orlando_short.xml

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><ORLANDO date="2013-35-01"><ENTRY id="abdyma" standard="Abdy, Maria">
<ORLANDOHEADER TYPE="text" ID="b--abdyma--0--ORLANDOHEADER--1"><FILEDESC><TITLESTMT><DOCTITLE>Maria Abdy: biography</DOCTITLE></TITLESTMT><PUBLICATIONSTMT><AUTHORITY>Orlando Project</AUTHORITY></PUBLICATIONSTMT><SOURCEDESC>Created from original research by members of the Orlando Project</SOURCEDESC></FILEDESC></ORLANDOHEADER><HEADING>Biography</HEADING><STANDARD>Abdy, Maria</STANDARD><DIV1 ID="b--abdyma--0--DIV1--1"><DIV2 ID="b--abdyma--0--DIV2--1"><DATASTRUCT><DATAITEM><BIRTHNAME><GIVEN>Maria</GIVEN><SURNAME>Smith</SURNAME></BIRTHNAME></DATAITEM><DATAITEM><MARRIED WROTEORPUBLISHEDAS="WROTEPUBLISHEDASYES" REG="Abdy, Maria">Abdy</MARRIED></DATAITEM><DATAITEM><PSEUDONYM WROTEORPUBLISHEDAS="WROTEPUBLISHEDASYES" NAMESIGNIFIER="CRYPTIC">M. A.</PSEUDONYM></DATAITEM><DATAITEM><NICKNAME NAMETYPE="FAMILIAR">Mira</NICKNAME></DATAITEM></DATASTRUCT></DIV2></DIV1><DIV1 ID="b--abdyma--0--DIV1--2"><HEADING>Birth</HEADING><DIV2 ID="b--abdyma--0--DIV2--2"><CHRONSTRUCT RELEVANCE="SELECTIVE" CHRONCOLUMN="BRITISHWOMENWRITERS" RESP="MEL" ID="b--abdyma--0--CHRONSTRUCT--1"><DATE CALENDAR="NEWSTYLE" CERTAINTY="CERT" VALUE="1797-02-25">25 February 1797</DATE><CHRONPROSE>Maria Smith (later <NAME STANDARD="Abdy, Maria">MA</NAME>) was born in <PLACE><SETTLEMENT>London</SETTLEMENT><REGION REG="Middlesex"></REGION><GEOG REG="England"></GEOG></PLACE>; <BIRTHPOSITION POSITION="ONLY">she was an only child.</BIRTHPOSITION></CHRONPROSE></CHRONSTRUCT></DIV2></DIV1><DIV1 ID="b--abdyma--0--DIV1--3"><HEADING>Early Years</HEADING><DIV2 ID="b--abdyma--0--DIV2--3"><SHORTPROSE><P ID="b--abdyma--0--P--1">As a member of the <NATIONALITY>English</NATIONALITY> <CLASS SOCIALRANK="PROFESSIONAL">professional</CLASS> classes and an adherent of the established <DENOMINATION><ORGNAME REG="Anglican Church" STANDARD="Anglican Church">Anglican</ORGNAME></DENOMINATION> church, she was <RACECOLOUR>presumably white</RACECOLOUR> and relatively privileged, but little is known of her life. Her mother's family were <DENOMINATION><ORGNAME REG="Dissenters" STANDARD="Dissenters">Dissenters</ORGNAME></DENOMINATION>.</P></SHORTPROSE></DIV2></DIV1><DIV1 ID="b--abdyma--0--DIV1--4"><FAMILY><DIV2 ID="b--abdyma--0--DIV2--4"><SHORTPROSE><P ID="b--abdyma--0--P--2"><NAME STANDARD="Abdy, Maria">MA</NAME>'s mother, <NAME STANDARD="Smith, Maria,, 1773 - 1829">Maria Smith</NAME>, bore this name both before and after her marriage.</P></SHORTPROSE></DIV2><DIV2 ID="b--abdyma--0--DIV2--5"><SHORTPROSE><P ID="b--abdyma--0--P--3"><NAME STANDARD="Smith, Richard">Richard Smith</NAME>, her father, was a <JOB>solicitor</JOB>.