Olivier Close is on Bemerton Heath, to the North East of Salisbury. Olivier Road is in Wilton.
My guess would be that both are related to the Olivier family, some of whom lived in Wilton. This is obviously more clear for the address in Wilton than it is for the one in Salisbury.
Edith Olivier
The Olivier family, like the Pleydell-Bouveries were of Huguenot (French, Protestant) descent, hence the slightly French-sounding name.
Edith Olivier was a writer. Among her books are:
- The Love Child (1927)
- Four Victorian Ladies of Wiltshire (1945)
- The Seraphim Room (1932)
She also wrote a book on Wiltshire and an autobiography.
She lived in the Daye House, on the Wilton House estate. She was active in local politics on the Conservative side, and was Mayor of Wilton from 1938 to 1941. 1
She was friendly with the photographer Cecil Beaton, painter Rex Whistler and the poet Siegfried Sassoon.
Update: Edith Olivier and Charlotte ‘Annie’ Moberly
Edith Olivier was a friend of the Moberly family, especially Charlotte Moberly, the co-author of the ‘time-slip’ story, ‘An Adventure’. Charlotte father was Bishop Moberly, after whom Moberly Road in Salisbury is named.
Rosemary Olivier
Rosemary was Edith’s niece. She lived with her at Daye House from 1925 onwards. In The Telegraph’s obituary 2, she is described as ‘in many ways her aunts amanuensis’. She typed the manuscripts, and was involved to some extent in the creative process too.
Rosemary was Mayor of Wilton from 1962 to 1963.
She left Edith’s Rex Whistler pictures to Salisbury Museum.
Laurence Olivier
The Oliviers were related to the actor, Sir Laurence. Edith’s uncle Henry was Sir Laurence’s grandfather.
Need a hotel in Salisbury?
For accommodation, see the Hotels in Salisbury page.
Footnotes
- Beryl Hurley, ‘Olivier, Edith Maud (1872–1948)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/38311, accessed 25 March 200924 March 2009] [↩]
- Telegraph Obituary of Rosemary Olivier [↩]
[...] May 2010 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/66527, accessed 14 Dec 2010] [↩]For example, Olivier Close, Salisbury and Macklin Road, Salisbury [↩]Success for John Ivie students (From Salisbury Journal) [...]