by Bolt, Rodney
p.309 ‘cash-for-honours scandal’ Wilson, A. N., After the Victorians, p.119; the UK National Archive website sets the current value of the gift at over £1.72 million.
p.310 ‘Greed and Selfish Desire’ Ben. MS Benson Adds 14, Letter Tremans 18 August 1914
p.310 ‘all her life long the march of external events’ Benson, A. C., Unpublished Memoir of Mary Benson, Ben. MS Benson adds 12/3 p.85
p.310 ‘a totter with a tortoise’ Benson, E. F., Mother, p.162
p.310 The gout ‘with its Hydra nature’ Ben. MS Benson 3/38 fol 110
p.310 ‘mistiness which slides across’ Ben. MS Benson 3/33 fol 134
p.310 ‘IS THIS THE HEND?’ Ben. MS Benson Adds 114 Letter Tremans November 7 [no year date]
p.310 ‘I am endeavouring to see’ Ben. MS Benson 3/38 fol 111
p.310 ‘a certain shortage of hearing’ Ben. MS Benson 3/38 fol 82
p.310 male conversation, escaped her Ben. MS Benson 3/38 fol 116
p.311 ‘the Rest of Life stretches before me’ Ben. MS Benson 3/38 fol 116
p.312 ‘Lord Morley dined here’ Ben. MS Benson Adds 14, Letter 11 May 1917
p.313 Death of Mrs Benson This death notice is a précis of the one that appeared in The Times on 17 June 1918.
p.314 ‘dangerous stuff that had better perish’ Benson, E. F., Final Edition, p.135
SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY
Primary Material
Mary Benson’s diary, together with substantial Benson family correspondence, manuscripts, photographs and other Bensonia are held with the Benson Family Papers, Bodleian Library, University of Oxford.
A. C. Benson’s diaries are at the Pepys Library, Magdalene College, University of Cambridge.
E. W. Benson’s diaries, and other papers, are at the Wren Library, Trinity College, University of Cambridge.
Published Works
Abbott, Evelyn, The Life and Letters of Benjamin Jowett, 2 vols, John Murray, London, 1897
Ackroyd, Peter, London: The Biography, Chatto & Windus, London, 2000
Anon., The Duties of Servants: A Practical Guide to the Routine of Domestic Service, Copper Beech reprint of 1894 original, London, 1993
Asquith, Betty, The Bensons, A Victorian Family, E. F. Benson Society reprint, London, 1994
Bailin, Miriam, The Sickroom in Victorian Fiction, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1994
Baring, Maurice, The Puppet Show of Memory, Little Brown & Co., New York, 1922
Benkowitz, Miriam, Frederick Rolfe: Baron Corvo, Hamish Hamilton, London, 1977
Benson, A. C. Memoirs of Arthur Hamilton, Henry Holt, New York, 1886
——The Life of Edward White Benson, Sometime Archbishop of Canterbury, 2 vols, Macmillan, London, 1899
——Beside Still Waters, G. p.Putnam’s Sons, London, 1907
——Hugh, Memoirs of a Brother, Smith, Elder & Co., London, 1915
——Life and Letters of Maggie Benson, John Murray, London, 1917
——The House of Quiet, John Murray, London, 1919
——The Trefoil, John Murray, London, 1923
Benson, E. F., Dodo, An Omnibus, Hogarth Press, London 1986 [1893]
——The Challoners, William Heinemann, London, 1904
——Across The Stream, John Murray, London, 1919
——Our Family Affairs 1867–1896, George H. Doran, New York, 1921 [1920]
——Rex, Hodder & Stoughton, London, 1925
——Mother, George H. Doran, New York, 1925
——As We Were, A Victorian Peep-Show, Hogarth Press, London, 1985 [1930]
——The Tale of an Empty House and Other Ghost Stories, Black Swan, London, 1986
——Final Edition, Hogarth Press, London, 1988 [1940]
Benson, E. F. (ed.), Henry James, Letters to A. C. Benson and Auguste Monod, Elkin Mathews & Marrot, London, 1930
Benson, Margaret, The Soul of a Cat, and Other Stories, Heinemann, London, 1901
Benson, R. H., The Sentimentalists, Pitman & Sons, London, 1906
——The Necromancers, Bernhard Tauchnitz, Leipzig, 1910
Davidson, Randall, Life of Archibald Campbell Tait, Archbishop of Canterbury, Macmillan, London, 1891