</P></SHORTPROSE></DIV2><DIV2 ID="b--abdyma--0--DIV2--6"><SHORTPROSE><P ID="b--abdyma--0--P--4"><NAME STANDARD="Abdy, Maria">MA</NAME>'s maternal uncles, <NAME STANDARD="Smith, James,, 1775 - 1839">James</NAME> and <NAME STANDARD="Smith, Horace">Horace Smith</NAME>, who were influential in her early life, <JOB REG="writer">wrote</JOB> <TITLE TITLETYPE="MONOGRAPHIC" REG="Rejected Addresses; or, The New Theatrum Poetarum">Rejected Addresses</TITLE>, <DATE VALUE="1812--">1812</DATE>.</P></SHORTPROSE></DIV2></FAMILY></DIV1><DIV1 ID="b--abdyma--0--DIV1--5"><DIV2 ID="b--abdyma--0--DIV2--7"><SHORTPROSE><P ID="b--abdyma--0--P--5">She grew up in the area of <PLACE><PLACENAME>Russell Square</PLACENAME><SETTLEMENT REG="London"></SETTLEMENT><REGION REG="Middlesex"></REGION><GEOG REG="England"></GEOG></PLACE>.</P></SHORTPROSE></DIV2></DIV1><DIV1 ID="b--abdyma--0--DIV1--6"><DIV2 ID="b--abdyma--0--DIV2--8"><SHORTPROSE><P ID="b--abdyma--0--P--6">Interested in <SUBJECT>science</SUBJECT>, she was <QUOTE DIRECT="Y">frustrated by how few of its mysteries she could comprehend.</QUOTE></P></SHORTPROSE></DIV2></DIV1><DIV1 ID="b--abdyma--0--DIV1--7"><HEADING>Marriage</HEADING><FAMILY><MEMBER RELATION="HUSBAND"><DIV2 ID="b--abdyma--0--DIV2--9"><CHRONSTRUCT RELEVANCE="COMPREHENSIVE" CHRONCOLUMN="BRITISHWOMENWRITERS" RESP="SIB" ID="b--abdyma--0--CHRONSTRUCT--2"><DATE VALUE="1821--">1821</DATE><CHRONPROSE><NAME STANDARD="Abdy, Maria">Maria Smith</NAME> married <NAME STANDARD="Abdy, the Rev. John Channing">John Channing Abdy</NAME>, the <JOB>rector</JOB> of a <PLACE> <SETTLEMENT CURRENT="London">Southwark</SETTLEMENT><REGION REG="Surrey"></REGION><GEOG REG="England"></GEOG></PLACE> church (variously given as St John's or St George the Martyr's).</CHRONPROSE></CHRONSTRUCT><SHORTPROSE><P ID="b--abdyma--0--P--7"><NAME STANDARD="Abdy, Maria">MA</NAME>'s husband died in <DATE VALUE="1845--">1845</DATE>.</P></SHORTPROSE></DIV2></MEMBER><DIV2 ID="b--abdyma--0--DIV2--10"><SHORTPROSE><P ID="b--abdyma--0--P--8"><CHILDREN NUMBER="1">Their only child, <NAME STANDARD="Abdy, Albert Channing">Albert Channing</NAME>, was born by <DATE VALUE="1829-07-03" CERTAINTY="BY">3 July 1829</DATE>. He grew up to become a <JOB>clergyman</JOB>.</CHILDREN></P></SHORTPROSE></DIV2></FAMILY></DIV1><DIV1 ID="b--abdyma--0--DIV1--8"><HEADING>Death</HEADING><DIV2 ID="b--abdyma--0--DIV2--11"><CHRONSTRUCT RELEVANCE="SELECTIVE" CHRONCOLUMN="BRITISHWOMENWRITERS" RESP="MEL" ID="b--abdyma--0--CHRONSTRUCT--3"><DATE CALENDAR="NEWSTYLE" CERTAINTY="CERT" VALUE="1867-07-19">19 July 1867</DATE><CHRONPROSE><NAME STANDARD="Abdy, Maria">MA</NAME> died at <PLACE><ADDRESS><ADDRLINE>7 Upper Marine Terrace</ADDRLINE></ADDRESS> in <SETTLEMENT>Margate</SETTLEMENT><REGION REG="Kent"></REGION><GEOG REG="England"></GEOG></PLACE>.</CHRONPROSE></CHRONSTRUCT><SHORTPROSE><P ID="b--abdyma--0--P--9">The cause was pronounced <CAUSE><QUOTE DIRECT="N">decay of nature</QUOTE></CAUSE> by the doctor present at her death. She was buried in <PLACE><PLACENAME>St Peter's Churchyard</PLACENAME><SETTLEMENT REG="Broadstairs"></SETTLEMENT>, on the <REGION>Isle of Thanet</REGION><GEOG REG="England"></GEOG></PLACE> in <PLACE><REGION REG="Kent">Kent</REGION><GEOG REG="England"></GEOG></PLACE>.</P></SHORTPROSE></DIV2></DIV1>
