Born in 1913 Hermione Llewellyn lived in the comfort of her family estate until the age of 13 when her parents lost their fortune and separated. As an independent 24 year old, Hermione moved to Australia to become the personal assistant to the Governor of New South Wales. It was there that she met her husband to be, Daniel Knox, 6th Earl of Ranfurly. On the outbreak of The Second World War, Daniel Ranfurly was posted to the Middle East and Lady Ranfurly broke all protocol by insisting on joining him there. During her six years travelling she held a variety of jobs and mixed with a myriad of important people: from Churchill, to the kings of Greece, Egypt and Yugoslavia, and writers such as Noel Coward and Evelyn Waugh. Hermione wrote her memoir To War with Whitaker based on her diaries during this time. After the war Lord Ranfurly was appointed Governor of the Bahamas. Not one to rest on her laurels, Lady Ranfurly set about providing local schools and libraries with the books they lacked. Upon returning to London she continued to send books all over the world, a service which evolved into the organisation Book Aid International, and has sent over 32 million books to libraries across the world.