It was several weeks before mother and daughter came home, but once there it did not take Leigh long to become bored, as the household was being run quite adequately by the staff, and the baby was tended to by the nurse-nanny.

[1] Although Leigh concentrated on her acting career, soon receiving good notices in the play The Mask of Virtue, she did occasionally appear in the role of the new mother, being photographed holding her baby.

In Leigh's own words, "I loved my baby as every mother does, but with the clear-cut sincerity of youth I realised that I could not abandon all thought of a career on the stage.

The Reverend Mother also feared for the safety of other children in her care, resulting in Farrington being transferred by her grandmother to a day school.

[9][10] Holman gained custody over Farrington, and bought Manor Farm House at Zeals, Wiltshire, for them both to live in.

[15] Film historian Kendra Bean described Farrington's formative and later life, during which her grandmother continued to act as a "surrogate mother.

[Note 1] After returning from a holiday in Italy with her parents, on 6 December 1957, she married the insurance broker and executive Robin Farrington, also a decorated platoon commander who had served in Palestine in 1948.

[24] With the full support of her mother's long-time caretaker and partner Jack Merivale, she received Leigh's private papers, which included letters, photographs, contracts and diaries from 1932 onwards.

[26] In 2005, biographer Terry Coleman was able to access Leigh's papers when he wrote Olivier, The Authorised Biography, and he thanked Farrington in the foreword.