<ORLANDOHEADER TYPE="text" ID="w--abdyma--0--ORLANDOHEADER--1"><FILEDESC><TITLESTMT><DOCTITLE>Maria Abdy: writing</DOCTITLE></TITLESTMT><PUBLICATIONSTMT><AUTHORITY>Orlando Project</AUTHORITY></PUBLICATIONSTMT><SOURCEDESC>Based on original research by members of the Orlando Project.</SOURCEDESC></FILEDESC></ORLANDOHEADER><HEADING>Writing</HEADING><STANDARD>Abdy, Maria</STANDARD><AUTHORSUMMARY ID="w--abdyma--0--AUTHORSUMMARY--1"><SHORTPROSE><P ID="w--abdyma--0--P--1"><GENERICRANGE><NAME STANDARD="Abdy, Maria">MA</NAME>, whose work spans the Romantic and Victorian periods, was a <TGENRE GENRENAME="POETRY">poet</TGENRE> who wrote wittily on <TGENRE GENRENAME="RELIGIOUS">religious</TGENRE> and secular topics, and was an early champion of the governess. With <NAME STANDARD="Hemans, Felicia">Felicia Hemans</NAME>, she was the one of the two most prolific British contributors to annuals in the <PLACE><GEOG>USA</GEOG></PLACE>.</GENERICRANGE></P></SHORTPROSE></AUTHORSUMMARY><DIV2 ID="w--abdyma--0--DIV2--1"><PRODUCTION><SHORTPROSE><P ID="w--abdyma--0--P--2"><PFIRSTLITERARYACTIVITY><NAME STANDARD="Abdy, Maria">MA</NAME> was writing rhymes at the age of nine, demonstrating a talent for literature at an early age.</PFIRSTLITERARYACTIVITY></P></SHORTPROSE></PRODUCTION></DIV2><HEADING>Periodicals and Annuals</HEADING><DIV2 ID="w--abdyma--0--DIV2--2"><PRODUCTION><SHORTPROSE><P ID="w--abdyma--0--P--3"><PPERIODICALPUBLICATION><PINFLUENCESHER INFLUENCETYPE="FAMILIAL"><NAME STANDARD="Abdy, Maria">MA</NAME>'s husband, the Reverend <NAME STANDARD="Abdy, the Rev. John Channing">John Channing</NAME>, encouraged her to submit <TGENRE GENRENAME="POETRY">poems</TGENRE> to the <TITLE TITLETYPE="JOURNAL">New Monthly Magazine</TITLE>. <PAUTHORSHIP AUTHORNAMETYPE="ALLUSIVEAUTHORSHIP">These appeared under her initials.</PAUTHORSHIP></PINFLUENCESHER> She also contributed to the <TITLE TITLETYPE="JOURNAL">Metropolitan</TITLE> (edited by <NAME STANDARD="Campbell, Thomas,, 1777 - 1844">Thomas Campbell</NAME>),</PPERIODICALPUBLICATION> <PANTHOLOGIZATION>and her work appeared in a number of <TGENRE GENRENAME="PERIODICAL">annuals</TGENRE>: <TITLE TITLETYPE="JOURNAL">The Keepsake</TITLE> (<DATE VALUE="1835--" CERTAINTY="BY">1835</DATE> and onwards), the <TITLE TITLETYPE="JOURNAL">Literary Souvenir</TITLE>, the <TITLE TITLETYPE="JOURNAL">Forget-Me-Not</TITLE>, <TITLE TITLETYPE="JOURNAL">The Juvenile Forget-Me-Not</TITLE>, <TITLE TITLETYPE="JOURNAL" REG="The Juvenile Forget-Me-Not"><NAME STANDARD="Ackermann, Rudolph">Ackermann</NAME>'s Juvenile Forget-Me-Not</TITLE>. the <TITLE TITLETYPE="JOURNAL" REG="Heath's Book of Beauty">Book of Beauty</TITLE>, <TITLE TITLETYPE="JOURNAL">Friendship's Offering</TITLE>, and <TITLE TITLETYPE="JOURNAL">A New Year's Gift</TITLE>.