Agnes Geraldine Grove born Agnes Geraldine Lane Fox also Agnes Geraldine Fox-Pitt; Lady Grove (25 July 1863 – 7 December 1926) was an English aristocrat, diarist and essayist. She wrote to support women's suffrage,
anti-vivisection and
anti-vaccination.
Life
Grove was born in 1863. Her parents were Lieutenant General
Augustus Henry Lane-Fox and Alice Margaret (1828–1910, born Stanley). Her elder brother was the electrical engineer
St George Lane Fox-Pitt. Unlike her siblings, who were primarily educated at home, she went to the Oxford High School.
After a huge inheritance of Rushmore, a 29,000 acre estate in Dorset, from her father's cousin
Horace Pitt-Rivers, 6th Baron Rivers, her father and her eldest brother took the name ''Fox Pitt-Rivers'' on 25 May 1880. She, like the other eight children in the family, took the name Fox-Pitt. Her use of the name was short-lived as in 1883 she married Walter John Grove.
Assisted by her father's inheritance their honeymoon was extravagant, including a three month holiday in the USA where she met leading families such as the Vanderbilts and the Hewitts. She spent her time at social events on her return, living in
Grosvenor Gardens but also returning to her home at Rushmore.
[
In 1879, she began one of her legacies which was a daily diary which she kept until her death. She was a supporter of women's suffrage and as an educated aristocrat she was invited to speak at meetings after she joined the movement in 1892. She wrote supportive pieces that were published in '']Cornhill Magazine
''The Cornhill Magazine'' (1860–1975) was a monthly Victorian literature, Victorian magazine and literary journal named after the street address of the founding publisher Smith, Elder & Co. at 65 Cornhill, London, Cornhill in London.Laurel ...
'' and the '' Fortnightly Review''.[ In 1895 she met and adopted ]Thomas Hardy
Thomas Hardy (2 June 1840 – 11 January 1928) was an English novelist and poet. A Literary realism, Victorian realist in the tradition of George Eliot, he was influenced both in his novels and in his poetry by Romanticism, including the poetry ...
as a mentor.[
In 1897, her father-in-law, Sir Thomas Grove, 1st Baronet, died and she became Lady Grove of Ferne House. In 1900 she was in Paris where she spoke at the ]International Congress of Women
The International Congress of Women was created so that groups of existing women's suffrage movements could come together with other women's groups around the world. It served as a way for women organizations across the nation to establish formal ...
.[ She and her husband had inherited several properties including Ferne House in 1897 but they sold it in 1902, using the money to maintain their lifestyle.
from the frontispiece of her book ''The Social Fetich'' in 1907
The first book she had published, in 1902, was titled ''71 Days Camping in Morocco''. Her book dealt with her opposition to ]Cunninghame Graham
Robert Bontine Cunninghame Graham (24 May 1852 – 20 March 1936) was a Scottish politician, writer, journalist and adventurer. He was a Liberal Party (UK), Liberal Party Member of Parliament (MP); the first ever socialist member of the Parliam ...
's book four years before on a similar subject. Due to her status and the foreign nature of North Africa to many citizens of Great Britain, Lady Grove was able to advertise her book in ''The Times'', London. The following year she was employed at 10 guineas a month to write for the New Review.[ She was in favour of women's suffrage and objected to both ]vivisection
Vivisection () is surgery conducted for experimental purposes on a living organism, typically animals with a central nervous system, to view living internal structure. The word is, more broadly, used as a pejorative catch-all term for Animal test ...
and vaccination
Vaccination is the administration of a vaccine to help the immune system develop immunity from a disease. Vaccines contain a microorganism or virus in a weakened, live or killed state, or proteins or toxins from the organism. In stimulating ...
. On the latter issue, she was taken to court in 1905 for failing to get her son vaccinated.[ In 1907 her book ''The Social Fetich'' icsold well. She was characterised as a "mystagogue" by G.K.Chesterton who although generally in favour of her views, derided her arguments because he said that she did not explain her views but made her readers "painfully conscious of not understanding".]All Things Considered
''All Things Considered'' (''ATC'') is the flagship news program on the American network National Public Radio (NPR). It was the first news program on NPR, premiering on May 3, 1971. It is broadcast live on NPR affiliated stations in the United ...
, 1908, G.K.ChestertonHer favourite method is to terrify people from doing things that are quite harmless by telling them that if they do they are the kind of people who would do other things, equally harmless. If you ask after somebody's mother (or whatever it is), you are the kind of person who would have a pillow-case, or would not have a pillow-case.
In June 1905 she was summonsed to Bow Street Magistrates' Court by a London taxi driver for failing to pay the proper fare. The cabman had driven her from the King's Theatre in Hammersmith to her house at 51, Bedford Square - a distance which meant she should have paid five shillings. She paid only what she felt to be the proper fare - three shillings and 6 pence - and slammed the door in his face. She did not turn up to the court hearing and was ordered to pay the one shilling and six pence difference, as well as eight shillings of the cabman's costs.
In 1908, she published ''The Human Woman'' which dealt with women's citizenship; it included her speech in Paris in 1900. In 1910 she published ''On Fads''.
Grove died at her home in Wiltshire
Wiltshire (; abbreviated to Wilts) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It borders Gloucestershire to the north, Oxfordshire to the north-east, Berkshire to the east, Hampshire to the south-east, Dorset to the south, and Somerset to ...
in 1926 from tuberculosis, which had been diagnosed twenty years before. At the end of her life, her writings were dominated by the lack of money. An inheritance arrived in 1924 but it was almost all consumed in debts. Thomas Hardy wrote a poem "concerning Agnes" after her death. Her husband survived her. and her son Gerald Grove later became the third baronet.
Private life
She married Walter John Grove and had five children.
Selected publications
Articles
* (reprinted in ''The Human Woman'')
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* (reprinted in ''The Human Woman'')
* (reprinted in ''The Human Woman'')
*
hathitrust online text
(reprinted in ''The Human Woman'')
Books
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References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Grove, Geraldine
1863 births
1926 deaths
English essayists
English suffragists
British anti-vaccination activists
English anti-vivisectionists
International Congress of Women people