Sydney, Lady Morgan | |
|---|---|
 Portrait byRené Théodore Berthon | |
| Born | Sydney Owenson 25 December 1781 (?) EitherDublin,Ireland or theIrish Sea |
| Died | 14 April 1859 (aged about 78) London, United Kingdom |
| Resting place | Brompton Cemetery |
| Pen name | Glorvina |
| Occupation | Novelist,governess |
| Language | English |
| Nationality | Irish,British |
| Period | 1804–59 |
| Notable works | The Wild Irish Girl (1806) |
| Spouse | Thomas Charles Morgan (m. 1812) |
Sydney, Lady Morgan (néeOwenson; 25 December 1781? – 14 April 1859), was anIrish novelist, best known forThe Wild Irish Girl (1806),[1] a romantic, and some critics suggest, "proto-feminist", novel with political and patriotic overtones. Her work, including continental travelogues, sparked controversy and faced censorship. She countedPercy Bysshe Shelley andLord Byron among her defenders.
Sydney Owenson was the daughter ofRobert Owenson, alias MacOwen, and Jane Hill. Robert Owenson was anIrish Catholic and a professional actor, noted for his comedic performances. He had been raised in London, and while in England he met and married Jane Hill, the Protestant daughter of a trader fromShrewsbury. In 1776 Owenson and his wife returned to Ireland for good. The couple settled inDublin and Owenson earned a living by performing in theatres around Dublin, Drumcondra, andSligo. Around 1778 the couple gave birth to Sydney, who was named after her paternal grandmother. The exact date of Sydney's birth remains unknown; one of Sydney's idiosyncrasies was that she was prone to be elusive about her actual age. Later in life, she would claim that she was born on 25 December 1785, a fabrication she maintained to such an extent that even on her death certificate there is no certainty about her age, stating that she was "about 80 years".[2]
Sydney spent the earliest years of her childhood at the Owensons' home at 60Dame Street in Dublin with her mother Jane and sisterOlivia. Sydney was primarily educated by her mother, but she also received tutoring from a young boy named Thomas Dermody, a local prodigy whom their father had rescued from poverty. Her mother died in 1789 when Sydney was about ten years old, and her father sent her and her sister away to private schools to finish their education. Sydney spent three years at a Huguenot academy atClontarf and then attended a finishing school in Earl Street, Dublin. After completing school Sydney moved with her father to Sligo.
In 1798 the Owenson family was experiencing some financial hardships and Sydney was forced to leave home in search of employment. She was hired as a governess by the Featherstones of Bracklyn Castle,County Westmeath. In this environment, she blossomed into an avid reader, a capable conversationalist, and an unabashed performer of songs and dances. It was at this period in her life that she began her writing career.
She was one of the most vivid and hotly discussed literary figures of her generation. She began her career with a precocious volume of poems. Shecollected Irish tunes, for which she composed the words, thus setting a fashion adopted with signal success byThomas Moore.[3] Her novelSt. Clair (1804), about ill-judged marriage, ill-starred love and impassioned nature worship, in which the influence ofJohann Wolfgang von Goethe (specifically his novelThe Sorrows of Young Werther)[3] andJean-Jacques Rousseau was apparent, at once attracted attention. Another novel,The Novice of St. Dominick (1806), was also praised for its qualities of imagination and description.
But the book which made her reputation and brought her name into warm controversy wasThe Wild Irish Girl (1806), in which she appeared as the ardent champion of her native country, a politician rather than a novelist, extolling the beauty of Irish scenery, the richness of the natural wealth of Ireland, and the noble traditions of its early history. Given the moral and intellectual strengths of her heroine, the novel's embodiment of Irish nationhood, Glorvina, it has also been described as "proto feminist".[4][5] InCatholic andLiberal circles she often referred as Gloria or Glorvina..
Patriotic Sketches and Metrical Fragments followed in 1807. She publishedThe Missionary: An Indian Tale in 1811, revising it shortly before her death asLuxima, the Prophetess.Percy Bysshe Shelley admiredThe Missionary intensely[6] and Owenson's heroine is said to have influenced some of his ownorientalist productions.[7]
Miss Owenson entered the household ofJohn Hamilton, 1st Marquess of Abercorn, and in 1812 — persuaded by Lady Abercorn, the former Lady Anne Jane Gore — she married the philosopher and surgeon to the household, SirThomas Charles Morgan, but books continued to flow from her facile pen.
Ablue plaque on the wall at the site of Lady Morgan's former home atKildare Street, Dublin states that she lived there from 1813 to 1837. ADublin Tourism brochure notes "Lady Morgan lived at No 35 (now No 39) Kildare Street. She gave lavish soirees and musical evenings at whichThomas Moore and the violinistPaganini were among the guests".[8]
In 1814 she produced her best novel,O'Donnell. She was at her best in her descriptions of the poorer classes, of whom she had a thorough knowledge. Her elaborate study (1817) of France under theBourbon Restoration was attacked with outrageous fury byJohn Wilson Croker in theQuarterly Review, the author being accused ofJacobinism, falsehood, licentiousness, and impiety.[9] Her heroines were violently removed from what Croker considered their proper sphere as "a useful friend, a faithful wife, a tender mother, and a respectable and happy mistress of a family".[10] Owenson took her revenge indirectly in the novelFlorence Macarthy (1818) —translated into French byJacques-Théodore Parisot—, in which aQuarterly reviewer, Con Crawley, is insulted with supreme feminine ingenuity.[11]
Italy, a companion work to herFrance, was published in 1821 with appendices by her husband. It was proscribed by theKing of Sardinia, theEmperor of Austria and thePope, butLord Byron bore testimony to the justness of its pictures of life.[12] The results of Italian historical studies were given in herLife and Times ofSalvator Rosa (1823). Then she turned again to Irish manners and politics with a matter-of-fact book onAbsenteeism (1825), and a romantic novel with political overtones,The O'Briens and the O'Flahertys (1827). FromWilliam Lamb, Viscount Melbourne, Lady Morgan obtained a pension of £300. During the later years of her long life she publishedThe Book of the Boudoir (1829),Dramatic Scenes from Real Life (1833),The Princess (1835),Woman and her Master (1840),The Book without a Name (1841), andPassages from my Autobiography (1859).[13]
In 1838, Sir Thomas and Lady Morgan moved to a new home on theCubitt estate,Knightsbridge, nearLowndes Square. Lady Morgan began a successful campaign to have a new gate opened into Hyde Park from Knightsbridge, the present day Albert Gate.[14]
Sir Thomas died in 1843, and Lady Morgan died on 14 April 1859 (aged about 82) and was buried inBrompton Cemetery, London.
Before her death in 1859, Lady Morgan enlisted the help of her friendGeraldine Jewsbury to help write her memoirs. The two had originally met in 1853 when Jewsbury newly arrived in London. Lady Morgan became friends with Geraldine and helped her live a single life while in London. When Jewsbury wrote her friend's memoirs, she spoke of Lady Morgan's kindness and friendship in which she showed to Geraldine.[15]
Lady Morgan's autobiography and many interesting letters were edited with a memoir byWilliam Hepworth Dixon in 1862.
There is a bust of Lady Morgan in theVictoria and Albert Museum in London. The plaque identifying the bust mentions that Lady Morgan was "less than four feet tall."
Another bust byDavid d'Angers is exhibited in his museum inAngers (France).
For a full list see Ricorso.[16]
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This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Morgan, Sydney, Lady".Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Cousin, John William (1910). "Morgan, Lady".A Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature. London: J. M. Dent & Sons – viaWikisource.
Media related toLady Morgan at Wikimedia Commons