Marguerite,
countess of Blessington, nee Margaret Power, Irish novelist and
miscellaneous writer, daughter of Edmund Power, a small landowner,
was born near Clonmel, County Tipperary, Ireland.
Her
childhood was made unhappy by her father's character and poverty,
and her early womanhood wretched by her compulsory marriage at
the age of fifteen to a Captain Maurice St Leger Farmer, whose
drunken habits brought him at last as a debtor to the kings bench
prison, where, in October 1817, he died.
His
wife had left him some time before, and in February 1818 she married
Charles John Gardiner, 1st Earl of Blessington. Of rare beauty,
charm and wit, she was no less distinguished for her generosity
and for the extravagant tastes which she shared, with her husband,
which resulted in encumbering his estates with a load of debt.
In the autumn of 1822 they went abroad, spent four months of the
next year at Genoa in close intimacy with Byron, and remained
on the continent till Lord Blessington's death in May 1829.
Some
time before this they had been joined by Count D'Orsay, who in
1827 married Lady Harriet Gardiner, Lord Blessington's only daughter
by a former wife. D'Orsay, who had soon separated from his wife,
now accompanied Lady Blessington to England and lived with her
till her death. Their home, first at Seamore Place, and afterwards
Gore House, Kensington, became a centre of attraction for whatever
was distinguished in literature, learning, art, science and fashion.
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 The Book of Beauty and The Keepsake,
popular annuals of the day. In 1834 she published her Conversations
with Lord Byron, perhaps the only one of her works which has any
value. Her Idler in Italy (1839-1840), and Idler in France (1841)
were popular for their personal gossip and anecdote, descriptions
of nature and sentiment.
Early
in 1849, Count D'Orsay left Gore House to escape his creditors;
the furniture and decorations were sold, and Lady Blessington
joined the count in Paris, where she died on the 4th of June 1849.
Her
Literary Life and Correspondence (3 vols.), edited by RR Madden,
appeared in 1855. Her portrait was painted in 1808 by Sir Thomas
Lawrence. |
