Nellie - (1934) - 'Have just agreed to go with Cockie [Birkbeck] to Clouds tomorrow for one night only, as Dina wants moral support in facing Donald (her husband, who was given to fits of violence). Anyway shall get some garden loot even if Donald does shoot us all. (Clouds, the residence of the famous Lady Idina, was in the so-called Happy Valley, which lay on the slopes of Kipipiri, part of the Aberdare range. Lady Idina was then at the peak of her fame. Donald Haldeman was her 4th husband. The previous ones, in chronological order, had been Euan Wallace, Charles Gordon and Josslyn, Earl of Erroll, later to become the victim in a notorious murder case. After Donald Haldeman came Vincent Saltau, an airline pilot, and then James the Sixth.

Midday Sun - On New Year's Eve, 1932, Glady Delamere gave a party at Muthaiga Club which included the Byrnes. 'The Haldemans were there. Lady Idina (formerly Hay, formerly Gordon, formerly Wallace) got herself introduced to H.E. and the whole club held their sides to see Kenya's most notorious vamp clasped in the arms of the King's representative who was apparently making the most of it.'

Over my Shoulder - Clouds - 'The vast drawing room was, I imagine, as it must have always been. Couches, deep easy chairs and cushions were everywhere! They were placed with calculated intimacy and suggested the utmost luxury. Of the bedrooms, Lady Idina's own was the only one I saw, with its huge exotic bedstead and its exquisite golden silk canopy drawn into a gold crown at the top. It was a bed that could have come straight from Paris and graced Malmaison itself! The huge bathroom off the bedroom had a gigantic sunken bath, with steps leading down into it, and with the deep cushioned couches nonchalantly gracing the surrounds, and the mirrored walls, the whole effect was one of kaleidoscopic splendour and intrigue! ......…

Lady Idina, as I remember her when she was quite elderly, remained a fascinating character. She had the figure of a young girl and carried herself with grace and elegance always. She had been Lady Idina Sackville before she married for the first time, and reverted to her family name when she returned to 'Clouds' in 1946 after the war.  

Frampton - Clouds - where Idina and her current American husband (No. 5) [sic] 'Squashy' Haldemann lived for a few months each year.

Mischief - born Idina Sackville, daughter of the 8th Earl de la Warr, she had been married twice - First to Euan Wallace with whom she had two sons, and secondly to Charles Gordon whom she divorced in 1923. Gordon did not defend the case. ....... She was apparently irresistible. She was already 'mal vue' in society for her 'fast' reputation. She had had many boyfriends during her first 2 marriages including Oswald Mosley. ....... She had a perfect figure, slight and little girlish, for which she was famous, and much admired; always wore the chicest clothes and walked barefoot whenever possible 'to show off her size 3 feet'. Her face might have been beautiful were it not for the shotaway chin and, it is said, she was intelligent, well read enlivening company. ......... 8 years older than Erroll - married in Sept 1923 ........ Idina had already lived for a year in Kenya with Charles Gordon. They set up house at Slains, a fairly modest bungalow on the slopes of the Aberdares, ..... she was on the blacklist at Government House (by Lady Grigg) ......... had a Somali chef famous for his cooking ......... at the appointed hour she would take her bath - which was in the centre of her large bathroom - and like some royal mistress, bathe and dress herself in front of all her guests, talking away, insisting on permanent company, summoning new arrivals.

Debrett - resumed the surname of Sackville in lieu of Soltau - m. 1st - 1913 - Capt. the Rt. Hon. (David) Euan Wallace, MC, MP, Life Guards (Reserve), who d. 1941, having obtained a divorce 1919; 2ndly - 1919 - Capt. Charles Gordon, from whom she obtained a divorce 1923; 3rdly - 1923 - the 22nd Earl of Erroll, who d. 1941, and from whom she had obtained a divorce 1930; 4thly - 1930 - Donald Carmichael Haldeman, who obtained a divorce 1938; 5thly - 1939 - Flight-Lieut. Vincent William Soltau, RAF (Reserve)

East Africa & Rhodesia - 10/11/55 - Lady Idina Sackville, who died last week in Mombasa at the age of 62, was the daughter of the eighth Earl De La Warr and a sister of the present peer. Her first marriage, to Captain Euan Wallace, MP, was dissolved in 1919, and she then married Captain Charles Gordon, with whom she went to Kenya, settling in Kinangop. She obtained a divorce in 1923 and married the 22nd Earl of Erroll; the present Countess of Erroll is a daughter of that marriage. It was dissolved in 1930, and she married Mr D.C. Haldeman. Following another divorce eight years later she married Mr V.W. Soltau. Latterly she had used her maiden name again.

