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Mary Eliza Kennard

May 03, 2024

Mary Eliza Kennard (1850–1936) was an English novelist and writer of non-fiction. Most of her work was published under the name of Mrs Edward Kennard.

Mrs Edward Kennard (published in 1893)

Kennard specialised in stories of the English country house world of hunting, shooting, and fishing, and in her heyday was dubbed "the Diana of fiction", in honour of Diana, the Roman goddess of hunting.[1]

Life edit

Mary Eliza was born in Sydenham in 1850, the eldest daughter of Samuel and Mary Dickson (Cowan) Laing (1819-1902). Samuel Laing was chairman of the Brighton Railway as well as a noted author.

Mary has been wrongly recorded as the daughter of Charles Wilson Faber.[2] and there is a danger of the error becoming established, details of her birth and baptism are given.[3] The error probably arose because in that period and earlier a "sister-in-law" was often referred to as simply a "sister", and Mary Eliza's sister Theresa Uzielli (1857-1943) was married to Walter Vavasour Faber (1857-1928), one of Charles Wilson Faber's (1813-1878) sons. Mary Eliza's parentage and early life are described in a brief contemporary biography, which quotes her as saying "I fancy that any small love of literature which I may possess is hereditary, since my father, who is now chairman of the Brighton Railway, has written several important books, notably 'Modern Science and Modern Thought', 'Problems of the Future' etc., whilst my grandfather, Mr S. Laing, was also a well-known author in his day."[4]

Laing is also the sister of artist Florence Laing (1853-1952) who was wife of artist Edward Sherard Kennedy (1837-1900) and afterwards John Gennadius ambassador of Greece to England. Florence, along with John, would establish the Gennadius Library at the American School of Classical Studies at Athens (ASCSA).[5]

On 19 April 1870, at Saint Nicholas church, Brighton, Mary Eliza Laing married Edward Kennard (1842-1910), himself once a journalist, who became a landed gentleman by buying the Barn Estate on the borders of Leicestershire and Northamptonshire from the 18th Earl of Shrewsbury. This property was centred on a country house called The Barn at Little Bowden, one mile from the town of Market Harborough.[1][6] Kennard had two sons in the 1870s, Lionel (b. 1872) and Malcolm (1874-1934), and her first stories were written for them and were published in a volume called Twilight Tales. She took up writing in earnest to occupy her mind after her sons went away to school.[7]

Kennard's novels, beginning with The Right Sort (1883),[7] are mostly set in her own rural world of hunting, shooting, and fishing.[1] Landing a Prize (1891) was about salmon-fishing, and was the fruit of several summers spent salmon-fishing in Norway.[8] With Bram Stoker, Arthur Conan Doyle, and others, she was one of the authors of the collaborative novel The Fate of Fenella (1892).[9][10]

 
In the Thousand Miles Trial of the Automobile Club

Kennard and her husband were both keen motorists and each owned an automobile. She bought a Napier eight horsepower two-cylinder, which she allowed to be entered for a 1,000-mile race by S F Edge with herself as passenger. Kennard wrote kindly of her husband's choice of the Napier, but she preferred herself to drive a De Dion voiturette. Her driving was not without incident, and she turned her car over on the tramlines in Nottingham.[11] In 1903, she published a novel called The Motor Maniac, based around the subject of automobiles. The Spectator gave it a poor review, suggesting that people who did not own an automobile would find the details of "belts, speeds, makes of car, &c... exasperating".[12] However, The Times later called Kennard "a very widely read and prolific author of the mid-eighties" who wrote "rattling good tales".[13]

Widowed in 1910, in 1912 Kennard was living at Leamington.[14] By the time of her death in 1936 she was forgotten as a writer. In its obituary, The Times said of her, "Large sums were earned by her publications; then came complete oblivion, which was viewed by the formerly popular favourite with serene detachment." The same obituary recorded that although she was both blind and crippled by the end of her life, she suffered these problems with "unfailing stoicism". In her old age she took an interest in BBC radio and in the lives of her grandchildren.[13]