</PANTHOLOGIZATION></P><P ID="w--abdyma--0--P--4"><TITLE TITLETYPE="ANALYTIC">My Very Particular Friend</TITLE> appeared in the <TITLE TITLETYPE="JOURNAL" REG="The Comic Offering; or, Ladies' Melange of Literary Mirth">Comic Offering</TITLE> of <DATE VALUE="1834--">1834</DATE>.</P></SHORTPROSE></PRODUCTION><RECEPTION><SHORTPROSE><P ID="w--abdyma--0--P--5"><RRESPONSES RESPONSETYPE="RECENT" FORMALITY="FORMAL" GENDEREDRESPONSE="GENDEREDNO">This popular poem is one of <NAME STANDARD="Abdy, Maria">MA</NAME>'s humorous pieces, which according to critic <NAME STANDARD="Feldman, Paula R.">Paula R. Feldman</NAME> were <QUOTE DIRECT="Y">her most imaginative and successful</QUOTE></RRESPONSES><PINFLUENCESHER INFLUENCETYPE="LITERARY"><PINFLUENCESHER INFLUENCETYPE="FAMILIAL"> compositions. Although some of her <TGENRE GENRENAME="DEVOTIONAL"><TGENRE GENRENAME="RELIGIOUS">devotional verse</TGENRE></TGENRE> has been viewed as monotonous, her <TGENRE GENRENAME="SKETCH">comic pieces</TGENRE> were <QUOTE DIRECT="Y">witty</QUOTE> and <QUOTE DIRECT="Y">perceptive</QUOTE>, and were possibly influenced by the writing style of her uncles, <NAME STANDARD="Smith, James,, 1775 - 1839">James</NAME> and <NAME STANDARD="Smith, Horace">Horace Smith</NAME>.</PINFLUENCESHER></PINFLUENCESHER></P></SHORTPROSE></RECEPTION></DIV2><HEADING><TITLE TITLETYPE="MONOGRAPHIC" REG="Maria Abdy, Poetry, 1834-1862">Poetry</TITLE></HEADING><DIV2 ID="w--abdyma--0--DIV2--3"><TEXTSCOPE DBREF="101006" PLACEHOLDER="MA, Poetry, 1834-1862"></TEXTSCOPE><PRODUCTION><CHRONSTRUCT RESP="SIB" CHRONCOLUMN="BRITISHWOMENWRITERS" RELEVANCE="SELECTIVE" ID="w--abdyma--0--CHRONSTRUCT--1"><DATE CALENDAR="NEWSTYLE" VALUE="1834--" CERTAINTY="CERT">1834</DATE><CHRONPROSE><PMODEOFPUBLICATION PUBLICATIONMODE="PRIVATELYPRINTED"><PAUTHORSHIP AUTHORNAMETYPE="ALLUSIVEAUTHORSHIP"><RBESTKNOWNWORK><NAME STANDARD="Abdy, Maria">MA</NAME>, as <SOCALLED>Mrs. Abdy</SOCALLED>, printed for private circulation the first volume in her eight-volume series <TITLE TITLETYPE="MONOGRAPHIC" REG="Maria Abdy, Poetry, 1834-1862">Poetry</TITLE>.</RBESTKNOWNWORK></PAUTHORSHIP></PMODEOFPUBLICATION></CHRONPROSE></CHRONSTRUCT><SHORTPROSE><P ID="w--abdyma--0--P--6"><PMODEOFPUBLICATION PUBLICATIONMODE="PRIVATELYPRINTED"><PEDITIONS>Between <DATERANGE CERTAINTY="ROUGHLYDATED" FROM="1838--" TO="1862--">1838 and 1862</DATERANGE> seven more volumes were privately printed, under the same title.</PEDITIONS></PMODEOFPUBLICATION> <PARCHIVALLOCATION>The <ORGNAME STANDARD="British Library">British Library</ORGNAME> has two editions which include personal notes to friends.