Dorma Leigh

Dorma Leigh was born in 1890 in Camberwell, London, as Dorothy Mabel Woodley, the daughter of Ernest Woodley and his wife, Fannie Wellesley Hack, who was 10 years older than he was. They later separated.

According to descendants of Dolly’s brother, her father cut her out of his will because she “went on the stage”. She married Peter Cheyney on 27 November 1919 in the registry office at St Giles. On the marriage certificate she gives her profession as a theatrical producer, Peter was listed a ‘company director’ and his father, ‘of independent means’. The marriage was not a happy one and there were no children.

The Decree Absolute was granted in Jan 1932 (see http://www.petercheyney.co.uk/Cheyney%20Site/life2dorma.html for more details and transcript of Divorce records)