39:
204:
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168:, she was a daughter of Edmund Power and Ellen Sheehy, small landowners. She was "haphazardly educated by her own reading and by her mother's friend Ann Dwyer." Her childhood was blighted by her father's character and poverty, and her early womanhood was made wretched by a compulsory marriage at the age of fifteen to Captain Maurice St. Leger Farmer, an English officer whose drunken habits finally brought him as a debtor to the
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Early in 1849, Count D'Orsay left Gore House to escape his creditors; subsequently the furniture and decorations were sold in a public sale successfully discharging Lady
Blessington's debts. Lady Blessington joined the Count in Paris. They stayed at a hotel, and then moved to a residence close to
359:
She died on 4 June 1849. The autopsy took place the next day, when it was discovered that enlargement of the heart to nearly double the natural size, which enlargement must have been progressing for a period of at least twenty-five years, though incipient disease of the stomach and liver had
281:
stroke in 1829. D'Orsay and
Harriet then accompanied Lady Blessington to England, but the couple separated soon afterwards amidst much acrimony. D'Orsay continued to live with Marguerite until her death. Their home, first at Seamore Place, now named Curzon Square, and afterwards Gore House,
272:
It was in Italy, on 1 December 1827, that Count D'Orsay married
Harriet Gardiner, Lord Blessington's only daughter by his former wife. The Blessingtons and the newly-wed couple moved to Paris towards the end of 1828, taking up residence in the
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Of rare beauty, charm and wit, she was no less distinguished for her generosity and for the extravagant tastes she shared with her second husband. On 25 August 1822 they set out for a
38:
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After her husband's death she supplemented her diminished income by contributing to various periodicals as well as by writing novels. She was for some years editor of
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184:
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333:(1841) were popular for their personal gossip and anecdotes, descriptions of nature and sentiment. Blessington became a gossip columnist for Dickens'
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144:; 1 September 1789 – 4 June 1849), was an Irish novelist, journalist, and literary hostess. She became acquainted with
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The
Literary Life and Correspondence of the Countess of Blessington, Richard Robert Madden, T. C. Newby, 1855, p.34
290:, became a centre of attraction for all that was distinguished in literature, learning, art, science and fashion.
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172:, where he died by falling out of a window in October 1817. She had left him after three months.
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with
Marguerite's youngest sister, the 21-year-old Mary Anne, and servants. On the way they met
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486:, eds Virginia Blain, Patricia Clements and Isobel Grundy (London: Batsford, 1990), p. 104.
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187:, a widower with four children (two legitimate), seven years her senior. They married at
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686:• Grantley Berkeley's Recollections, vol. iii. ch. x. Gore House, pp. 201–31, 1865
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She was buried in the monument made by Count D'Orsay, to which he would also be buried.
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403:(London: Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown, Green and Longman, 1836), verse, illustrated by
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183:, a sympathetic and literary army officer. Jenkins introduced her to the Irishman
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819:"Archival material relating to Marguerite Gardiner, Countess of Blessington"
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A more detailed account of the
Countess's relations with D'Orsay appears in
222:(who had first become an intimate of Lady Blessington in London in 1821) in
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Gems of Beauty
Displayed in a Series of Twelve Highly Finished Engravings
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195:, on 16 February 1818, only four months after her first husband's death.
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to live for five years with the family of
Captain Thomas Jenkins of the
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242:
729: This article incorporates text from a publication now in the
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Scandalous
Society. Passion and Celebrity in the Nineteenth Century
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The
Literary Life and Correspondence of the Countess of Blessington
543:
Hans Andersen and Charles Dickens: A Friendship and Its Dissolution
760:
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the
710:• Madden's Life of the Countess of Blessington, 3 vols. 8vo, 1855
683:• Memoir prefixed to Country Quarters, vol. i. pp. iii-xxiii, 1850
227:
202:
93:
843:
594:
Madden, Richard Robert; Blessington, Marguerite (26 April 2012).
448:(3 vols), edited by Richard Robert Madden, appeared in 1855. Her
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on several occasions, giving Lady Blessington material for her
800:
Works by or about Marguerite Gardiner, Countess of Blessington
630:
Landon, Letitia Elizabeth (1838). "poetical illustration 2".
621:
Landon, Letitia Elizabeth (1838). "poetical illustration 1".
395:
Conversations of Lord Byron with the Countess of Blessington
249:, who was to become her biographer. They also spent time in
148:
in Genoa and wrote a book about her conversations with him.
382:
was published in Fisher's Drawing Room Scrap Book, 1839.
321:, popular annuals of the day. In 1834 she published her
809:
Works by Marguerite Gardiner, Countess of Blessington
791:
Works by Marguerite Gardiner, Countess of Blessington
741:
A Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature
715:• Illustrated London News, 9 June 1849, p. 396.
707:• Chorley's Authors of England, pp. 28–30, 1861
456:and can be seen in The Wallace Collection, London.