Errol Trzebinski - in article for Coastweek - [ET nursed Idina in Nairobi Hospital] ….. For 10 days I observed her during the early stages of terminal cancer. She was always charming, down to earth, funny, an unforgettable and arresting character, who never complained about the pain which was already invading her slim, heavily freckled body. ….. At around 5.00 pm ….. Visitors crowded her room. Besides male admirers, there were usually at least three of four alarmingly sophisticated women present at her bedside; they were always exquisitely dressed; gaiety prevailed as they conversed with one another - often in French. Idina always took pleasure in arranging her flowers for herself, there were so many flowers that her room resembled a bower. Her former home at Mtwapa is testimony to her passion for garden; flowering shrubs enhance the garden today where she planted them. Even now I can see her in my mind's eye, propped up on pillows in that smoke-filled room, her cigarette in its long amber holder, with a smudge of carmine lipstick at one end, her voice was husky, slightly babyish in tone but beguiling all the same; her laughter was infectious, as she gesticulated grandly to an adoring circle. ……

Though I never saw Idina again after she was discharged I never forgot her. Typically she had left a case of champagne for the ward staff. …….. Idina is buried in Mombasa, next to one of her two sons, both of whom perished in the Second World War.

Alice - Memories - The great hostess was Idina Erroll, wife of Joss Erroll, who was later the victim of the infamous murder. She was very nice to meet; it was just that she did seem to have had rather a lot of husbands. One evening when I was at her house I came into the drawing-room to be told, 'Don't sit there or you'll be in the line of fire.' This was when Raymond de Trafford was threatening to shoot somebody. I think a lot of the trouble was that at those heights a little drink goes a long way

Nicholls - Two of the people who gave Kenya a bad name were Lady Idina Gordon and Frank Greswolde Williams's wife Ann …………….. Lady Idina Gordon also took drugs. Francis Scott thought she 'had done a lot of harm out here and behaves more like a barmaid than a lady. It is a great pity as others are apt to follow her example.' It was she who started the fashion in shorts and bobbed hair.

Burke - Married - 1. 1913 (div 1919) Capt. David Euan Wallace MC, 2. 1919 (div 1923) Capt. Charles Gordon  3. 1923 (div 1930) 22nd Earl of Erroll  4. 1930 (div 1938) Donald Carmichael Haldeman  5. 1939 (div 1946) F/Lt Vincent William Soltau, RAF Res

Mills - Muthaiga Country Club 1955 - Finally, and after many attempts, the Committee agreed that a much married titled lady may become a member. Unfortunately, it was only for a short time. However this lady who during her life had been Lady Idina Sackville, Lady Idina Wallace, Lady Idina Gordon, Lady Idina Hay, Lady Kilmarnock, Countess of Erroll, Lady Sackville, died happy to be a member of the Muthaiga Country Club where she had, in her younger days, contributed to many gay parties.

Barnes - Mombasa Cemetery - Lady Myra Idina Sackville, died 4 Nov 1955 age 62, European Hospital, Carcinomatosis - Carcinoma Cervix & Uterus

Web - Oxford dnb - Happy Valley - Erroll's first wife, Idina Sackville, was frail and fragile, a brittle chain-smoker horrified by ageing and with an insatiable need of male admirers. 'Reputed to have had lovers without number', Georgia Sitwell noted on meeting her in 1928: 'heavily made-up face covered with blue-white powder, chic, empty; dissipated, hungry-looking, spoilt and vicious. She has dyed hair and no chin but withal looks like a pretty chicken, the same colour, the same contours'.

Mischief - Happy Valley originated with Lord Erroll himself and with Lady Idina Gordon who later became his wife, and who set up house there in 1924.