</PARCHIVALLOCATION></P></SHORTPROSE></PRODUCTION><RECEPTION><SHORTPROSE><P ID="w--abdyma--0--P--7"><RRESPONSES RESPONSETYPE="INITIAL" FORMALITY="FORMAL" GENDEREDRESPONSE="GENDEREDNO">In the late nineteenth century <NAME STANDARD="Abdy, Maria">MA</NAME>'s <TGENRE GENRENAME="POETRY">poems</TGENRE> were praised <QUOTE DIRECT="Y">for their religious spirit and grace of style.</QUOTE></RRESPONSES><RRESPONSES RESPONSETYPE="RECENT" FORMALITY="FORMAL" GENDEREDRESPONSE="GENDEREDYES">More recently the <TITLE TITLETYPE="MONOGRAPHIC" REG="The Feminist Companion to Literature in English: Women Writers from the Middle Ages to the Present">Feminist Companion</TITLE> found them <QUOTE DIRECT="Y">witty and sharply observant</QUOTE> with <QUOTE DIRECT="Y">an intriguing strain of distinct but very gentle feminism.</QUOTE></RRESPONSES></P></SHORTPROSE></RECEPTION><TEXTUALFEATURES><SHORTPROSE><P ID="w--abdyma--0--P--8">In <TITLE TITLETYPE="ANALYTIC">The Poetess</TITLE> she writes, <QUOTE DIRECT="Y"><L>Methought the votive crowd's assiduous duty</L><L>Surpassed the homage paid alone to <TTHEMETOPIC>Beauty</TTHEMETOPIC>:</L><L>I learned the cause—her high and gifted lays</L><L>Had won the public ear, the public praise.</L></QUOTE></P><P ID="w--abdyma--0--P--9">A later poem, <TITLE TITLETYPE="ANALYTIC">The Dream of the Poetess</TITLE>, addresses similar themes. <TTONESTYLE><TITLE TITLETYPE="ANALYTIC">A Match of Affection</TITLE> and <TITLE TITLETYPE="ANALYTIC">The Chaperon's Complaint</TITLE> take up the <TTHEMETOPIC>marriage market</TTHEMETOPIC> issue in an ironic tone.</TTONESTYLE> <TPLOT><TITLE TITLETYPE="ANALYTIC">A <TCHARACTERTYPEROLE><TTHEMETOPIC>Governess</TTHEMETOPIC></TCHARACTERTYPEROLE> Wanted</TITLE> is a satirical poem in which a sister describes to her brother the heroic qualifications expected for the job:</TPLOT><QUOTE DIRECT="Y"><L>She must point out each author's chief beauties,</L><L>She must manage dull natures with skill,</L><L>Her pleasures must lie in her duties,</L><L>She must never be nervous or ill!</L></QUOTE></P></SHORTPROSE></TEXTUALFEATURES></DIV2><HEADING>A Prize</HEADING><DIV2 ID="w--abdyma--0--DIV2--4"><PRODUCTION><CHRONSTRUCT RESP="SIB" CHRONCOLUMN="BRITISHWOMENWRITERS" RELEVANCE="SELECTIVE" ID="w--abdyma--0--CHRONSTRUCT--2"><DATE VALUE="1856--" CERTAINTY="BY">1856</DATE><CHRONPROSE><RRECOGNITIONS><NAME STANDARD="Abdy, Maria">MA</NAME> produced a prize-winning <TGENRE GENRENAME="POETRY">poem</TGENRE>, <TITLE TITLETYPE="ANALYTIC">An Appeal on Behalf of Governesses</TITLE>.</RRECOGNITIONS></CHRONPROSE></CHRONSTRUCT><SHORTPROSE><P ID="w--abdyma--0--P--10">The prize was given for the best poem on the <TTHEMETOPIC>plight of governesses</TTHEMETOPIC>. Although apparently her longest poem, her entry does not appear in any of the eight volumes of her series <TITLE TITLETYPE="MONOGRAPHIC" REG="Maria Abdy, Poetry, 1834-1862">Poetry</TITLE>. <PMOTIVES>Other poems in the series attest to <NAME STANDARD="Abdy, Maria">MA</NAME>'s desire to further the cause of the oppressed.