230:for four months from 31 March 1823. There they met
119:
108:
100:
83:
57:
23:
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300:whilst staying there, and it was at her home that
16:Irish novelist, journalist, and literary hostess
835:Lady Blessington manuscript material, 1820-1849
484:The Feminist Companion to Literature in English
185:Charles John Gardiner, 1st Earl of Blessington
128:Charles John Gardiner, 1st Earl of Blessington
639:Landon, Letitia Elizabeth (1838). "picture".
560:Scandal : a scurrilous history of gossip
351:), where they would also dined "en famille".
241:After that they settled for the most part in
8:
779:(11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
744:. London: J. M. Dent & Sons – via
539:Bredsdorff, Elias; Dickens, Charles (1956).
138:Marguerite Gardiner, Countess of Blessington
277:, where the Earl suddenly died at 46 of an
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699:• Annual Register for 1849, pp. 245–6
479:
477:
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37:
20:
702:• Gent. Mag. August 1849, pp. 202–3
694:• C. Mathews's Autobiography, i. 60-165
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347:(Count D'Orsay's nephew from his sister
226:on 20 November 1822, before settling at
208:Journal of conversation with Lord Byron,
850:, with 43 library catalogue records
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431:Journal of conversation with Lord Byron
45:Portrait of the Countess of Blessington
642:Fisher's Drawing Room Scrap Book, 1839
633:Fisher's Drawing Room Scrap Book, 1839
624:Fisher's Drawing Room Scrap Book, 1839
376:To Marguerite, Countess of Blessington
678:• Athenæum, 9 June 1849, p. 599
7:
589:
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844:Marguerite, Countess of Blessington
691:• Jerdan's Autobiography, iv. 320-1
14:
245:, where she met the Irish writer
899:19th-century Irish women writers
753:
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562:. London: Atlantic. p. 75.
446:Literary Life and Correspondence
385:Zadie Smith, “The Fraud” (2023)
600:. Cambridge University Press.
123:Cpt. Maurice St. Leger Farmer
104:Novelist, miscellaneous writer
1:
323:Conversations with Lord Byron
236:Conversations with Lord Byron
113:Conversations with Lord Byron
675:• Morning Post, 5 June 1849
360:complicated the symptoms.
264:which she greatly admired.
189:St Mary's, Bryanston Square
31:The Countess of Blessington
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175:Marguerite later moved to
156:Born Margaret Power, near
125:(m. 1804–1817; his death)
374:'s poetical illustration
131:(m. 1818–1829; his death)
36:
884:Women of the Regency era
659:(London: Abacus, 2004).
496:Conversations with Byron
463:by Nick Foulkes (2003).
372:Letitia Elizabeth Landon
839:New York Public Library
776:Encyclopædia Britannica
771:Blessington, Marguerite
645:. Fisher, Son & Co.
636:. Fisher, Son & Co.
627:. Fisher, Son & Co.
461:The Last of the Dandies
302:Hans Christian Andersen
260:Imaginary Conversations
558:Wilkes, Roger (2002).
286:, now the site of the
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904:British salon-holders
427:Digitized version of
389:Selected publications
247:Richard Robert Madden
206:
823:UK National Archives
736:Cousin, John William
518:"bio of Blessington"
450:portrait was painted
380:Alfred Edward Chalon
255:Walter Savage Landor
26:The Right Honourable
879:People from Clonmel
848:Library of Congress
454:Sir Thomas Lawrence
181:11th Light Dragoons
170:King's Bench Prison
349:Duchess de Garmont
313:The Book of Beauty
275:Hôtel Maréchal Ney
253:with their friend
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894:Irish women poets
795:Project Gutenberg
721:
720:
607:978-1-108-04831-6
520:. Extra.shu.ac.uk
378:to a portrait by
367:Literary tributes
329:(1839–1840), and
292:Benjamin Disraeli
288:Royal Albert Hall
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524:29 September
522:. Retrieved
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268:London salon
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257:, author of
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89:(1849-06-04)
43:
18:
869:1849 deaths
864:1789 births
452:in 1822 by
440:Biographies
418:(1839–1840)
87:4 June 1849
874:Lord Byron
858:Categories
746:Wikisource
665:0349115478
467:References
336:Daily News
304:first met
284:Kensington
279:apoplectic
199:Grand tour
193:Marylebone
152:Early life
146:Lord Byron
101:Occupation
66:1789-09-01
177:Hampshire
79:, Ireland
738:(1910).
578:50434290
251:Florence
96:, France
802:at the
764::
733::
498:, 1834.
434:. 1859.
297:Venetia
224:Avignon
166:Ireland
158:Clonmel
73:Clonmel
758:
663:
604:
576:
566:
424:(1841)
397:(1834)
325:. Her
294:wrote
243:Naples
120:Spouse
115:(1834)
52:, 1822
355:Death
232:Byron
228:Genoa
142:Power
140:(née
94:Paris
661:ISBN
602:ISBN
574:OCLC
564:ISBN
526:2013
444:Her
315:and
210:1859
84:Died
58:Born
846:at
811:at
793:at
773:".
160:in
48:by
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572:.
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64:(
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