Delmont, Sara, and Duffin, Lorna, The Nineteenth-Century Woman, Her Cultural and Physical World, Croom Helm, London, 1978
Flanders, Judith, The Victorian House: Domestic Life from Childbirth to Deathbed, HarperCollins, London, 2003
Gilman, Charlotte Perkins, The Yellow Wallpaper and Other Stories, Dover, New York, 1997
Hichens, Robert, Yesterday, Cassell, London, 1947
James, Henry, The Turn of the Screw, Penguin Books, Harmondsworth, 1984
Lubbock, Percy (ed.), The Letters of Henry James, Macmillan, London, 1920
——The Diary of Arthur Christopher Benson, Hutchinson & Co, London, 1926
Marcus, Sharon, Between Women: Friendship, Desire, and Marriage in Victorian England, Princeton University Press, Princeton, 2007
Martindale, C. C., The Life of Monsignor Robert Hugh Benson, 2 vols, Longmans, London, 1916
Masterman, Lucy (ed.), Mary Gladstone (Mrs Drew), Her Diaries and Letters, E. p.Dutton, New York, 1930
Masters, Brian, The Life of E. F. Benson, Chatto & Windus, London, 1991
Money, James, Capri, Island of Pleasure, Hamish Hamilton, London, 1986
Nethercot, Arthur Hobart, The First Five Lives of Annie Besant, University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 1960
Newsome, David H., Godliness & Good Learning: Four Studies on a Victorian Ideal, Cassell, London, 1961
——On the Edge of Paradise: A. C. Benson, the Diarist, University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 1980
——The Victorian World Picture, John Murray, London, 1997
Oppenheim, Janet, The Other World: Spiritualism and Psychical Research in England, 1850–1914, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1985
——‘Shattered Nerves’: Doctors, Patients, and Depression in Victorian England, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1991
Page, Frederick (ed.), The Poems of Coventry Patmore, Oxford University Press, London, 1949
Palmer, Geoffrey and Lloyd, Noel, Father of the Bensons, Lennard Publishing, Harpenden, 1998
Partridge, Michael, Gladstone, Routledge, London, 2002
Paterson, Michael, Life in Victorian Britain: A Social History of Queen Victoria’s Reign, Robinson, London, 2008
Paxman, Jeremy, The Victorians: Britain through the Paintings of the Age, BBC Books, London, 2009
Raverat, Gwen, Period Piece: A Cambridge Childhood, Faber & Faber, London, 1987
Rolfe, Frederick, The Desire & Pursuit of the Whole, Quartet Books, London, 1993
Roper, Michael and Tosh, John (eds), Manful Assertions: Masculinities in Britain since 1800, Routledge, London, 1991
Showalter, Elaine, The Female Malady: Women, Madness, and Culture in England 1830–1980, Pantheon, New York, 1985
Smyth, Ethel, Impressions that Remained, 2 vols, Longmans, London, 1919
——As Time Went On. . . , Longmans, London, 1936
——The Memoirs of Ethyl Smyth, Faber & Faber, London, 2008
Stanley, Arthur Penrhyn, Life and Correspondence of Thomas Arnold, John Murray, London, 1881
Stephenson, Glennis (ed.), Nineteenth-Century Stories by Women, An Anthology, Broadview Literary Texts, Peterborough, Ontario, 1993
Tangye, Michael, Tehidy and the Bassets: the Rise and Fall of a Great Cornish Family, Truran, Redruth, 2002
Taylor, Anne, Annie Besant: The Biography, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1992
Tosh, John, Manliness and Masculinities in Nineteenth-Century Britain, Pearson Longman, Harlow, 2005
Vicinus, Martha, (ed.), Suffer and Be Still: Women in the Victorian Age, Indiana University Press, Bloomington, 1972
——(ed.), A Widening Sphere: Changing Roles of Victorian Women, Indiana University Press, Bloomington, 1977
——Intimate Friends, Women who Loved Women, 1778–1928, University of Chicago Press, Chi
cago, 2004
Watkins, Gwen, E. F. Benson & His Family and Friends, E. F. Benson Society, Rye, 2003