</PMOTIVES> <TITLE TITLETYPE="ANALYTIC">The Writer of the People</TITLE> (<DATE VALUE="1858--">1858</DATE>) pronounces: <QUOTE DIRECT="Y"><L>A glorious privilege to thee belongs;</L><L>Tis thine, with wise and vigilant inspection</L><L>To guard the People's rights, to scan their wrongs,</L><L>And urge their claims to justice and protection.</L></QUOTE></P></SHORTPROSE></PRODUCTION></DIV2><HEADING>Re-evaluation</HEADING><DIV2 ID="w--abdyma--0--DIV2--5"><PRODUCTION><SHORTPROSE><P ID="w--abdyma--0--P--11"><PMANUSCRIPTHISTORY><NAME STANDARD="Abdy, Maria">MA</NAME>'s books and papers were inherited by her son, <NAME STANDARD="Abdy, Albert Channing">Albert Channing</NAME>.</PMANUSCRIPTHISTORY></P></SHORTPROSE></PRODUCTION><RECEPTION><SHORTPROSE><P ID="w--abdyma--0--P--12"><RRESPONSES RESPONSETYPE="RE-EVALUATION" FORMALITY="FORMAL"><PANTHOLOGIZATION>After a century of neglect, several of her pieces have recently been included in late-twentieth-century anthologies of <PLITERARYSCHOOLS>Romantic</PLITERARYSCHOOLS> poets.</PANTHOLOGIZATION></RRESPONSES></P></SHORTPROSE></RECEPTION></DIV2>
</ENTRY><ENTRY id="aberfr" standard="Abergavenny, Frances Neville,,, Baroness">
<ORLANDOHEADER TYPE="text" ID="b--aberfr--0--ORLANDOHEADER--1"><FILEDESC><TITLESTMT><DOCTITLE>Frances Neville, Baroness Abergavenny: biography</DOCTITLE></TITLESTMT><PUBLICATIONSTMT><AUTHORITY>Orlando Project</AUTHORITY></PUBLICATIONSTMT><SOURCEDESC>Created from original research by members of the Orlando Project</SOURCEDESC></FILEDESC></ORLANDOHEADER><HEADING>Biography</HEADING><STANDARD>Abergavenny, Frances Neville,,, Baroness</STANDARD><DIV1 ID="b--aberfr--0--DIV1--1"><DIV2 ID="b--aberfr--0--DIV2--1"><DATASTRUCT><DATAITEM><BIRTHNAME><GIVEN>Frances</GIVEN><SURNAME>Manners</SURNAME></BIRTHNAME></DATAITEM><DATAITEM><MARRIED WROTEORPUBLISHEDAS="WROTEPUBLISHEDASYES" REG="Abergavenny, Frances Neville,,, Baroness">Nevill or Neville</MARRIED> <TITLED WROTEORPUBLISHEDAS="WROTEPUBLISHEDASYES" REG="Abergavenny, Frances Neville,,, Baroness">Baroness Abergavenny</TITLED><SCHOLARNOTE ID="b--aberfr--0--SCHOLARNOTE--1"><P ID="b--aberfr--0--P--1">Her married name is sometimes spelled Neville.</P></SCHOLARNOTE></DATAITEM></DATASTRUCT></DIV2></DIV1><DIV1 ID="b--aberfr--0--DIV1--2"><HEADING>Birth and Family</HEADING><DIV2 ID="b--aberfr--0--DIV2--2"><SHORTPROSE><P ID="b--aberfr--0--P--2">The birthdate of Frances Manners (later <NAME STANDARD="Abergavenny, Frances Neville,,, Baroness">FNBA</NAME>) is unknown; it was probably before <DATE VALUE="1540--" CERTAINTY="BY">1540</DATE>.