Edith Œnone Somerville | |
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_(14576433540).jpg) Somerville atop her horse Tarbush | |
| Born | (1858-05-02)2 May 1858 Corfu,United States of the Ionian Islands (part of modernGreece) |
| Died | 8 October 1949(1949-10-08) (aged 91) Castletownshend,County Cork,Ireland |
| Pen name | Geilles Herring |
| Occupation | writer |
| Language | English |
| Alma mater | South Kensington School of Art Royal Westminster School of Art |
| Period | 1889–1949 |
| Notable works | The Real Charlotte,The Irish R.M. |
| Relatives | Henry Boyle Townshend Somerville (brother) Violet Florence Martin (cousin) |
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Edith Anna Œnone Somerville[needs IPA] (2 May 1858 – 8 October 1949) was anIrish novelist who habitually signed herself as "E. Œ. Somerville". She wrote in collaboration with her cousin "Martin Ross" (Violet Martin) under the pseudonym "Somerville and Ross". Together they published a series of fourteen stories and novels, the most popular of which wereThe Real Charlotte, published in 1894, andSome Experiences of an Irish R. M., published in 1899.
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The eldest of eight children, Somerville was born on the island ofCorfu, then part of theUnited States of the Ionian Islands, a British protectorate where her father was stationed.[1] A year later, her father retired toDrishane,Castletownshend,County Cork, where Somerville grew up. Somerville is said to have dominated her sister and brothers in a family where women were encouraged to be bold.[2] She received her primary education at home, and then attendedAlexandra College inDublin. In 1884 she went toParis for the first of several trips to study art at theAcadémie Colarossi andAcadémie Delécluse,[3] and then spent a term at theWestminster School of Art inDean's Yard, Westminster. At home, riding and painting were her absorbing interests.[1]
In January 1886, she met her cousin Violet Martin, and their literary partnership began the following year. Their first book,An Irish Cousin, appeared in 1889, under the names Geilles Herring (from the maiden name of her ancestor, the wife of Sir Walter de Somerville of Linton and Carnwath) and Martin Ross,[4] though the pen names were dropped after the first edition.[4] In 1898 Edith Somerville went to paint at theEtaples art colony, accompanied by Violet. There they profited from their stay by conceiving together the stories later gathered inSome Experiences of an Irish R. M., completed the following year.[5] By the time Violet died in 1915, they had published fourteen books together.[1] Her cousin's death stunned Edith, who continued to write as "Somerville and Ross", claiming that they kept in contact through spiritualistséances. The precise nature of their relationship — whether they were romantic and sexual partners as well as literary collaborators and friends — has been the object of speculation by later writers.[6][7][8][9][10]
Somerville was a devoted sportswoman who, in 1903, had become master of theWest Carbery Foxhounds. She was also active in thesuffragist movement, corresponding withDame Ethel Smyth.[11] She was in London still recovering from the shock of Violet's death when theEaster Rising of 1916 broke out. On 9 May, she wrote a letter toThe Times, blaming the British government for the state of affairs in Ireland.[12] After that, she tended towardsNationalism, and as an adept musician at parties, she specialised in Irish tunes and Nationalist songs.[13]
She had exhibitions of her pictures in Dublin and in London between 1920 and 1938, and was active as an illustrator of sporting picture books and children's picture books, including that ofEthel Penrose, another cousin.[14]
In 1936, her brotherHenry Boyle Townsend Somerville, a retired Vice-Admiral in theRoyal Navy, was killed by theIRA at the family home in Castletownshend. She finished his book "Will Mariner" after his death.[15]
She died at Castletownshend in October 1949, aged 91, and is buried alongside Violet Florence Martin atSaint Barrahane's Church, Castletownsend with a joint memorial to them both.[2][16][17] A considerable archival legacy remains both at Castletownsend and inTrinity College Library.
TheIrish RM books were made into a TV series in 1983.[18]
Edith-a novel, based on her life in the period 1921–22, byMartina Devlin, was published in 2022.[19]
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