Hutchinson, Mary, 1889-1977
Variant namesMember of the Bloomsbury group.
From the description of Mary Hutchinson Papers, 1910-1977. (Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center (HRC); University of Texas at Austin). WorldCat record id: 145406393
Born in 1889 to Sir Hugh Barnes and Winifred Strachey Barnes, Mary (Barnes) Hutchinson spent her early childhood in India before being sent to boarding school in England. In 1910 she married a lawyer, St. John Hutchinson, and about the same time her cousin and confidante Lytton Strachey and his friend Duncan Grant introduced her to the Bloomsbury group.
Initially shy in the company of this artistic group of people, Hutchinson soon entered into the spirit of Bloomsbury, becoming a generous hostess and patroness. Surrounded by writers as she was, it is perhaps not surprising that she also took to writing, publishing a single volume of short stories and essays, Fugitive Pieces, in 1927. Hutchinson also became deeply involved in the lives of her friends and, in the manner of the Bloomsbury group, maintained a long term affair with Clive Bell which was not particularly discreet. On the other hand she seems to have maintained a similarly lengthy relationship with Aldous and Marie Huxley, without, it is thought, the knowledge of her husband or Bloomsbury in general. She also provided a great deal of emotional support to T.S. and Vivienne Eliot, helping both of them through their divorce, and remaining in touch with Vivienne as her mental faculties deteriorated.
Hutchinson remained actively involved with the arts throughout her life. Interested in the art and literature of modern France, she was an early supporter of Samuel Beckett and later championed the Royal Shakespeare Company. Even at the age of 70 she was interested in change and new expressions in art, supporting the publication of the avant-garde literary and artistic magazine, X. She died in 1977, survived by her only child, Lord Hutchinson of Lullington.
From the guide to the Mary Hutchinson Papers TXRC98-A20., 1910-1977, (Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center, University of Texas at Austin)
| Role | Title | Holding Repository |
|---|
Filters:
| Place Name | Admin Code | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Great Britain | |||
| England |
| Subject |
|---|
| Bloomsbury group |
| England |
| England, Intellectual life, 20th century |
| Women intellectuals |
| Women intellectuals |
| Occupation |
|---|
| Activity |
|---|
Person
Birth 1889
Death 1977
