Georgina Battiscombe (21 November 1905 – 26 February 2006) was a British biographer, specialising mainly in lives from the

Victorian era In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the reign of Queen Victoria, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. Slightly different definitions are sometimes used. The era followed the ...

. She was born Esther Georgina Harwood, the elder daughter of

George Harwood George Harwood (14 September 1845 – 7 November 1912) was a British businessman and Liberal Party (UK), Liberal Party politician. He was born the second son of Richard Harwood who founded a firm of cotton spinners and who was at one time Mayor ...

, a former clergyman, Liberal Member of Parliament for his home town of

Bolton Bolton ( , locally ) is a town in Greater Manchester in England. In the foothills of the West Pennine Moors, Bolton is between Manchester, Blackburn, Wigan, Bury, Greater Manchester, Bury and Salford. It is surrounded by several towns and vill ...

, master cotton spinner, and an author and barrister. Her family had a political bent; her maternal grandfather, Sir Alfred Hopkinson, KC (the first Vice-Chancellor of

Manchester University The University of Manchester is a public university, public research university in Manchester, England. The main campus is south of Manchester city centre, Manchester City Centre on Wilmslow Road, Oxford Road. The University of Manchester is c ...

), three uncles, and her stepfather, John Murray (Principal of the University College of the South West of England, Exeter), all became MPs. She was educated at St Michael's School, Oxford, and at

Lady Margaret Hall Lady Margaret Hall (LMH) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England, located on a bank of the River Cherwell at Norham Gardens in north Oxford and adjacent to the University Parks. The college is more formally known under ...

, and once considered a political career herself. In 1932 she married Christopher Battiscombe (d. 1964), a lieutenant-colonel in the

Grenadier Guards The Grenadier Guards (GREN GDS) is the most senior infantry regiment of the British Army, being at the top of the Infantry Order of Precedence. It can trace its lineage back to 1656 when Lord Wentworth's Regiment was raised in Bruges to protect ...

. For a time they lived in Zanzibar, where Colonel Battiscombe was Secretary to the Sultan. They then lived at Durham before moving to the Henry III Tower at

Windsor Castle Windsor Castle is a List of British royal residences, royal residence at Windsor, Berkshire, Windsor in the English county of Berkshire, about west of central London. It is strongly associated with the Kingdom of England, English and succee ...

as Colonel Battiscombe became honorary secretary of the Society of the Friends of St George's from 1958 to 1960. Her best known books were biographies of the Victorian romantic novelist

Charlotte Mary Yonge Charlotte Mary Yonge (11 August 1823 – 24 March 1901) was an English novelist, who wrote in the service of the church. Her abundant books helped to spread the influence of the Oxford Movement and showed her keen interest in matters of public h ...

(1943); Catherine Gladstone, the wife of Prime Minister

William Ewart Gladstone William Ewart Gladstone ( ; 29 December 1809 – 19 May 1898) was a British politican, starting as Conservative MP for Newark and later becoming the leader of the Liberal Party (UK), Liberal Party. In a career lasting over 60 years, he ...

(1956); English churchman

John Keble John Keble (25 April 1792 – 29 March 1866) was an English Anglican priest and poet who was one of the leaders of the Oxford Movement. Keble College, Oxford, is named after him. Early life Keble was born on 25 April 1792 in Fairford, Glouces ...

(1963); and

Alexandra of Denmark Alexandra of Denmark (Alexandra Caroline Marie Charlotte Louise Julia; 1 December 1844 – 20 November 1925) was List of British royal consorts, queen-consort of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Empress of India, from 22 Januar ...

(1969). The biography of Keble was awarded the

James Tait Black Memorial Prize The James Tait Black Memorial Prizes are literary prizes awarded for literature written in the English language. They, along with the Hawthornden Prize, are Britain's oldest literary awards. Based at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, Un ...

. One of the reasons Battiscombe wrote about Queen Alexandra was that she and Alexandra both had the same form of deafness,

otosclerosis Otosclerosis is a condition of the middle ear, middle and inner ear where portions of the dense enchondral layer of the bony labyrinth Tissue remodeling, remodel into one or more lesions of irregularly-laid spongy bone. As the lesions reach the s ...

. Battiscombe was very deaf for a large part of her life, until surgery and a hearing aid corrected this. She said that her experience gave her "some understanding of Alexandra's predicament". Battiscombe thought that many royal biographies are factually incorrect, and that "so often the unfortunate royalties do not even receive common politeness from those who write about them". Battiscombe also wrote biographies of

Christina Rossetti Christina Georgina Rossetti (5 December 1830 – 29 December 1894) was an English writer of romanticism, romantic, devotional and children's poems, including "Goblin Market" and "Remember". She also wrote the words of two Christmas carols well k ...

(1965) and

Shaftesbury Shaftesbury () is a town and civil parish in Dorset, England. It is on the A30 road, west of Salisbury, Wiltshire, Salisbury and north-northeast of Dorchester, Dorset, Dorchester, near the border with Wiltshire. It is the only significant hi ...

(1974), and her other titles include ''Two on Safari'' (1946); ''English Picnics'' (1949); ''Reluctant Pioneer: The Life of Elizabeth Wordsworth'' (1978); ''The Spencers of Althorp'' (1984); and ''Winter Song'', a book of

poem Poetry (from the Greek language, Greek word ''poiesis'', "making") is a form of literature, literary art that uses aesthetics, aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language to evoke meaning (linguistics), meanings in addition to, or in ...

s (1992). Battiscombe became a Fellow of the

Royal Society of Literature The Royal Society of Literature (RSL) is a learned society founded in 1820 by King George IV to "reward literary merit and excite literary talent". A charity that represents the voice of literature in the UK, the RSL has about 800 Fellows, elect ...

in 1964. She died in 2006, aged 100.

References

External links

Obituary in ''The Guardian''

Obituary in ''The Times''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Battiscombe, Georgina 1905 births 2006 deaths British women centenarians Fellows of the Royal Society of Literature James Tait Black Memorial Prize recipients 20th-century British biographers Alumni of Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford