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Edith Mary Oldham Ellis (née Lees; 9 March 1861 – 14 September 1916) was an English writer and
Ellis was born on 9 March 1861 in Newton, 
Her first novel, ''Seaweed: A Cornish Idyll'', was published in 1898. During this period Edith began a relationship with Lily Kirkpatrick, an artist from Ireland who lived in St Ives. Edith was devastated when Lily died from 
Ellis had a nervous breakdown in March 1916 and died of
women's rights
Women's rights are the rights and entitlements claimed for women and girls worldwide. They formed the basis for the women's rights movement in the 19th century and the feminist movements during the 20th and 21st centuries. In some countr ...
activist. She was married to the early sexologist Havelock Ellis
Henry Havelock Ellis (2 February 1859 – 8 July 1939) was an English physician, eugenicist, writer, progressive intellectual and social reformer who studied human sexuality. He co-wrote the first medical textbook in English on homosexuality in ...
.
Biography
Ellis was born on 9 March 1861 in Newton, Lancashire
Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a Historic counties of England, historic county, Ceremonial County, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significa ...
. She was the only child of Samuel Oldham Lees, a landowner, and his wife Mary Laetitia, née Bancroft. She was born prematurely after her mother sustained a head injury during pregnancy and she died when Ellis was an infant. In December 1868, her father married Margaret Ann (Minnie) Faulkner and in time she had a younger half-brother. She did not get on well with her father or his new wife. She was educated at a convent school in 1873 until her father realised that she was taking a strong interest in the Catholic faith. She was removed from the school and sent to another.
She joined the Fellowship of the New Life
The Fellowship of the New Life was a British organisation in the 19th century, most famous for a splinter group, the Fabian Society.
It was founded in 1883, by the Scottish intellectual Thomas Davidson. Fellowship members included the poet Edwa ...
and she briefly worked with Ramsay MacDonald when they both served as secretaries to the Fellowship. She met Havelock Ellis
Henry Havelock Ellis (2 February 1859 – 8 July 1939) was an English physician, eugenicist, writer, progressive intellectual and social reformer who studied human sexuality. He co-wrote the first medical textbook in English on homosexuality in ...
at a meeting in 1887. The couple married in November 1891.
From the beginning, their marriage was unconventional; she was openly lesbian and at the end of the honeymoon
A honeymoon is a vacation taken by newlyweds immediately after their wedding, to celebrate their marriage. Today, honeymoons are often celebrated in destinations considered exotic or romantic. In a similar context, it may also refer to the phase ...
Ellis went back to his bachelor rooms. She had several affairs with women, which her husband was aware of. Their open marriage was the central subject in Havelock Ellis's autobiography
An autobiography, sometimes informally called an autobio, is a self-written account of one's own life.
It is a form of biography.
Definition
The word "autobiography" was first used deprecatingly by William Taylor in 1797 in the English p ...
, ''My Life'' (1939).
Her first novel, ''Seaweed: A Cornish Idyll'', was published in 1898. During this period Edith began a relationship with Lily Kirkpatrick, an artist from Ireland who lived in St Ives. Edith was devastated when Lily died from Bright's disease
Bright's disease is a historical classification of kidney diseases that are described in modern medicine as acute or chronic nephritis. It was characterized by swelling and the presence of albumin in the urine, and was frequently accompanie ...
in June 1903.
Ellis had a nervous breakdown in March 1916 and died of diabetes
Diabetes, also known as diabetes mellitus, is a group of metabolic disorders characterized by a high blood sugar level (hyperglycemia) over a prolonged period of time. Symptoms often include frequent urination, increased thirst and increased ...
that September. She was cremated at Golders Green Crematorium
Golders Green Crematorium and Mausoleum was the first crematorium to be opened in London, and one of the oldest crematoria in Britain. The land for the crematorium was purchased in 1900, costing £6,000 (the equivalent of £135,987 in 2021), ...
. ''James Hinton: a Sketch'', her biography of surgeon James Hinton, was published posthumously in 1918.
Works
* * ''My Cornish Neighbours'' (1906) * ''Kit's Woman'' (U.S. title: ''Steve's Woman'') (1907) * ''The Subjection of Kezia'' (1908) * ''Attainment'' (1909) * '' Three Modern Seers'' (1910) * ''The Imperishable Wing'' (1911) * ''The Lover's Calendar: An Anthology'' (ed) (1912) * ''Love-Acre'' (1914) * ''Love in Danger'' (1915) * '' The Mothers'' (1915) * * ''The New Horizon in Love and Life'' (1921)References
Further reading
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ellis, Edith 1861 births 1916 deaths 19th-century English women writers 19th-century English novelists 20th-century English women writers 20th-century English novelists British women's rights activists English feminists English non-fiction writers English women novelists Lesbian feminists British lesbian writers Victorian novelists