May de la Cherois Crommelin (1850-1930)
Life
[Maria Henrietta de Lacherois Crommelin; var. Marie] b. Carrowdore Castle, dg. of S. de la Cherois Crommelin of Carrowdore Castle, Co. Down, and descendent of Samuel-Louis Crommelin (q.v.), Mary was ed. at home; lived early life in Ireland, thereafter in London where her family on account of the land troubles [Land War]; became a worldwide traveller, and one of the first women in the Royal Geographic Society; wrote over 30 [var. 40] novels after Queenie (1874), and num. short stories; |
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novels incl. A Jewel of a Girl (1877; 1879), set in Ireland and Holland; Orange Lily (1879), in which Lily Keag, dg. of an Orangman, who falls in love with servant boy returning rich from America to claim her; Black Abbey (1880), relating the home-life and the near-wreck created of Bellas ill-chosen marriage in the eponymous home; Divil-May-Care (1899), weaving humorous episodes around Richard Burke, an officer of the Indian army, at home on leave in Antrim; |
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also The Golden Bow (1899), dealing with a courtship in the north of Ireland; several works reflecting her wide travels incl. Over the Andes to Chile (1898). JMC IF DIW ATT DUB OCIL |
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Works
- [anon.,] Queenie, 3 vols. (London: Hurst & Blackett 1874), 322, 296, 297pp., and Do. [another edn.] (London: George Routledge & Sons 1879), 256pp.
- My Love But Shes a Lassie, 3 vols. (London: Hurst & Blackett 1875), and Do. [another edn.] (London: [George Routledge & Sons 1877), 363pp.
- A Jewel of a Girl, 3 vols. (London: Hurst & Blackett 1877), 281, 286, 273pp., and Do. [another edn.] (London: George Routledge & Sons 1879), 383pp.
- Orange Lily, 2 vols. (London: Hurst & Blackett 1879), 282pp., 281pp.; Do. [another edn.] (London: George Routledge & Sons 1880), 374pp., and Do. [as Orange Lily and Other Tales] (London: George Routledge & Sons 1889).
- Black Abbey, 3 vols. (London: Sampson Low, Martson, Searle & Rivington 1880, 1882).
- ed., My Book of Friends: Pen and Ink Portraits byThemselves, arranged by M. Crommelin (London & NY: Routledge 1883 [or 1882]), 284pp.
- Miss Daisy Dimity, 3 vols. (London: Hurst & Blackett 1881), 319, 316, 281pp.; and Do. [2nd edn.] (London: George Routledge Sons 1883), 319pp., 8°.
- In the West Countrie, 3 vols. (London: Hurst & Blackett 1883, 1885).
- Joy, or The Light of Cold Home Ford, 3 vols. (London: Hurst & Blackett 1884), and Do. [another edn.] (London: Hurst & Blackett 1886), 367pp.
- Brown Eyes [Arrowsmith Christmas Annual] (Bristol: J. W. Arrowsmith 1882; London: Griffith & Farran, 1882), 128pp., and Do. [Arrowsmiths Bristol Library] (Bristol: J. W. Arrowsmith 1884), 8°.
- Goblin Gold (London & NY: Frederick Warne & Co. [1885]), 153pp.; Do. [another edn.], 1 vol. (London: Holden & Hardingham [1912]).
- Love, the Pilgrim [3 vols] (London: Hurst & Blackett 1886), Do., rep. (London: George Routledge 1888), vi, 379pp.
- Poets in the Garden (London: Fisher Unwin 1886), 256pp.
- Dead Mens Dollars (Bristol: J. W. Arrowsmith; London Simpkin, Marshall & Co.[1887]), 304pp.
- Love, The Pilgrim, 3 vols. (London: Hurst & Blackett 1886), 299, 335, 315pp., and Do. (London: George Routledge & Sons 1888), iv, 379pp.
- with J[ames] Moray Brown, Violet Vyvian, M.F.H.: A Novel, 3 vols. (London: Hurst & Blackett 1889), 296, 287, 296pp.; Do. [2nd edn.], 1 vol. (London: J. V. White 1890), iv, 304pp. and Do. [3rd edn.] (London: White), iv, 304pp .[note].
- For the Sake of the Family (London & Sydney: Eden, Remington & Co. 1892), 314pp., and Do. [3rd edn.; Greenback Ser. of Popular Novels] (London: Jarrold 1899), 314pp.
- The Freaks of Lady Fortune, 2 vols: (London: Hurst and Blackett 1889); Do. [another edn.] (F. V. White 1891, 1893), vi, 312pp.; Do. [Polish trans.] (1889).
- Midge (London: Trischler & Co. 1890), 297pp. [3rd thousand].
