Alexandra Orr or Alexandra Leighton; Alexander Sutherland Orr; Mrs Sutherland Orr (23 November 1828 – 23 August 1903) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

biographer of

Robert Browning Robert Browning (7 May 1812 – 12 December 1889) was an English poet and playwright whose dramatic monologues put him high among the Victorian literature, Victorian poets. He was noted for irony, characterization, dark humour, social commentar ...

. She was a model for her brother

Frederic Leighton Frederic Leighton, 1st Baron Leighton, (3 December 1830 – 25 January 1896), known as Sir Frederic Leighton between 1878 and 1896, was a British Victorian painter, draughtsman, and sculptor. His works depicted historical, biblical, and clas ...

in at least two paintings.

Life

Orr was born in

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

in 1828, because her paternal grandfather Sir James Boniface Leighton was Emperor

Nicholas I of Russia Nicholas I, group=pron (Russian language, Russian: Николай I Павлович; – ) was Emperor of Russia, List of rulers of Partitioned Poland#Kings of the Kingdom of Poland, King of Congress Poland, and Grand Duke of Finland from 18 ...

's physician. Orr had one sister, Augusta and an elder brother Frederic. Her parents were Augusta Susan and Frederic Septimus Leighton who was also a medical doctor. Her grandfather's dealing's in Russia gave his family financial independence.Christopher Newall, ‘Leighton, Frederic, Baron Leighton (1830–1896)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, May 200
accessed 30 April 2017
/ref> Alexandra, the Empress of Russia, was her godmother.Elizabeth Lee, ‘Orr , Alexandra (1828–1903)’, rev. Katharine Chubbuck, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 200
accessed 30 April 2017
/ref> She was educated as her family travelled in Europe. When she was sixteen she lost some of her sight due to rheumatic fever. After this she had to have books read to her and to use an amanuensis. In 1855 she had met her brother in Paris and she was introduced to his good friend, the poet,

. She went to India as the wife of Sutherland George Gordon Orr who led the 3rd regiment of cavalry. They had married on 7 March 1857 so they arrived as the

indian mutiny The Indian Rebellion of 1857 was a major uprising in India in 1857–58 against the rule of the British East India Company, which functioned as a sovereign power on behalf of the British Crown. The rebellion began on 10 May 1857 in the form ...

took place. Sheikh Baran Bukh is given the credit for her survival. Her husband was involved in numerous operations where the British officers were trying to establish order with Indian troops. The mutiny led to her husband's death. Hence known as Mrs Sutherland Orr she returned to her parents who were living in Sunderland or Bath. Her portrait by her brother

was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1861. In 1869 she and her parents were living in London. Orr's friends were interested in art and literature and she cemented her friendship with Robert Browning. Browning would read to her twice a week and she joined and donated money to the

Browning Society Browning societies were groups who met to discuss the works of Robert Browning. Emerging from various reading groups, the societies indicated the poet's fame, and unusually were forming in his lifetime.Murray, H. (2002) ''Come, bright improvemen ...

. Encouraged by the society she created a ''Handbook to the Works of Robert Browning'' assisted by advice from the animal artist John Trivett Nettleship. She was given access to Browning's letters by his sister and in 1891 she published ''Life and Letters of Robert Browning''. The following year she re-published what became the sixth edition of ''Handbook to the Works of Robert Browning'' which contained her corrections. Orr published other smaller works including a description of the Browning's religious beliefs and articles against the proposal of

Women's suffrage Women's suffrage is the women's rights, right of women to Suffrage, vote in elections. Several instances occurred in recent centuries where women were selectively given, then stripped of, the right to vote. In Sweden, conditional women's suffra ...

. Her essay on ''The Future of English Women'' caused much debate and caused

Millicent Fawcett Dame Millicent Garrett Fawcett (; 11 June 1847 – 5 August 1929) was an English political activist and writer. She campaigned for Women's suffrage in the United Kingdom, women's suffrage by Law reform, legal change and in 1897–1919 led Brita ...

to publish ''The Future of Englishwomen: A reply''. Orr died at what had been her parents house at 11 Kensington Park Gardens on 23 August 1903.

Legacy

Her brother's house became the Leighton Museum at her insistence. Her portraits are in the National Portrait Gallery in London. An 1892 portrait by her brother is at Leighton Museum.Sutherland Orr in 1892
Frederic Leighton, Retrieved 30 April 2017

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Orr, Alexandra English biographers English women biographers 1828 births 1903 deaths 19th-century English women writers