Meynell, Alice Christiana Gertrude, 1847-1922

Variant names
Dates:
Birth 1847-09-22
Death 1922-11-27
English

Biographical notes:

Alice Christiana Gertrude Thompson was born in England on October 11, 1847 to Thomas James and Christiana (Weller) Thompson. Alice and her sister Elizabeth received their education from their father and were brought up primarily in the English countryside and Italy. Alice was encouraged to write poetry by Alfred, Lord Tennyson, to whom she was introduced by family friend Aubrey de Vere. Alice became a poet, and Elizabeth became a painter.

In 1868, Alice was received into the Catholic Church at St. George's, Worcester. Her mother had converted, and her sister and father eventually did as well. A devout Catholic, Meynell's faith was of central importance to her life and work.

Alice Meynell’s first book of poetry, Preludes (1875) featured illustrations by Elizabeth. The work was well-received by such literary figures as Tennyson, de Vere, Christina Rosetti, and John Ruskin. Shortly thereafter, she met and married Wilfrid Meynell, a journalist and admirer of her work. They had eight children, one of whom died infancy. While raising their family, Meynell continued to write and to assist Wilfrid with the editorial responsibilities of the Weekly Register and Merry England. Subsequent books of her poems included Poems (1893), Later Poems (1902), Collected Poems of Alice Meynell (1913) and the posthumous Last Poems (1923).

Alice Meynell contributed to the Pall Mall Gazette, National Observer, Spectator, and Tablet as a reviewer, critic, essayist, and columnist. An accomplished art critic, she also wrote for the Magazine of Art and Art Journal. She was the author of seven collections of essays, including The Rhythm of Life (1893), and numerous prefaces to works by noted literary figures, including William Blake, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, and William Wordsworth.

Alice Meynell died on November 27, 1922.

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Subjects:

  • Authors, English
  • Authors, English
  • Authors, English
  • Authors, English
  • Authors, Irish
  • English literature
  • English literature
  • Poets, English
  • Journalists
  • Women poets
  • Women authors, English
  • Women authors, English
  • Women authors, English
  • Women authors, English
  • Women authors, English
  • Women poets, English
  • Women poets, English
  • Women poets, English
  • Women poets, English
  • Women poets, English
  • Authors, English
  • Authors, English
  • Authors, English
  • English literature
  • Women authors, English
  • Women authors, English
  • Women authors, English
  • Women authors, English
  • Women poets, English
  • Women poets, English
  • Women poets, English
  • Women poets, English

Occupations:

  • Authors
  • Women poets
  • Women authors, English

Places:

  • England, ENG, GB
  • Christchurch, Hampshire (as recorded)

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