- Cross Roads, 3 vols. (London: Hurst & Blackett 1890), 299, 297, 284pp. and Do. [another edn.] as Love Knots, or Cross Roads (London & Sydney: Eden, Remington& Co. 1892), 354pp.
- Mr & Mrs Herries: A Novel in One Volume (London: Hutchinson 1892), 250pp.
- Dust Before the Wind, 2 vols. (London: Bliss, Sands & Foster 1894).
- Half Round the World for a Husband: A Comedy of Errors (London: T. Fisher Unwin 1896), viii, 344pp. [ded. to Hon. Francis and Mrs. Pakenham, in warm memory of a happy month spent at the Legation in Buenos Ayres].
- Over the Andes from Argentina to Chili and Peru (London: Richard Bentley & Son 1896), viii, 387pp., ill. [front.; 2 pls.]
- Divil May Care; Alias Richard Burke, sometime Adjutant of the Black Northerners, 3 vols. (London: F. V. White & Co. 1899), x, 306pp. [ded. To All Ulster Friends].
- Bay Ronald, 3 vols. (London: Hurst & Blackett 1893), 307, 323, 324pp.; and Do. [rev. edn. in Greenback Series] (London: Jarrold & Sons 1899).
- Kinsah: A Daughter of Tangier [a story of harem life] (London: John Long 1899), 287pp., ill. [1 lf. of pls.; front. by Robert Sauber].
- Bettina (London: John Long 1900), 271pp.
- The Vereker Family (London: John Long 1900), 333pp.
[tales];- Bettina (London: John Long 1900).
- The Luck of the Lowland Laddie (London: John Long 1900), 319pp.
- A Woman-Derelict (London: John Long [1901]), 316pp.
- A Daughter of England (London: John Long [1902]), 347pp., 8°.
- Partners Three (London: John Long 1903).
- Phoebe of the White Farm (London: John Long 1903) [var. 1906]
- Partners Three (London: John Long 1903).
- Crimson Lilies (London: John Long 1903), 310pp., and Do. [pop. edn.] (London: John Long [1912]).
- One Pretty Maid and Others (London: John Long 1904).
- The White Lady (London: John Long 1905).
- The House of Howe (London: John Long [1907]).
- I Little Knew! (London: John Milne [1908]), vi, 319pp.
- Lovers on the Green (London: Hutchinson 1910).
- Madam Mystery: A Romance in Torraine (London: Hutchinson & Co. 1910).
- with A. Williams, Isle of the Dead [1911].
- Madam Mystery: A Romance in Torraine (Hutchinson & Co. 1910).
- with A. Williams, Isle of the Dead (1911) [joint author-novel].
- The Golden Bow (London: Holden & Hardingham 1912).
- Little Soldiers (London: Hutchinson & Co [1914]), 39 col. ills. by Louis Wain.
- Pink Lotus: A Comedy in Kashmir (1914).
- Sunshine on the Nile (Jarrolds [1920]).
- Little Soldiers (London: Hutchinson & Co [1914]), ill. [by Louis Wain].
- Pink Lotus, A Comedy in Kashmir (1914).
- Sunshine on the Nile (London: Jarrolds [1920]).
- Aunt Angel (London: Odhams Press [1921]).
- Halfpenny House (London: Hurst & Blackett [1924]).
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Miscellaneous |
- The Fate of Fenella: A Novel by Twenty-four authors (London: Hutchinson [Pater-noster Row] 1892), viii, 384pp. [contribs.: Helen Mathers, Mrs. Edward Kennard, Justin H. McCarthy, Richard Dowling, Mrs. Trollope, Mrs. Hungerford, A. Conan Doyle, Arthur ABeckett. May Crommelin, Jean Middlemass, F. C. Phillips, Clement Scott, Rita, Clo[tilda] Graves, Joseph Hatton, H. W. Lucy, Mrs. Lovett Cameron, Adeline Sergeant, Bram Stoker, G. Manville Fenn, Florence Marryat, Tasma Frank Danby, and F. Anstey.
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- London Society [Christmas Number - Special Issue] (London: F. V. White 1892), 13, 111pp., ill. [2 lvs. of pls.]. Contents: Stéphanie, by the author of Miss Molly; He and she! by Curtis Yorke; Madame Dubois' protége by Mrs. Alexander Fraser; The little black ghost by May Crommelin; Tennyson Fayr Madoc; Molly's mistake by A. E. Noble; Had he but known, by Maud Mary Sykes.
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- Some Arts and Crafts (London: Chapman & Hall 1903), vii, 327pp., ill. [Contents: May Crommelin & Mrs. R. Barton Shaw, Furniture and decoration; Maria E. Reeks, Wood carving; Elinor Hallé, The art of enamelling; A. M. Clive Bayley, Spinning and weaving; Ethel M. M. M'Kenna, Bookbinding; Alice Hughes, Photographic portraiture as a profession.
