A Victorian Marriage: Mandell and Louise Creighton

445 Pages·2003·25.767 MB·English

by  James Covert

A VICTORIAN MARRIAGE
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A Victorian Marriage
Mandell and Louise Creighton
James Covert
Hambledon and London
London and New York
Published by Hambledon and London Ltd, 2000
102 Gloucester Avenue, London NWi 8HX (UK)
838 Broadway, New York, NY 10003-4812
ISBN i 85285 260 7
© James Thayne Covert, 2000
The moral right of the author has been asserted
All rights reserved.
Without limiting the rights under copyrights
reserved above, no part of this publication may be
reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system,
or transmitted in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical,
photocopying, recording or otherwise), without the prior
written permission of both the copyright owner and
the above publisher of this book.
A description of this book is available from
the British Library and from the Library of Congress
Typeset by Carnegie Publishing, Lancaster
Printed on acid-free paper and bound in Great Britain
by Cambridge University Press
Contents
Illustrations vii
Text Illustrations xi
Preface xiii
1 Who is That Girl? 1
2 The Nicest Man I Have Met 5
3 A Most Promising Scholar 23
4 Undoubtedly the Ablest Man 37
5 A Glorious Game 49
6 The Peak 67
7 A Charm about Oxford 83
8 Exile 105
9 The Happiest Years 127
10 A Great Work 155
11 A Breath of Fresh Air 175
12 Inspiring Influences 193
13 The Blow has Fallen 211
14 I Went to Visit the Queen 231
15 Fulham is a Nice Place 253
16 Tell Her That I Love Her 271
17 Dear Mrs Creighton 295
18 A Sincere Fine Old Thing 313
Notes 319
Bibliography 372
Index 393
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Illustrations
(between pp. 112 and 113)
1 Carlisle's Castle Street in the i88os with the cathedral at the end
of the street. The Creightons' house was on the right side of the
street near the church. (Jim Templeton)
2 The Creightons' former house on Castle Street (with shop on ground
floor and living quarters above) as it looked in the i88os a few years
after the family moved to Kirkandrews. (Jim Templeton)
3 Durham cathedral from the railway station. (James Covert)
4 Durham Grammar School and playing fields. (James Covert)
5 MandelTs family, c. 1870. Left to right: James, Robert, Mary Ellen
(Polly), Mandell. (Joan Duncan)
6 The Crystal Palace in Sydenham. c. 1900. (Lewisham History Centre)
7 Peak Hill Lodge, Sydenham, c. 1880, the house belonging to the
von Glehns where Louise was raised. (Lewisham History Centre)
8 Sketch of Robert von Glehn, c. 1876. (Christian Creighton)
9 Louise von Glehn about the time she became engaged to Mandell
Creighton in 1871. (Christian Creighton)
10 St Bartholomew's church, Sydenham, the parish church of the von
Glehns where Louise and Mandell were married. (Lewisham History
Centre)
11 Mandell Creighton,i862, during his first year at Merton College,
Oxford. (Christian Creighton)
12 Mandell's college friends, the 'Quadrilateral', in 1864.
From left to right: R. T. Raikes, Mandell Creighton, C. T. Boyd, and
W.H.Foster. (Christian Creighton)
13 South bay of Merton College library. (Merton College, Oxford)
VIII A VICTORIAN MARRIAGE
14 Mandell Creighton in 1864 at the age of twenty-one, just after taking
his first degree at Merton. (Christian Creighton)
15 Mandell Creighton, an Oxford don at the age of twenty-seven in 1870,
the year before he met Louise von Glehn. (Christian Creighton)
16 Merton College tower, watercolour painting by Louise Creighton,
c. 1873. (Mary Bailey)
17 Beam Hall, where the Creightons lived for a time, directly across
from Merton College gate. (James Coven)
18 Louise Creighton when she was nearly twenty-eight.
Painting by her Oxford friend Bertha Johnson. (Mary Bailey)
19 Six of the Creighton children standing at the front entrance
of Embleton vicarage with donkey ready for a picnic outing on the
beach in 1884. Left to right: Lucia, Mary, Oswin, Walter, Beatrice
and Cuthbert. (Christian Creighton)
20 Embleton vicarage, Northumberland, c. 1880, at the time
the Creightons lived there. (Christian Creighton)
21 Mandell Creighton with three of his daughters, Lucia, Beatrice
and Mary, 1888. (Christian Creighton)
22 Louise Creighton with her three sons, Walter, Cuthbert
and Oswin, 1888. (Christian Creighton)
23 Mandell Creighton at the age of thirty-eight in 1881.
(Christian Creighton)
24 Louise Creighton in the mid i88os, shortly after leaving Embleton for
Cambridge. (Christian Creighton)
25 The entrance to Emmanuel College, Cambridge. (James Covert)
26 Worcester Cathedral. (British Travel Association)
27 A family game of croquet in the palace garden at Peterborough,
c. 1895. (Christian Creighton)
28 Bishop Mandell Creighton in the palace garden at Peterborough,
1893. (Christian Creighton)
29 Family and friends after a hockey game at Peterborough.
Left to right: Basil, Walter, Winnie (kneeling), unknown, Lucia
(seated on ground), Robert, Harold, Ella, Gemma, unknown,
and Mary. (Christian Creighton)
ILLUSTRATIONS IX
30 Louise Creighton in the early 18908. (Christian Creighton)
31 Mandell Creighton about the time he became Bishop of London.
(Christian Creighton)
32 A family holiday in the Lake District in August 1897.
Seated (left to right): Oswin, Ella (niece) Basil (nephew), Beatrice,
Walter. Standing (left to right): Lucia, Cuthbert, Winifred (niece),
Mandell, Marjorie (niece), Louise, Robert (nephew), Mary, Gemma,
Harold (nephew), Aunt Polly (MandelTs sister). (Joan Duncan)
33 An outing on the banks of Ullswater near Glenridding in the Lake
District, August 1897. Seated (left to right): Ella (niece), Louise.
Standing on the shore (left to right): Beatrice, Robert (nephew),
Aunt Polly (Mandell's sister), Mandell, Winifred and Oswin (far
right). In the boat (left to right): Lucia, Basil (nephew), Walter,
Mary, Cuthbert, Harold (nephew), Gemma, Marjorie (niece).
(Joan Duncan)
34 Louise Creighton, painted by Glyn Philpot and unveiled at
Lambeth Palace, c. 1920. (Christian Creighton)
35 The official photograph of Mandell Creighton as Bishop
of London, 1897. (Christian Creighton)
36 Mandell and Louise Creighton are buried in the chapel of the
Order of the British Empire in the eastern end of the crypt at
St Paul's. The grave is located under the carpet near the entrance.
(St Paul's Cathedral)