Rachel Butler
Rachel Butler | |
|---|---|
portrait by Edwin Henry Landseer | |
| Born | 1826 |
| Died | 21 February 1898 (aged 71–72) |
| Occupation | Novelist |
| Spouse(s) | James Wandesford Butler |
| Children | 4 |
| Parent(s) | |
Lady Rachel Evelyn Butler (1826 – 21 February 1898) was an English novelist.
She was born Rachel Evelyn Russell in 1826, the daughter of John Russell, 6th Duke of Bedford and Georgiana Russell, Duchess of Bedford. Her mother, a famed patron of the arts, had an affair with the painter Edwin Landseer, twenty one years her junior. Landseer was a frequent visitor to Woburn Abbey and painted portraits of the Russell family members, including Rachel. The affair led to the widespread belief, both among her contemporaries and biographers, that Rachel was actually the daughter of Landseer.[1][2]
In 1856, Rachel Russell married Lord James Wandesford Butler, son of James Butler, 1st Marquess of Ormonde. He was briefly state steward to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland and had a small estate in Drumcondra.[3] They had four children.[4]
Her novel The Prophecy (1862) is a work of historical fiction framed as a document discovered in 1822 about the history of the Butler family in the early 17th century.[3] Of her Scottish Highlands novel Jessie Cameron (1857), George Eliot wrote that it contained "deep feeling, void of sentimentality".[5]
Rachel Butler died on 21 February 1898.[6]
Bibliography
- Jessie Cameron: A Highland Story. 1 vol. Edinburgh: Blackwood, 1857.[7]
- The Prophecy. 2 vol. London: Bentley, 1862.[7]
References
- ^ Trethewey, Rachel (2002). Mistress of the Arts: the Passionate Life of Georgina, Duchess of Bedford. pp. 203–204. ISBN 0 7472 5476.
{{cite book}}: Check|isbn=value: length (help) - ^ "Painted lady of passion". The Scotsman. 2002-07-20. Retrieved 2025-09-16.
- ^ a b Loeber, Rolf (2006). A guide to Irish fiction, 1650-1900. Internet Archive. Dublin ; Portland, Or. : Four Courts. ISBN 978-1-85182-940-8.
- ^ The Peerage and Baronetage of the British Empire as at Present Existing, p. 445
- ^ Haight, Gordon Sherman (1991). George Eliot's originals and contemporaries : essays in Victorian literary history and biography. Internet Archive. Ann Arbor : University of Michigan Press. ISBN 978-0-472-10264-8.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: publisher location (link) - ^ Burke’s Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage (2003), volume 1, page 321.
- ^ a b "Author: Lady Rachel Evelyn Butler". www.victorianresearch.org. Archived from the original on 2025-07-08. Retrieved 2025-09-16.