Selected books edit

  • The Right Sort (1883)
  • Killed in the Open (1886)
  • The Girl in the Brown Habit (1887)
  • Glorious Gallop (1888)
  • A Real Good Thing (1888)
  • The Mystery of a Woman's Heart (1890)
  • A Homburg Beauty (1890)
  • Matron or Maid (F. V. White, 1891)
  • Straight as a Die (Chapman & Hall, 1891)
  • Landing a Prize (1891)
  • That Pretty Little Horse-Breaker (1891)
  • Our Friends in the Hunting Field (1892)
  • 'The Scars Remained', Chapter 13 of The Fate of Fenella (1892)
  • A Hunting Girl (1894)
  • Wedded to Sport (1894)
  • Guidebook for Lady Cyclists (1896)
  • The Sorrows of a Golfer's Wife (F. V. White, 1896)
  • At the Tail of the Hounds (1897)
  • A Riverside Romance (1898)
  • The Golf Lunatic and His Cycling Wife (Brentano's, 1902)
  • The Motor Maniac (Hutchinson's, 1903)

Notes edit

  1. ^ a b c Andrew Maunder, Mary Kennard at valancourtbooks.com, accessed 5 March 2014
  2. ^ Virginia Blain, Patricia Clements, Isobel Grundy, The Feminist Companion to Literature in English (1990), p. 606: "Kennard, Mary Eliza (Faber), 'Mrs Edward Kennard', d. 1936, sporting novelist, da. of Mary (Beckett) and Charles Wilson F. (not Samuel Laing, as sometimes claimed) of Northaw, Herts. Educ. by governesses (who considered her 'a dunce')".
  3. ^ England and Wales, Birth Marriage and Death Indexes, 1837-2009, Quarter 1, 1850, volume 5, p. 3, No, 542. St Bartholomew's Church, Sydenham, Births and Baptisms, 1837-1873, No 563, pp570-571.
  4. ^ Black, Helen C. (1893). Notable Women Authors of the Day. Glasgow: David Bryce and Son. pp. 172–183. Retrieved 8 November 2023 – via Internet Archive.
  5. ^ Vogeikoff, Natalia (2 October 2016). "The Bohemian Past of Madame Gennadius".
  6. ^ Michael Raftery, The Writers of Leicestershire: A Biographical Dictionary and Literary Gazetteer of Leicestershire Authors from the 14th Century to the Present Day (1984), p. 56
  7. ^ a b Helen C. Black, Troy J. Bassett, Catherine Pope, Notable Women Authors of the Day (2011), pp. 179–182
  8. ^ Black, Bassett, Pope (2011), p. 180
  9. ^ "Christmas Numbers". The Times. No. 33508. London. 15 December 1891. p. 6. Retrieved 8 November 2023 – via Newspapers.com. the Gentlewoman has... the beginning of a novel, produced under exceptional conditions, 'The Fate of Fenella'. Each chapter has been written by a different person, and that, we are officially assured, without any plan or collaboration. Miss Helen Mathers opens the ball, and will be followed, in the order they are named, by Mr. J. H. McCarthy, Mrs. Trollope, Mr. Conan Doyle, Miss May Crommelin, Mr. F. C. Phillips, "Rita", Mr. Joseph Hatton, Mrs. Lovett Cameron, Mr. Bram Stoker, Miss Florence Marryatt, Mr. Frank Danby, Mrs. Edward Kennard, Mr. Richard Dowling, Mrs. Hungerford, Mr. Arthur à Beckett, Mr. H. W. Lucy, Miss Jean Middlemass, Mr. F. C. Burnand, and Mr. Manville Fenn.
  10. ^ The Fate of Fenella from The Spectator dated May 1892, at spectator.co.uk, accessed 21 February 2014
  11. ^ Napier at uniquecarsandparts.com, accessed 6 March 2014
  12. ^ The Motor Maniac by Mrs Edward Kennard, in The Spectator dated 23 January 1903, p. 23
  13. ^ a b "Mrs. Edward Kennard" in The Times, issue 47318 dated 9 March 1936, p. 8
  14. ^ Rooks, Rider and Co., Lincoln's Inn, collection at nationalarchives.gov.uk, accessed 5 March 2014: "Release DE3199/4 18 Oct 1912 / Contents: i Mary Eliza Kennard formerly of "The Barn", Lt. Bowden, Northants., now No. 25, Leam Tce., Leamington, wid."

