Elinor Mary Darwin (née Monsell; 1879–1954) was an Irish born illustrator, engraver and portrait painter. Her illustrations were included in several of her husband,

Bernard Darwin Bernard Richard Meirion Darwin CBE JP (7 September 1876 − 18 October 1961) was a golf writer and high-standard amateur golfer. A grandson of the British naturalist Charles Darwin, he was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame. Biography B ...

's books for children.

Personal life

Elinor Mary Monsell was born in

Limerick Limerick ( ; ) is a city in western Ireland, in County Limerick. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and is in the Mid-West Region, Ireland, Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. W ...

Munster Munster ( or ) is the largest of the four provinces of Ireland, located in the south west of the island. In early Ireland, the Kingdom of Munster was one of the kingdoms of Gaelic Ireland ruled by a "king of over-kings" (). Following the Nor ...

, Ireland, the eldest daughter of William Thomas Monsell (1843–1887), a magistrate and inspector of facturers, and Elinor Vere, daughter of Hon. Robert O'Brien, of Old Church, Limerick (son of

Sir Edward O'Brien, 4th Baronet Sir Edward O'Brien, 4th Baronet (17 April 1773 – 13 March 1837) was an Irish parliamentarian who sat in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom from 1802 to 1826. He was the son of Sir Lucius O'Brien, 3rd Baronet (1731–1795) and Anne F ...

). William Thomas Monsell's father, Rev.

John Samuel Bewley Monsell John Samuel Bewley Monsell (2 March 1811 – 9 April 1875) was an Irish Anglican clergyman and poet. Life The son of Thomas Monsell, Thomas Bewley Monsell, Archdeacon of Derry, he was born in St Columb's, Derry, and educated at Trinity College, D ...

(1811–1875), vicar of

Egham Egham ( ) is a town in the Borough of Runnymede in Surrey, England, approximately west of central London. First settled in the Bronze Age, the town was under the control of Chertsey Abbey for much of the Middle Ages. In 1215, Magna Carta was ...

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

, was first cousin to

William Monsell, 1st Baron Emly William Monsell, 1st Baron Emly, PC (21 September 1812 – 20 April 1894) was an Anglo-Irish landowner and Liberal politician. He held a number of ministerial positions between 1852 and 1873, notably as President of the Board of Health in 18 ...

; William Thomas served as Lord Emly's private secretary during his time as

Postmaster General A Postmaster General, in Anglosphere countries, is the chief executive officer of the postal service of that country, a ministerial office responsible for overseeing all other postmasters. History The practice of having a government official ...

.Joseph Jackson Howard.
Visitation of England and Wales
'. Priv. print.; 1905. p. 9. At 17 years of age Elinor left Ireland for London. Her brother

John Robert Monsell John Robert Monsell (15 August 1877 – 20 March 1952) was an Irish illustrator. Monsell was born at Cahirciveen, County Kerry, to a wealthy Anglo-Irish family. His father, William Thomas Monsell (1843–1887), was a magistrate and inspector ...

was a children's author and illustrator, who collaborated with Herbert Hughes on ''Rivals!'', a 1935 musical version of

Richard Brinsley Sheridan Richard Brinsley Butler Sheridan (30 October 17517 July 1816) was an Anglo-Irish playwright, writer and Whig politician who sat in the British House of Commons from 1780 to 1812, representing the constituencies of Stafford, Westminster and I ...

's ''

The Rivals ''The Rivals'' is a comedy of manners by Richard Brinsley Sheridan in five acts which was first performed at Covent Garden Theatre on 17 January 1775. The story has been updated frequently, including a 1935 musical and a 1958 List of Maverick ...

''. She married

on Tuesday, 31 July 1906 at

St Luke's Church, Chelsea The Parish Church of St Luke, Chelsea, is an Church of England, Anglican church (building), church, on Sydney Street, Chelsea, London, Chelsea, London SW3, just off the King's Road. Ecclesiastically it is in the Deanery of Chelsea, part of the D ...

in London, England. He was a golf writer and grandson of the British naturalist

Charles Darwin Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English Natural history#Before 1900, naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all speci ...

.Tim M. Berra.
Darwin and His Children: His Other Legacy
'. Oxford University Press; 26 September 2013. . p. 130. Their children were

Ursula Darwin Ursula Frances Elinor Mommens (née Darwin, formerly Trevelyan; 20 August 1908 – 30 January 2010) was an English potter. Mommens studied at the Royal College of Art, under William Staite Murray, and later worked with Michael Cardew at Winchc ...

(1908–2011) and Sir Robert Vere Darwin (1910–1974). Prior to World War II many Darwin family members became members of the

Eugenics Society The Adelphi Genetics Forum is a non-profit learned society based in the United Kingdom. Its aims are "to promote the public understanding of human heredity and to facilitate informed debate about the ethical issues raised by advances in reproducti ...

. Elinor became one of the Fellows of the Society, as did

Leonard Darwin Leonard Darwin (15 January 1850 – 26 March 1943) was an English politician, economist and eugenicist. He was a son of the naturalist Charles Darwin, and also a mentor to Ronald Fisher, a statistician and evolutionary biologist. Biography ...

's wife Mildred and other Darwin wives. She is buried in St Mary the Virgin Churchyard, Downe, Kent; nearby is

Down House Down House is the former home of the English Natural history, naturalist Charles Darwin and his family. It was in this house and garden that Darwin worked on his theory of evolution by natural selection, which he had conceived in London befor ...

