Emilie Barrington
Born
Emilie Isabel Wilson

(1841-10-18)October 18, 1841
Mayfair, London
DiedMarch 9, 1933(1933-03-09) (aged 91)
Langport, Somerset
Occupation(s)Biographer, author, artist
Known forPlaying a leading role in establishing Leighton House as a museum
SpouseRussell Barrington

Emilie Isabel Barrington (18 October 1841 – 9 March 1933),[1] was a British biographer, artist, and novelist.[2][3][4] She became associated with the Holland Park Circle, was instrumental in establishing Leighton House Museum,[5] and co-founded the Kyrle Society.[2]

Early life

Emilie Isabel Wilson was born on 18 October 1841 in Mayfair, London, the youngest of six daughters born to James and Elizabeth Preston Wilson.[2] James Wilson was a merchant, an active participant in the Anti-Corn Law League, and the founder of The Economist.[2] Emilie spent her early years on the Continent and was educated, like her sisters, by governesses.[2] She attended school in Cologne 1855–56, and in 1858 went to a finishing school in Paris.[2]

In 1859, James Wilson became the financial member of the supreme council of India.[2] He died the following year.[2]

On 1 July 1868, Wilson married Russell Barrington, with whom she had two sons. Their second child, Ivo, died in 1871 aged four months.[2] Around the time of her marriage, Emilie met the artist George Frederic Watts.[2] They became close friends, and she later wrote his biography.[2]

Work

In the 1860s, Wilson met the activist Emily Faithfull, with whom she shared an interest in increasing the employment opportunities available to women.[3][2]

Barrington formed a friendship with one of Frederic Leighton's sisters, and went on to write the first major biography of the artist: Life, Letters, and Works of Frederic Leighton (1906). After Leighton's death in 1896, Barrington was instrumental in establishing Leighton House as a museum.[2] She acted as President of the Leighton House Society.[3]

In 1881, Barrington helped to found the Kyrle Society, which aimed to "bring beauty home to the poor".[2] She painted a portrait of one of its leading figures, Octavia Hill, and became an early council member of the National Trust, of which Hill was a founder.[3]

During the 1890s, Barrington wrote two novels: Lena's Picture (1892) and Helen's Ordeal (1894).[2] A third, A St. Luke of the 19th Century was published on her 82nd birthday in 1923.[3][1] She contributed to The Spectator, The Nineteenth Century, and The Fortnightly Review.[3][2]

Bibliography

In addition to writing articles for the serials Fortnightly Review and The Spectator, Barrington wrote several stand-alone works:

  • Reminiscences of G. F. Watts (1905)
  • Lena's Picture (1892) (novel)
  • Helen's Ordeal (1894) (novel)
  • The Reality of the Spiritual Life (1889) (pamphlet)
  • Through Greece and Dalmatia (1912) (travel memoir)
  • Complete works of Walter Bagehot (editor) (1914)
  • The Servant of All (1927)
  • The Love Letters of Walter Bagehot and Eliza Wilson (editor) (1933)
  • Memories of a long life (autobiography - lost)

References

  1. 1 2 "Emilie Barrington | Orlando". orlando.cambridge.org. Retrieved 16 August 2023.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 "Barrington [née Wilson], Emilie Isabel (1841–1933), biographer and novelist". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Retrieved 15 August 2023.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Mrs. Russell Barrington". The Times. 11 March 1933. p. 12.
  4. ↑ Westwater, Martha (1984). The Wilson sisters, a biographical study of upper middle-class Victorian life. Internet Archive. Athens, Ohio : Ohio University Press. ISBN 978-0-8214-0727-1.
  5. ↑ ""Emilie Isabel Barrington" by Mary Thornycroft". victorianweb.org. Retrieved 16 August 2023.


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