</P></SHORTPROSE></DIV2></DIV1><DIV1 ID="b--aberfr--0--DIV1--3"><DIV2 ID="b--aberfr--0--DIV2--3"><SHORTPROSE><P ID="b--aberfr--0--P--3"><NAME STANDARD="Abergavenny, Frances Neville,,, Baroness">FNBA</NAME> belonged to the <NATIONALHERITAGE>English</NATIONALHERITAGE> <CLASS SOCIALRANK="NOBILITY">upper class</CLASS>.<RACECOLOUR REG="white"></RACECOLOUR></P></SHORTPROSE></DIV2></DIV1><DIV1 ID="b--aberfr--0--DIV1--4"><FAMILY><DIV2 ID="b--aberfr--0--DIV2--4"><SHORTPROSE><P ID="b--aberfr--0--P--4">Her mother was Eleanor (Paston) Manners, Countess of Rutland.</P></SHORTPROSE></DIV2><DIV2 ID="b--aberfr--0--DIV2--5"><SHORTPROSE><P ID="b--aberfr--0--P--5"><NAME STANDARD="Abergavenny, Frances Neville,,, Baroness">FNBA</NAME>'s father, <NAME STANDARD="Rutland, Thomas Manners,,, third Earl of">Thomas Manners</NAME>, third Earl of Rutland, was one of the peers who tried <NAME STANDARD="Anne,, second queen of Henry VIII">Anne Boleyn</NAME> for treason.<SCHOLARNOTE ID="b--aberfr--0--SCHOLARNOTE--2"><P ID="b--aberfr--0--P--6"><NAME STANDARD="Walpole, Horace">Horace Walpole</NAME> was wrong in calling <NAME STANDARD="Abergavenny, Frances Neville,,, Baroness">FNBA</NAME>'s aunt, <NAME STANDARD="Bergavenny, Joan,,, Lady">Joan, Lady Bergavenny</NAME>, an author.</P></SCHOLARNOTE></P></SHORTPROSE></DIV2></FAMILY></DIV1><DIV1 ID="b--aberfr--0--DIV1--5"><FAMILY><MEMBER RELATION="HUSBAND"><DIV2 ID="b--aberfr--0--DIV2--6"><CHRONSTRUCT RELEVANCE="COMPREHENSIVE" CHRONCOLUMN="BRITISHWOMENWRITERS" RESP="SYS" ID="b--aberfr--0--CHRONSTRUCT--1"><DATE VALUE="1556--" CERTAINTY="BY">1556</DATE><CHRONPROSE><NAME STANDARD="Abergavenny, Frances Neville,,, Baroness">Frances Manners</NAME> married <NAME STANDARD="Abergavenny, Henry Neville,,, fourth Baron">Henry Nevill</NAME>, Baron Abergavenny, by this date.</CHRONPROSE></CHRONSTRUCT><SHORTPROSE><P ID="b--aberfr--0--P--7">Her husband was one of those who tried <NAME STANDARD="Mary,, Queen of Scots">Mary Queen of Scots</NAME>.</P></SHORTPROSE></DIV2></MEMBER><DIV2 ID="b--aberfr--0--DIV2--7"><SHORTPROSE><P ID="b--aberfr--0--P--8"><CHILDREN NUMBER="1"><NAME STANDARD="Abergavenny, Frances Neville,,, Baroness">FNBA</NAME> had one daughter, <NAME STANDARD="Fane, Mary">Mary (Nevill) Fane</NAME>, to whom she entrusted her collection of prayers.</CHILDREN></P></SHORTPROSE></DIV2></FAMILY></DIV1><DIV1 ID="b--aberfr--0--DIV1--6"><HEADING>Death</HEADING><DIV2 ID="b--aberfr--0--DIV2--8"><CHRONSTRUCT RELEVANCE="SELECTIVE" CHRONCOLUMN="BRITISHWOMENWRITERS" RESP="JEB" ID="b--aberfr--0--CHRONSTRUCT--2"><DATE VALUE="1576--">1576</DATE><CHRONPROSE><NAME STANDARD="Abergavenny, Frances Neville,,, Baroness">Frances Neville, Baroness Abergavenny</NAME>, died, having entrusted her collection of prayers to her <NAME STANDARD="Fane, Mary">daughter</NAME> on her deathbed.</CHRONPROSE></CHRONSTRUCT></DIV2></DIV1>
