HARDY FORUM ARCHIVE H0048 5/21/00 "HARDY AND LADY CHARLOTTE GUEST QUESTION" ================================================================= From: "Patrick Roper" Subject: Hardy & Lady Charlotte Guest Date: Sun, 21 May 2000 14:48:03 +0100 Between 1838 and 1845 Lady Charlotte Guest translated much old Welsh folk material into English, calling the collection the Mabinogion. Originally from Lincolnshire, Lady CG married a wealthy Welsh industrialist who owned one of the largest ironworks in the world in South Wales. The Guests bought Canford Manor in Dorset (portrayed by TH as Chene Manor in 'A Group of Noble Dames') in 1846 and Lady CG's first son became Baron Wimbourne. It seems highly probable that Thomas Hardy would have been (a) familiar with the Mabinogion and (b) with Lady Charlotte, an altogether remarkable woman who produced 10 children and took over her husband's iron works at the age of 40 when she was widowed. She later married a younger man and studied middle eastern and oriental archaeology, ceramics, fans and heavens knows what else. She died in 1895 and is buried in the churchyard at Canford Manor. There are web sites that cover her career. In my quest for Lyonesse I have noticed there are various Arthurian threads woven into Hardy's work and he wrote, of course, at a time when there was a great resurgence of interest in Arthuriana. Some of this would have been generated by the Celtic literature made accessible by Lady CG since, prior to that, almost all Arthurian material had come via Malory's 'Morte Darthur' or the Medieval French writers. Does anyone know if Hardy was acquainted with Lady Charlotte and, if this was the case, if she and/or her writing are likely to have had an influence on him? Perhaps papers have been produced on this topic? Patrick Roper ========== From: Martin Ray cc: Hardy Society Subject: Re: Hardy & Lady Charlotte Guest Dear Patrick A quick search has not found any references to Lady Charlotte, but H's letters show that he dined with Lady Wimborne, the daughter-in-law of Lady C, in London (II, 145) and received a visit from Lady W's son, Ivor (II, 248: 1900). He also knew Montague Guest, a younger son of Lady C. (VII, 122). The mutual acquaintances linking Hardy and the Guests were Florence Henniker, the Jeunes and Lady Grove. Hardy attended a ball at Canford Manor in 1881: see the Life, which has a handful of references to Lord and Lady Wimborne. Hardy lived nearby in Wimborne, 1881-83. Regards Martin Ray === Dr Martin Ray Department of English University of Aberdeen Aberdeen Scotland, UK m.ray@abdn.ac.uk ==========