Dame Una Constance Pope-Hennessy, (née Birch; 21 April 1875 – 16 August 1949) was a British writer, historian, and biographer. She was the daughter of Sir Arthur Birch, and married Major (later Major-General) Richard Pope-Hennessy in 1910. During the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, she was a member of the Central Prisoners of War Committee. For this work, she was appointed

Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(DBE) in the 1920 civilian war honours. Her two sons were both notable in their own right: James Pope-Hennessy was a writer and Sir John Pope-Hennessy an art historian. She died in 1949 and is buried alongside her husband at Friary Church of St Francis and St Anthony, Crawley.

Writings

Pope-Hennessy's early published works were historical studies of jades and

secret societies A secret society is an organization about which the activities, events, inner functioning, or membership are concealed. The society may or may not attempt to conceal its existence. The term usually excludes covert groups, such as intelligence a ...

. Her first biographies were on Anna Van Schurman and

Madame Roland Marie-Jeanne "Manon" Roland de la Platière (Paris, March 17, 1754 – Paris, November 8, 1793), born Marie-Jeanne Phlipon, and best known under the name Madame RolandOccasionally, she is referred to as Dame Roland. This however is the except ...

. In 1929 she published ''Three English Women in America'', charting American experience of

Frances Trollope Frances Milton Trollope, also known as Fanny Trollope (10 March 1779 – 6 October 1863), was an English novelist who wrote as Mrs. Trollope or Mrs. Frances Trollope. Her book, '' Domestic Manners of the Americans'' (1832), observations from a ...

Fanny Kemble Frances Anne Kemble (later Butler; 27 November 180915 January 1893) was a British actress from a Kemble family, theatre family in the early and mid-nineteenth century. She was a well-known and popular writer and abolitionist whose published wor ...

and

Harriet Martineau Harriet Martineau (12 June 1802 – 27 June 1876) was an English social theorist.Hill, Michael R. (2002''Harriet Martineau: Theoretical and Methodological Perspectives'' Routledge. She wrote from a sociological, holism, holistic, religious and ...

. It became one of her best known works, and so did her biographical study of

Edgar Allan Poe Edgar Allan Poe (; January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American writer, poet, editor, and literary critic who is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales involving mystery and the macabre. He is widely re ...

, published in 1934. Other widely read biographies followed. In 1940 she published a biography of Agnes Strickland, and the exhaustive biography of

Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English novelist, journalist, short story writer and Social criticism, social critic. He created some of literature's best-known fictional characters, and is regarded by ...

was published in 1945. In 1938 Pope-Hennessy published an account of her visit to

Leningrad 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 ...

during the

Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Dzhugashvili; 5 March 1953) was a Soviet politician and revolutionary who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin, his death in 1953. He held power as General Secret ...

reign in ''The Closed City''. Her final two books were translations, ''A Czarina's Story'' and ''Canon Charles Kingsley'' both published in 1948 a year before her death.

Selected bibliography

Pope-Hennessy's books, usually published as Una Birch, included: *''Maxims of a Queen'' (1907; writings of Queen

Christina of Sweden Christina (; 18 December ld Style and New Style dates, O.S. 8 December1626 – 19 April 1689), a member of the House of Vasa, was Monarchy of Sweden, Queen of Sweden from 1632 until her abdication in 1654. Her conversion to Catholicism and ...

, selected and translated by Birch) *'' Anna van Schurman: Artist, Scholar, Saint'' (1909) *''Secret Societies and the French Revolution'' (1911; still in print as James Wassermann (ed.): ''Secret Societies: Illuminati, Freemasons and the French Revolution''. Nicolas Hayes, 2007, ) *''

: A Study in Revolution'' (1917) *''Early Chinese Jades'' (1923; about Chinese

jade Jade is an umbrella term for two different types of decorative rocks used for jewelry or Ornament (art), ornaments. Jade is often referred to by either of two different silicate mineral names: nephrite (a silicate of calcium and magnesium in t ...

figurine A figurine (a diminutive form of the word ''figure'') or statuette is a small, three-dimensional sculpture that represents a human, deity or animal, or, in practice, a pair or small group of them. Figurines have been made in many media, with cla ...

s, which she collected) *''Three English Women in America'' (1929; about Fanny Trollope,

and

) *''The Aristocratic Journey'' (1931; the edited letters of Margaret Hall in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, 1827–1828) *''The Laird of Abbotsford: An Informal Presentation of

Sir Walter Scott Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet (15 August 1771 – 21 September 1832), was a Scottish novelist, poet and historian. Many of his works remain classics of European literature, European and Scottish literature, notably the novels ''Ivanhoe'' (18 ...

'' (1932) *''

, 1809–1849: A Critical Biography'' (1934) *''The Closed City: Impressions of a Visit to

'' (1938; she had visited in 1937) *'' Agnes Strickland: Biographer of the Queens of England'' (1940) *''Durham Company'' (1941; about the literary associations of

County Durham County Durham, officially simply Durham, is a ceremonial county in North East England.UK General Acts 1997 c. 23Lieutenancies Act 1997 Schedule 1(3). From legislation.gov.uk, retrieved 6 April 2022. The county borders Northumberland and Tyne an ...

) *''

'' (1945) *''A Jade Miscellany'' (1946) *''Sir Walter Scott'' (1948) *''A Czarina's Story'' (1948; by Tsarina Alexandra of Russia; translated and edited by Pope-Hennessy) *''Canon

Charles Kingsley Charles Kingsley (12 June 1819 – 23 January 1875) was a broad church priest of the Church of England, a university professor, social reformer, historian, novelist and poet. He is particularly associated with Christian socialism, the workin ...

'' (1948)

Footnotes

References

*Obituary, ''

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 ...

'', 18 August 1949 *Cathy Hartley: ''A Historical Dictionary of British Women''. Psychology Press (Routledge), 2003, , p
357
*James Wassermann (ed.): ''Secret Societies: Illuminati, Freemasons and the French Revolution''. Nicolas Hayes, 2007, , pp
49-50

External links

* Location of Dame Una Pope-Hennessy's papers on th
National Register of Archives
*List of books from th
British Library Catalogue
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pope-Hennessy, Una 1875 births 1949 deaths British biographers British historians Dames Commander of the Order of the British Empire Place of birth missing Place of death missing British women in World War I Edgar Allan Poe scholars