External links edit

  • Works by or about Mary Eliza Kennard at Internet Archive
  • Works by Mary Eliza Kennard at LibriVox (public domain audiobooks)  

May 03, 2024
mary, eliza, kennard, 1850, 1936, english, novelist, writer, fiction, most, work, published, under, name, edward, kennard, edward, kennard, published, 1893, kennard, specialised, stories, english, country, house, world, hunting, shooting, fishing, heyday, dubb. Mary Eliza Kennard 1850 1936 was an English novelist and writer of non fiction Most of her work was published under the name of Mrs Edward Kennard Mrs Edward Kennard published in 1893 Kennard specialised in stories of the English country house world of hunting shooting and fishing and in her heyday was dubbed the Diana of fiction in honour of Diana the Roman goddess of hunting 1 Contents 1 Life 2 Selected books 3 Notes 4 External linksLife editMary Eliza was born in Sydenham in 1850 the eldest daughter of Samuel and Mary Dickson Cowan Laing 1819 1902 Samuel Laing was chairman of the Brighton Railway as well as a noted author Mary has been wrongly recorded as the daughter of Charles Wilson Faber 2 and there is a danger of the error becoming established details of her birth and baptism are given 3 The error probably arose because in that period and earlier a sister in law was often referred to as simply a sister and Mary Eliza s sister Theresa Uzielli 1857 1943 was married to Walter Vavasour Faber 1857 1928 one of Charles Wilson Faber s 1813 1878 sons Mary Eliza s parentage and early life are described in a brief contemporary biography which quotes her as saying I fancy that any small love of literature which I may possess is hereditary since my father who is now chairman of the Brighton Railway has written several important books notably Modern Science and Modern Thought Problems of the Future etc whilst my grandfather Mr S Laing was also a well known author in his day 4 Laing is also the sister of artist Florence Laing 1853 1952 who was wife of artist Edward Sherard Kennedy 1837 1900 and afterwards John Gennadius ambassador of Greece to England Florence along with John would establish the Gennadius Library at the American School of Classical Studies at Athens ASCSA 5 On 19 April 1870 at Saint Nicholas church Brighton Mary Eliza Laing married Edward Kennard 1842 1910 himself once a journalist who became a landed gentleman by buying the Barn Estate on the borders of Leicestershire and Northamptonshire from the 18th Earl of Shrewsbury This property was centred on a country house called The Barn at Little Bowden one mile from the town of Market Harborough 1 6 Kennard had two sons in the 1870s Lionel b 1872 and Malcolm 1874 1934 and her first stories were written for them and were published in a volume called Twilight Tales She took up writing in earnest to occupy her mind after her sons went away to school 7 Kennard s novels beginning with The Right Sort 1883 7 are mostly set in her own rural world of hunting shooting and fishing 1 Landing a Prize 1891 was about salmon fishing and was the fruit of several summers spent salmon fishing in Norway 8 With Bram Stoker Arthur Conan Doyle and others she was one of the authors of the collaborative novel The Fate of Fenella 1892 9 10 nbsp In the Thousand Miles Trial of the Automobile Club Kennard and her husband were both keen motorists and each owned an automobile She bought a Napier eight horsepower two cylinder which she allowed to be entered for a 1 000 mile race by S F Edge with herself as passenger Kennard wrote kindly of her husband s choice of the Napier but she preferred herself to drive a De Dion voiturette Her driving was not without incident and she turned her car over on the tramlines in Nottingham 11 In 1903 she published a novel called The Motor Maniac based around the subject of automobiles The Spectator gave it a poor review suggesting that people who did not own an automobile would find the details of belts speeds makes of car amp c exasperating 12 However The Times later called