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((short description|British writer))
((Use dmy dates|date=August 2020))
((more citations needed|date=January 2015))
((Infobox person

| name = Esme Langley
| birth_date = ((birth date|1919|8|26|df=y))
| birth_place = [[Guisborough]], [[Yorkshire]], England, UK
| death_date = ((death date and age|1991|8|20|1919|8|26|df=y))
| death_place = [[St Albans]] City Hospital, [[Hertfordshire]], England, UK
| nationality = British

| other_names = Ann Bruce
| occupation = Writer
))
'''Esme Ross-Langley''' (née George, pseudonym '''Ann Bruce'''; 26 August 1919, in [[Guisborough]], [[Yorkshire]] – 20 August 1991, in [[Hertfordshire]], England),  was a British writer, best known as the founder of the [[Minorities Research Group]] and ''[[Arena Three]]''. 

== Early life ==

Esme was the only child of Ivy George, who named her Esmé((clarify|date=January 2015))<!--Esmé or Esme? make up your mind or better yet cite an authoritative reference--> after a character in a book.((citation needed|date=January 2015))

Her father [[Gwyn Thomas (rugby)|William Gwyn Thomas]] was an international rugby player. He emigrated to the US in 1923 but Esme's mother declined his invitation to follow later. Esme was brought up by her maternal grandparents Charles Henry George and Annie George (née Langley) in [[Preston, Lancashire]]. She enjoyed cycling and swimming; a childhood hero was [[Johnny Weissmuller]] in the [[Tarzan]] films.

== Education ==

At school Esmé took an interest in languages, English in particular; she learned Latin, French and German and wanted to study Ancient Greek too but there were no classes available to her at the time.

After passing her [[Matriculation]] (University entrance) in 1935 at the age of 16 her formal education ended. According to her semi-autobiographical novel,<ref name="book-Dismayed" /> Esmé was enjoying life in London with a friend's family and refused to return to school for her final year of English Honours. The son of the family proposed marriage but his mother did not approve so they broke up. At the age of 17 she was on her own, living and working in London, and through necessity living a frugal life. She volunteered to serve in the Army in 1939 and after the war, as a single mother, was unable to take up her university place.

Later Esmé studied Italian for fun, [[Swahili language|Swahili]] and [[Chichewa]] while working in Malawi, Spanish during her retirement in Spain and, just before her final illness at the age of 72, she was studying Russian.

== World War II ==
[[File:WyshouldIbedismayed.JPG|thumb|upright|right|Why Should I Be Dismayed? – Written by Esme Langley under the 'Ann Bruce' pseudonym]]

Esmé served in the [[Auxiliary Territorial Service]] (ATS) during World War II, teaching typing and shorthand. While grateful that her typing prowess kept her in work, she was irritated by employers who ignored her other skills.<ref name="LPL-dictation">[http://www.pponline.co.uk/blog/taking-notes-and-txt-38537 Sylvester Stein's blog] ((Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080705133704/http://www.pponline.co.uk/blog/taking-notes-and-txt-38537 |date=2008-07-05 )) where he writes: I had a formidable secretary once, Esme Langley-Ross, with a formidable IQ, who was so on top of the job that she would hector me as to the logic and the grammar of what she was taking down almost before I said it.</ref> For example, she regularly completed difficult crosswords like [[Ximenes (crossword compiler)|Ximenes]] and [[Azed]], but when she applied to join the [[Bletchley Park]] team working on the German [[Enigma machine|Enigma]] cipher, her military unit would not release her.

After her release from the British Army in November 1945 ("Military Conduct: Exemplary") Esmé was penniless, homeless and pregnant.

Her book, ''Why should I be dismayed?'',<ref name="book-Dismayed">''Why should I be dismayed'' (1958) – Ann Bruce (aka Esme Langley) – Faber and Faber – NO ISBN Available</ref> about life as a single parent was recommended reading for social workers at the time.

== BBC ==

Esmé got a job with the [[BBC Monitoring]] unit at [[Caversham Park]] near Reading and spent several years exploring languages and playing squash and chess with the Russian monitors there. She had another two children, by a Yugoslav journalist, but never wanted to live with him. In 1956 she arranged a mortgage, bought a house in [[Bromley]], [[Kent]] and took in lodgers. There she met an African called Tchum and they considered marriage; Esmé decided against it on the grounds of likely prejudices against her existing and future children.

== Arena Three ==

Esmé was a strong supporter of minorities of all kinds, and not afraid to speak her mind. In 1963 after learning new skills working for [[Sylvester Stein]] on the ''[[London Property Letter]]'', she founded her own magazine publishing enterprise, the [[Minorities Research Group]], from her basement flat in [[Hampstead]]. On legal advice she was the sole proprietor<ref name="LAIC1966">[http://www.womenslibrary.org.uk/laic/laictimeline/1960s/arena31966.html Timeline 1966: Arena 3] ''The Lesbian Archive and Information Centre'': Esme Langley was the powerhouse behind the Minority Research Group and accepted sole responsibility for publishing the magazine so that accusations of a "Lesbian Conspiracy" could not be made.</ref> so that she could not be charged with statutory conspiracy. She published Mainland (for the homeless) which flopped and then [[Arena Three (magazine)]] (for lesbians) which took over her life for many years.

== Malawi ==

When Esmé considered that ''Arena Three'' had accomplished most of its aims, she moved to [[Malawi]] in 1971 with an [[Austin Champ]] and took a two-year secretarial assignment in the Office of the President. While there she learned basic [[Chichewa]] and [[Swahili language|Swahili]]. She named her dog [[St Leonards-on-Sea|St Leonards]] as a derogatory but deniable reference to [[Hastings Banda]] and his repressive regime. After an outspoken friend of hers disappeared, Esmé resigned her post a few months early and with her eldest son's fiancée set off on a six-week tour of Southern Africa, smuggling a Jehovah's Witness to safety over the border on the way. Her [[Austin Champ]] broke down early in the journey but they continued on foot and hitchhiking through [[Mozambique]], [[Zimbabwe]] and South Africa before returning home to England.

== Music and letters ==

After decades of smoking, Esmé had [[Bronchitis#Chronic bronchitis|chronic bronchitis]] and [[emphysema]]. For health reasons she moved in 1986 from [[Hertfordshire]] to [[Torrevieja]], Spain, and pursued her hobbies of [[Mozart]], writing and gardening for her remaining years. She died on 20 August 1991 in [[St Albans]] City Hospital; of complications<ref name="Dutt1">Wolmar, Christian (19 Feb 1994). [https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/suicide-doctor-faced-seven-complaints-councillor-in-westminster-housing-scandal-also-had-professional-worries-christian-wolmar-reports-1394996.html Suicide doctor faced seven complaints: Councillor in Westminster housing scandal also had professional worries] ''The Independent''</ref> following a stroke.

== References ==
((Reflist|2))

== External links ==
* [http://www.minfo.org/family/Esme/ Family photos of Esmé]
* [https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/obituary-esme-langley-1542936.html Obituary: Esme Langley] by [[Antony Grey]] published in [[The Independent]] on 28 August 1992

((authority control))

((DEFAULTSORT:Langley, Esme))
[[Category:1919 births]]
[[Category:1992 deaths]]
[[Category:British lesbian writers]]
[[Category:British LGBT rights activists]]
[[Category:British expatriates in Malawi]]
[[Category:20th-century British women writers]]
[[Category:20th-century English LGBT people]]

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