943.

Inez Holden is in the book's index many times, including an excerpt of her writing when she contributed one instalment to a five-part serial drama called STORY BY FIVE AUTHORS which was broadcast on Orwell's BBC radio program from 9th October 1942 to 6th November 1942. Orwell contributed the first instalment, Inez the third.

I feel certain that the date for Inez Holden's birth - 1906 - is correct and that Wikipedia has made an error.

All the best,
Jackie Jura

To Orwell Today,

Thank you very much. I have used your information to update a record in an international cataloging database by adding her death date.

-Jack Hall

Reader Graham says Orwell's friend Inez Holden was born in 1903