[hardy-l] Julia Augusta Pitney Martin of Kingston Maurward

[Betty Cortus]

Dear All,
This message comes from David Waller whose new book,  The Magnificent  
Mrs Tennant,
promises to be of interest to many of us.
Betty

Hardy scholars and enthusiasts may be interested to know that more
details on Julia Augusta Pitney Martin have come to light. Julia, it
will be remembered, was proprietress of the Kingston Maurward estate,
near Hardy's childhood home at Lower Bockampton. She took the young
Hardy under her wing, giving the boy lessons in the study at Kingston
Maurward. She made a big impression on the author and biographers have
noted that he wrote her and her splendid home into a number of
stories, including the suggestively titled The Poor Man and the Lady
-- but have otherwise drawn a blank as to her own family background.
During the course of my researches into the life of Gertrude Tennant
(1819-1918), I discovered that Julia Augusta was Gertrude's cousin
and, as can now be revealed, the daughter of Admiral Sir Francis
Augustus Collier (1783-1849) and grand-daughter of Admiral Sir George
Collier (1738-1795), a hero of the American civil war. Admiral Sir
Francis served with Nelson and had a distinguished naval career,
ending his life in Hong Kong. For further details, please consult my
forthcoming The Magnificent Mrs Tennant, to be published by Yale
University Press next month. Gertrude spent her honeymoon at Kingston
Maurward in late 1847.

David Waller (davidwalle at gmail.com)

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