Whitehouse, J. Howard, Vindication of Ruskin, Allen & Unwin, London, 1950
Williams, David, Genesis and Exodus: A Portrait of the Benson Family, Hamish Hamilton, London, 1979
Wilson, A. N., After the Victorians, Hutchinson, London, 2005
Wohl, Anthony (ed.), The Victorian Family, Structures and Stresses, St Martin’s Press, New York, 1978
INDEX
Page numbers in italics refers to an illustration
Addington 160, 168, 169, 183, 193–4, 216, 217
Albany, Duchess of 249
Albany, Duke of 266
Albert, Prince 14, 43, 60–1, 166
Algiers 191–3
Arnold, Dr Thomas 35, 36, 61, 62, 64
Asquith, Herbert 201
Austin, Alfred 267
Baker, Thomas 16–18
Balfour, A.J. 259
Balfour, Lady Blanche 69–70
Baring, Maurice 181
Barton, Dr 303
Basset, Charlotte Mary (‘Chat’) 148–50, 152–3, 159, 171
Basset, Gustavus 149
Bedford, Duchess of 172–3, 237, 259, 265, 304
Beeton, Mrs
Book of Household Management 65
Bell, Gertrude 195
Benson, Ada (Edward’s sister) 4, 16, 26, 36, 72, 81
Benson, Agnes (wife of Christopher) 101, 102, 106
Benson, Arthur (son) 196–9, 200, 206, 228, 245, 264, 271
Beside Still Waters 89, 269, 296–7
and Beth 89–90, 300
birth 81
at Cambridge University 146, 196
character and appearance 141, 196, 266, 275–6
childhood and early years 89–90, 90, 93, 110, 112, 136, 138
composes verses for ‘Land of Hope and Glory’ 305, 367
and death of father 226
depressions suffered 196, 197, 292, 296, 301–2, 309
earnings 309
editing of Queen Victoria’s letters 167, 267
fellowship at Magdalene College 267
and First World War 305
friendship with Henry James 235, 236–7
gift of money from Madame de Nottbeck 309
holding back of emotions and sexual inclinations 267–9
The House of Quiet 197–8, 253
on Lis Escop 129
literary career 196, 200, 267, 275–6, 278–9
made Master of Magdalene College 309
and Maggie’s mental breakdown 291–2, 300, 303
male friendships 196–7, 198, 241, 261
master at Eton 188, 235
Memoirs of Arthur Hamilton 93, 198–9
mental collapse and convalescence in nursing home 309
mother’s view of literary efforts 277, 278
and motoring 263
moving up the social ladder 266–7
on parents’ marriage 217
and religion 258
Revivalist meeting attended 196
and Tremans 250, 253, 282
as unofficial Poet Laureate to Court of Windsor 267
view of Churchill 305
view of Edward VII 265
view of Hugh’s ordination as Roman Catholic priest 272
view of Lucy Tait 287
view of Mary Basset 148–9
view of Rolfe 280–1
Benson, Captain White (Edward’s grandfather) 11
Benson, Charlie (Edward’s brother) 16–17, 18, 19
Benson children 143, 163, 195
and death of Nellie 188–9
and Ethel Smyth 178
fascination with natural world 138
and father’s will 226
life at Lincoln Chancery 113–14
life at Lis Escop 129, 134–5, 136–7
and Martin’s death 132–3
producing of Saturday Magazine 140
relationship between 140
relationship with father 115–16, 135
relationship with mother 115, 136–7
Benson, Christopher (Edward’s brother) 100, 101, 219
Benson, Edward White (husband)
antipathy felt towards Ethel Smyth 179–81
as Archbishop of Canterbury 151–2, 166–7, 216, 218
belief in Muscular Christianity 36, 203, 218
as Bishop of Truro 122, 123–4, 127, 135, 144
at Cambridge University 7, 13–14, 19–20, 21, 35
as Chancellor of Lincoln Cathedral 103–4, 105, 109, 111–12, 116–17
character 163, 217
childhood 12
and death of mother 16
and death of son (Martin) 132–4
death and funeral xvii, 221, 225–6, 249–50
depressions and moods 42–3, 67, 103, 116–17, 144–5, 191–2, 216, 218, 219
disposition to ‘make idols’ 19, 23
early education 9
early intentions of marrying Mary 23–5, 26, 27–34
and education of children 133
engagement to Mary 34, 36–7, 40–3
family background 11
family holidays 146–7
founding of Ghost Society 19, 73, 169
and Gladstone 165
headmastership of Wellington College 43, 61, 63–4, 67
honeymoon travels 51–7