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- The Woman's Library, 5 vols., ed. Ethel M. McKenna (London: Chapman 1903). Contents: Vol. 1. Janet E. Hogarth, Education and professions: The higher education of women; Beatrice Orange, Teaching as a profession for women; Louise Jopling, On the education or the artistic faculty; Mary Frances Billington, Women and journalism; Madge Kendal, Some pros and cons of theatrical life; Ethel F. Lamport, Medicine as a profession for women; Margaret H. Irwin, Public work for women on local government boards as factory inspectors; Mabyn Armour, Public work for women on local government boards as factory inspectors. Vol. 2: Ruth M. Day, Needlework: Embroidery; J. E. Davis, Dressmaking; Clara Hill, Millinery; Mrs. Turnbull & Miss Turnbull, Knitting and cr[o]chet. Vol. 3: Lady Isabel Margesson, Nursery and sickroom: On the ethical training of children; Ethel Lamport; H. F. Gethen, Nursing in and out of hospital. Vol. 4 [as in Some Arts and Crafts, supra]. Vol. 5: Cookery and housekeeping [Missing]. Vol. 6: The lighter branches of agriculture, by Edith Bradley and Bertha LaMothe: Market gardening; Fruit growing; Dairying; poultry keeping for utility and egg production; Bee-keeping; The marketing of produce, a key to the whole position; Women's agricultural.
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[ The above combines catalogue listings of British Museum Library and Belfast Central Library, with additions from COPAC.] |
Note: Violet Vyvian, M.F.H.,, 3 vols. (London: Hurst & Blackett 1889) - written with with J[ames] Moray Brown - is available in Inda in paperback and OCR digital editions at Flipkart.com [accessed online; 16.06.2010]. The co-author Capt. J. M. Brown was an authority on riding, polo, and hunting being the author of Shikar Sketches (1887) and Stray Sport (1893) [M.F.H. is Master of the Fox Hunt.]
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Criticism Charlotte OConor Eccles, Some Irishwomen in London, in Donohue 54 (1905) [biog. sketches of Mary and her sister Caroline]; John Metcalf, North Down 146;s Literary Associations, Supplement to The Bell [?] (Sept. 1993) [biog. details as in Life, supra].
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References Stephen Brown, ed. Ireland in Fiction (Dublin: Maunsel 1919); no bio-dates, but indicates entry in Whos Who. IF2, calls her a prolific novelist one of whose forefathers was Samuel-Louis Crommelin (1652-1727), b. Picardy, emig. Amsterdam, 1685, before founding the linen industry in Ulster on the invitation of William III. Orange Lily (1879) [Lily Keag, dg. Orangman, falls in love with servant boy, who returns wealthy from America to claim her]; Black Abbey (1880) [home life and marriage at Black Abbey, Co. Down; Bellas ill-chosen marriage nearly wrecks the family]; Divil-May-Care (1899) [humorous and exciting episodes of Indian officer Richard Burke home on leave, set in Antrim, with stage-Irish tinge]; The Golden Bow (1899) [sorrows and suitors in north of Ireland].
Brian Cleeve & Anne Brady, A Dictionary of Irish Writers (Dublin: Lilliput 1985), cites same titles as Ireland in Fiction, ed. Stephen Brown (Dublin: Maunsel 1919), excepting Divil-May-Care [ditto DUB; clearly after DIW].
Ann Owens Weekes, ed., Unveiling Treasures: The Attic Guide to the Published Works of Irish Women Literary Writers: Drama, Fiction, Poetry (Dublin: Attic Press 1993), lists Orange Lily and Other Tales (London: Routledge 1889); Poets in the Garden (London: Fisher Unwin 1886), poetry; Cross-Roads, 3 vols. (London: Hurst & Blackett 1890), a novel; Over the Andes [to Chile] (London: Bentley 1896), travel; Divil-May-Care [alias Richard Burke, &c. as infra] [8 vols., sic: err.] (1899), novel.
Justin McCarthy, gen. ed., Irish Literature (Washington: University of America 1904), gives extract from The Luck of a Lowland Laddie.
Kate Newmann, ed., Dictionary of Ulster Biography (Belfast: QUB/IIS 1993); adds that Louis brought a colony of Huguenots to Ireland, having investigated the linen industry throughout the country in 1697; established a factory on the Lagan at Bridge St., Lisburn; appointed Overseer of the Royal Linen Manufacture of Ireland in 1699; opened factory in Kilkenny in 1705.
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Notes
John Masefield: Masefield married a Constance de la Cherois Crommelin, prob. a cousin of Mary.
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