Kennard a very widely read and prolific author of the mid eighties who wrote rattling good tales 13 Widowed in 1910 in 1912 Kennard was living at Leamington 14 By the time of her death in 1936 she was forgotten as a writer In its obituary The Times said of her Large sums were earned by her publications then came complete oblivion which was viewed by the formerly popular favourite with serene detachment The same obituary recorded that although she was both blind and crippled by the end of her life she suffered these problems with unfailing stoicism In her old age she took an interest in BBC radio and in the lives of her grandchildren 13 Selected books editThe Right Sort 1883 Killed in the Open 1886 The Girl in the Brown Habit 1887 Glorious Gallop 1888 A Real Good Thing 1888 The Mystery of a Woman s Heart 1890 A Homburg Beauty 1890 Matron or Maid F V White 1891 Straight as a Die Chapman amp Hall 1891 Landing a Prize 1891 That Pretty Little Horse Breaker 1891 Our Friends in the Hunting Field 1892 The Scars Remained Chapter 13 of The Fate of Fenella 1892 A Hunting Girl 1894 Wedded to Sport 1894 Guidebook for Lady Cyclists 1896 The Sorrows of a Golfer s Wife F V White 1896 At the Tail of the Hounds 1897 A Riverside Romance 1898 The Golf Lunatic and His Cycling Wife Brentano s 1902 The Motor Maniac Hutchinson s 1903 Notes edit a b c Andrew Maunder Mary Kennard at valancourtbooks com accessed 5 March 2014 Virginia Blain Patricia Clements Isobel Grundy The Feminist Companion to Literature in English 1990 p 606 Kennard Mary Eliza Faber Mrs Edward Kennard d 1936 sporting novelist da of Mary Beckett and Charles Wilson F not Samuel Laing as sometimes claimed of Northaw Herts Educ by governesses who considered her a dunce England and Wales Birth Marriage and Death Indexes 1837 2009 Quarter 1 1850 volume 5 p 3 No 542 St Bartholomew s Church Sydenham Births and Baptisms 1837 1873 No 563 pp570 571 Black Helen C 1893 Notable Women Authors of the Day Glasgow David Bryce and Son pp 172 183 Retrieved 8 November 2023 via Internet Archive Vogeikoff Natalia 2 October 2016 The Bohemian Past of Madame Gennadius Michael Raftery The Writers of Leicestershire A Biographical Dictionary and Literary Gazetteer of Leicestershire Authors from the 14th Century to the Present Day 1984 p 56 a b Helen C Black Troy J Bassett Catherine Pope Notable Women Authors of the Day 2011 pp 179 182 Black Bassett Pope 2011 p 180 Christmas Numbers The Times No 33508 London 15 December 1891 p 6 Retrieved 8 November 2023 via Newspapers com the Gentlewoman has the beginning of a novel produced under exceptional conditions The Fate of Fenella Each chapter has been written by a different person and that we are officially assured without any plan or collaboration Miss Helen Mathers opens the ball and will be followed in the order they are named by Mr J H McCarthy Mrs Trollope Mr Conan Doyle Miss May Crommelin Mr F C Phillips Rita Mr Joseph Hatton Mrs Lovett Cameron Mr Bram Stoker Miss Florence Marryatt Mr Frank Danby Mrs Edward Kennard Mr Richard Dowling Mrs Hungerford Mr Arthur a Beckett Mr H W Lucy Miss Jean Middlemass Mr F C Burnand and Mr Manville Fenn The Fate of Fenella from The Spectator dated May 1892 at spectator co uk accessed 21 February 2014 Napier at uniquecarsandparts com accessed 6 March 2014 The Motor Maniac by Mrs Edward Kennard in The Spectator dated 23 January 1903 p 23 a b Mrs Edward Kennard in The Times issue 47318 dated 9 March 1936 p 8 Rooks Rider and Co Lincoln s Inn collection at nationalarchives gov uk accessed 5 March 2014 Release DE3199 4 18 Oct 1912 Contents i Mary Eliza Kennard formerly of The Barn Lt Bowden Northants now No 25 Leam Tce Leamington wid External links editWorks by or about Mary Eliza Kennard at Internet Archive Works by Mary Eliza Kennard at LibriVox public domain audiobooks nbsp Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Mary Eliza Kennard amp oldid 1190370048, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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