, the home of the Darwin family. An obituary by

Sir Charles Tennyson Sir Charles Bruce Locker Tennyson (8 November 1879 – 22 June 1977), a grandson of the poet Alfred, Lord Tennyson, was a civil servant, an industrialist, and an academic of his grandfather. Tennyson was the son of the Hon. Lionel Tennyson and ...

was published in ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

''.

Education

She studied at the

Slade School of Art The UCL Slade School of Fine Art (informally The Slade) is the art school of University College London (UCL) and is based in London, England. It has been ranked as the UK's top art and design educational institution. The school is organised as ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, earning a scholarship in 1896.

Career

The venture annual of art and literature - Daphne and Apollo

Elinor was active from about 1899 to 1929. Before she married, Elinor Monsell was one of the illustrators that worked with

W. B. Yeats William Butler Yeats (, 13 June 186528 January 1939), popularly known as W. B. Yeats, was an Irish poet, dramatist, writer, and literary critic who was one of the foremost figures of 20th-century literature. He was a driving force behind the ...

, whom she met in 1899 at Coole Park. He appreciated her woodcuts, and asked her to create a logo for the

Abbey Theatre The Abbey Theatre (), also known as the National Theatre of Ireland () is a theatre in Dublin, Ireland. First opening to the public on 27 December 1904, and moved from its original building after a fire in 1951, it has remained active to the p ...

. She created a pearwood engraving of a romantic image of

Queen Maeve Medb (), later spelled Meadhbh (), Méabh(a) () and Méibh (), and often anglicised as Maeve ( ), is queen of Connacht in the Ulster Cycle of Irish mythology. Her husband in the core stories of the cycle is Ailill mac Máta, although she had s ...

with one of her wolfhounds that appeared on the

programmes beginning in 1904. She created the cover for

Stephen Gwynn Stephen Lucius Gwynn (13 February 1864 – 11 June 1950) was an Irish journalist, biographer, author, poet and Protestant Nationalist politician. As a member of the Irish Parliamentary Party he represented Galway city as its Member of Parliamen ...

's ''The Fair Hills of Ireland'', which was published in 1906. In 1907

Dun Emer Press The Dun Emer Press (''fl.'' 1902–1908) was an Irish private press founded in 1902 by Evelyn Gleeson, Elizabeth Yeats and her brother William Butler Yeats, part of the Celtic Revival. It was named after the legendary Emer and evolved into the ...

's first pressmark was a wood engraving that she made of Lady Emer beside a tree.Clare Hutton; Patrick Walsh.
The Oxford History of the Irish Book, Volume V: The Irish Book in English, 1891–2000
'. Oxford University Press; 23 June 2011. . p. 401. She illustrated some of her husband's books for children, such as the ''Tale Of Mr. Tootleoo'', ''Every Idle Dream'', and ''Mr. Tootleoo and Company.'' Her illustrations, and those of J.B. Yeats and William Orpen, were included in the Second Annual Volume of ''The Shanachie'', an "Irish Miscellany Illustrated" which included works be many Irish writer, including W. B. Yeats, Stephen Gwynn,

Lady Gregory Isabella Augusta, Lady Gregory (; 15 March 1852 – 22 May 1932) was an Anglo-Irish dramatist, folklorist and theatre manager. With William Butler Yeats and Edward Martyn, she co-founded the Irish Literary Theatre and the Abbey Theatre, and wrot ...

and

George Bernard Shaw George Bernard Shaw (26 July 1856 – 2 November 1950), known at his insistence as Bernard Shaw, was an Irish playwright, critic, polemicist and political activist. His influence on Western theatre, culture and politics extended from the 188 ...

. Darwin taught her husband's cousin

Gwen Raverat Gwendolen Mary "Gwen" Raverat (née Darwin; 26 August 1885 – 11 February 1957), was an English wood engraver who was a founder member of the Society of Wood Engravers. Her memoir ''Period Piece'' was published in 1952. Biography Gwendolen Ma ...

engraving. Her paintings ''A Doorway,'' ''Child with Toy Bird'', and ''The Annunciation'' were exhibited in 1913 at the Whitechapel Exhibition of Irish Art in London. She painted a portrait of poet and author

Aubrey Thomas De Vere Aubrey Thomas de Vere (10 January 181420 January 1902) was an Irish poet and critic. Life Aubrey Thomas Hunt de Vere was born at Curraghchase House (now in ruins) at Curraghchase, Kilcornan, County Limerick, the third son of Sir Aubrey de Ve ...

when he was 87 years old.

References

External links

* * * Works under the name Elinor Monsell at the Trinity College Dublin Library as part of th
Cuala Press Collection
{{DEFAULTSORT:Darwin, Elinor Mary 1879 births 1954 deaths 19th-century British engravers 20th-century British engravers 19th-century British illustrators 20th-century British illustrators British wood engravers Irish wood engravers 19th-century Irish engravers 20th-century Irish engravers 19th-century Irish painters 20th-century Irish painters Artists from Limerick (city) 20th-century British women painters Darwin–Wedgwood family 19th-century British women painters 20th-century British printmakers Alumni of the Slade School of Fine Art British women engravers Irish women engravers 19th-century Irish women painters 20th-century Irish women painters