invites Lucy Tait to live at Lambeth Palace 190
Irish tour whilst Archbishop 219
and Lincoln Trial judgement 219
marriage to and relationship with Mary 64, 65, 73–7, 105, 108–9, 117, 119, 121, 122, 142, 144, 145, 217–18
and Mary’s breakdown and recovery in Wiesbaden 103, 105–6
ordination 40
redecoration of Lambeth Palace 157–8
relationship with children 93, 115–16, 130, 133, 135, 182, 192, 206
relationship with Francis Martin 18–19, 20–1
relationship with Mary’s mother 27, 32
relationship with son (Hugh) 141, 202, 203
reliance on by Queen Victoria 166–7
religious faith 12–13, 16, 18
starts up new theological college (Scholae Cancelarii) 116, 117
teaching post at Rugby school 35–7
tour of German schools 61
trip to Algiers and Tunis 191–3
verses written 133–4
view on education 63–4
view of Mary’s friendships with other women 88, 108, 119, 150
view of spiritualism 73
visits Mary when a child 4–6
wedding 43–8
will 226
work on the life of St Cyprian of Carthage 191
Benson, Edward White (Edward’s father) 9, 10, 11, 11
Benson, Eleanor (Edward’s sister) 4, 13, 16, 19, 26, 29, 36
Benson, Eleanor Sarah 11
Benson, Fred (son) 172, 194–5, 199–202, 233, 271, 303–4
Across the Stream 92, 94–5
appearance and character 141, 199
archaeological expeditions in Athens 206
and Beth 300
birth 81
at Cambridge 199
in Capri 301
catches typhoid 232
The Challoners 270
childhood and early years 92, 101, 113–14, 133, 134, 136
and death of father 225
and death of Nellie 188–9
departs for Athens 245
dislike of Tremans 252–3
Dodo 170–1, 175–6, 178–9, 200–1, 202
education 146
and First World War 308
friendship with Lord Douglas 207–8
gives up lease on Tremans 313–14
literary career 235–6, 269–70, 313
living at Winchester 236, 239–40
and Maggie’s mental illness 307
male friendships 207, 241, 261–2, 301
The Money Market 277–8
mother’s view of literary ef
forts 277–8
Our Family Affairs 116, 193–4
on parents’ marriage 217–18
‘Pirates’ 137–8
relationship with mother 163, 199, 201, 215–16, 228, 240, 270, 301
removal of kidney 301
Rex 145
takes tenancy of Lamb House 313
trip to Egypt 207–8
Benson, Harriet (Edward’s sister) 16
Benson, Harriet (née Baker) (Edward’s mother) 11, 11, 12, 14–16, 26
Benson, Hugh (son) 202–3, 231–2, 271
and Beth 300
birth 81, 97
character and appearance 141–2, 202
childhood and early years 96, 103, 114, 133, 135, 140
death 306
and death of father 226
education 146
and First World War 305–6
Hare Street House purchase and ménage at 301
joins the Community of the Resurrection 270
The Light Invisible 270, 278
and Maggie’s mental breakdown 292, 301
The Necromancers 254
plan for a novel on the European War 307
poem 142
preaching tours 274
relationship with father 141, 202, 203
relationship with mother 301, 306
relationship with Rolfe 280–2, 301
and rheumatism 228
and Roman Catholicism 270, 272–4
and Tremans 250
trip to Egypt 228–30, 229
Benson, Maggie (daughter) 166, 181, 203–10
archaeological digs in Egypt 209, 228, 229–30
birth 81
character and appearance 140–1, 203–4, 203, 204, 205
childhood and early years 90, 95, 103, 113–14, 114, 136, 150
death 307–8
and death of Nellie 189
education 135
establishment of St Paul’s Association 255
and father’s will 226
health and mental problems 204, 206, 207, 243
heart attack 232
improvements in mental condition 297, 302
jealousy and resentment of Lucy 203–4, 229, 234, 240, 243, 285, 286, 287, 290, 294, 295
living at Winchester 241
love of animals 138–9, 139, 255, 297
mental breakdown and committed into care 285–94, 300–1
at Oxford 188, 206
pleurisy 232
possession of by Edward’s spirit 241–3, 255
relationship with mother and treatment of during mental illness 242–4, 285, 286–9, 294, 297–8, 300, 302–3
relationship with Nettie Gourlay 210–11, 236, 255
