BURIED TOGETHER
Partner Lucy Tait, buried together
Queer Places:
Lambeth Palace, Lambeth, Londra SE1 7JU, Regno Unito
Ludwell, Waterbury Hill, Haywards Heath RH17, Regno Unito
Treemans, Treemans Rd, Haywards Heath RH17, Regno Unito
St Mary the Blessed Virgin, Addington Village Rd, Croydon CR0 5AS, Regno Unito
Mary
Benson (née Sidgwick; 1841–1918) was an English hostess of the Victorian
era. She was the wife of Revd. Edward Benson, who during their marriage
became Archbishop of Canterbury. Their children included several prolific
authors and contributors to cultural life. During her marriage, she was
involved with Lucy Tait (11 February 1856 – 5 December 1938), daughter of
the previous Archbishop of Canterbury. The archbishop of Canterbury
deferred to his wife Minnie Benson’s wish that her female lover move into
the home also occupied by their many children. Benson was described by Gladstone, the
British Prime Minister, as the 'cleverest woman in Europe'. She had an
affair with composer Ethel Smyth.
The sexual aspect of Minnie Benson's
relationship with Lucy Tait caused her
considerable feelings of guilt and, in 1878, she wrote in her diary: Once
more and with shame O Lord, grant that all carnal affections may die in
me, and that all things belonging to the spirit may love and grow in me.
Lord, look down on Lucy and me, and bring to pass the union we have both
so blindly, each in our own region of mistake, continually desidered.
Benson composed the record of her love for Lucy Tait as if in the gloom of
a deserted confessional, but the fact that the diary survived suggests
that she had a wider audience in mind.
Mary Sidgwick was born in Britain in 1841, at Skipton, Yorkshire, the
only daughter of Rev. William Sidgwick of Skipton, Yorkshire, who was a
headmaster, and his wife, Mary (née Crofts), whose parents were the Rev.
William Crofts, B.D., vicar of North Grimston, and Miss Carr of Bolton
Abbey, who were married at York in 1804.[1][2][3]
She was the youngest of six children, and was nicknamed Minnie.[4]
Among her older brothers was the philosopher, Henry Sidgwick.
She and Edward White Benson were married on 23 June 1859 at Rugby,
Warwickshire, by Frederick Temple.
Between 1860 and 1871 they had six children. Their daughter,
Margaret Benson
was an artist, author and amateur Egyptologist.
Nellie Benson was a social worker. Their fifth child was the
novelist,
E. F. Benson, best remembered for the Mapp and Lucia novels.
Another son was
A. C. Benson, the author of the lyrics to Elgar's "Land of Hope and
Glory" and master of Magdalene College, Cambridge. Their sixth and
youngest child,
Robert
Hugh Benson, became a priest in the Church of England before
converting to Roman Catholicism and writing many popular novels.
After her husband's death in 1896 Mary set up household with
Lucy Tait, daughter of the previous
archbishop of Canterbury, Archibald Campbell Tait, who had first moved in
with the Bensons in 1889.[6]
She died on 15 June 1918 in East Sussex. Tait and Benson are buried at
St Mary's Church, Addington, Surrey, with their respective families.
Mary, with her husband Edward, had six children.
- Martin Benson – A prodigy who was raising high hopes by academic
excellence, but died at the age of 18 by a not clearly defined
disease.
- Arthur Christopher Benson – An academic at Cambridge University,
author of popular books in his time, and now remembered for his lyrics
to Elgar's "Land of Hope and Glory".
- Margaret Benson (Maggie) – An amateur Egyptologist who was
committed to a psychiatric institution in her later life, following a
now unclear incident involving her mother and possibly Lucy Tait.
- Edward Frederic Benson – a socialiser in London's high society and
author of much popular fiction, including "Mapp and Lucia".
- Nellie Benson – Died at the early age of 26.
- Robert Hugh Benson -Church of England priest, converted to Roman
Catholicism and author of popular religious and supernatural novels
centred on apologetic themes of his religion.
There were no grandchildren.
References:
Other references:
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Benson_(hostess)
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