<ORLANDOHEADER TYPE="text" ID="w--aberfr--0--ORLANDOHEADER--1"><FILEDESC><TITLESTMT><DOCTITLE>Frances Neville, Baroness Abergavenny: writing</DOCTITLE></TITLESTMT><PUBLICATIONSTMT><AUTHORITY>Orlando Project</AUTHORITY></PUBLICATIONSTMT><SOURCEDESC>Based on original research by members of the Orlando Project.</SOURCEDESC></FILEDESC></ORLANDOHEADER><HEADING>Writing</HEADING><STANDARD>Abergavenny, Frances Neville,,, Baroness</STANDARD><AUTHORSUMMARY ID="w--aberfr--0--AUTHORSUMMARY--1"><SHORTPROSE><P ID="w--aberfr--0--P--1"><NAME STANDARD="Abergavenny, Frances Neville,,, Baroness">FNBA</NAME> seems to have both collected and composed <TGENRE GENRENAME="RELIGIOUS"><TGENRE GENRENAME="PRAYER"><TGENRE GENRENAME="DEVOTIONAL"><TGENRE GENRENAME="RELIGIOUS">devotional</TGENRE></TGENRE> writings</TGENRE></TGENRE> during the sixteenth century: a very early date.</P></SHORTPROSE></AUTHORSUMMARY><HEADING>A Collection of Prayers</HEADING><DIV2 ID="w--aberfr--0--DIV2--1"><HEADING><TITLE TITLETYPE="ANALYTIC">The Praiers made by the right Honourable Ladie Frances Aburgavennie</TITLE></HEADING><TEXTSCOPE DBREF="103539" PLACEHOLDER="FNBA, The Praiers made by the right Honourable Ladie Frances Aburgavennie, 1582"></TEXTSCOPE><PRODUCTION><SHORTPROSE><P ID="w--aberfr--0--P--2"><PMANUSCRIPTHISTORY><PATTITUDES><PAUTHORSHIP AUTHORNAMETYPE="ANONYMOUS"><NAME STANDARD="Abergavenny, Frances Neville,,, Baroness">FNBA</NAME> highly valued her collection of <TGENRE GENRENAME="PRAYER"><TGENRE GENRENAME="RELIGIOUS">prayers</TGENRE></TGENRE>, mostly in prose. They were apparently composed by herself,</PAUTHORSHIP> <PCIRCULATION><PMOTIVES MOTIVETYPE="SELF-IDENTIFIED">since she entrusted them to her only <NAME STANDARD="Fane, Mary">daughter</NAME> on her deathbed <QUOTE DIRECT="Y">as a Jewell of health for the soule.</QUOTE></PMOTIVES></PCIRCULATION></PATTITUDES></PMANUSCRIPTHISTORY></P></SHORTPROSE></PRODUCTION><TEXTUALFEATURES><SHORTPROSE><P ID="w--aberfr--0--P--3"><TINTERTEXTUALITY INTERTEXTTYPE="ALLUSIONACKNOWLEDGED" GENDEROFAUTHOR="MALE">The collection draws on the <TITLE TITLETYPE="ANALYTIC" REG="Bible" REND="normal">Psalms</TITLE>.</TINTERTEXTUALITY> It comprises <TGENRE GENRENAME="PRAYER"><TGENRE GENRENAME="RELIGIOUS">prayer</TGENRE></TGENRE>s, mainly in prose, some of them lengthy, for every occasion of life, including <TMOTIF MOTIFNAME="childbirth">childbirth</TMOTIF>. According to <NAME STANDARD="Felch, Susan M.">Susan M. Felch</NAME> (writing about the devotional collection made at about the same date by <NAME STANDARD="Tyrwhit, Elizabeth Oxenbridge,,, Lady">Elizabeth, Lady Tyrwhit</NAME>) the popular private <TGENRE GENRENAME="PRAYER"><TGENRE GENRENAME="RELIGIOUS">prayer-book</TGENRE></TGENRE> genre is a significant index of the way that ordinary believers created a living blend out of disparate and even warring religious traditions. <TTECHNIQUES TECHNIQUETYPE="IMAGERY">Lady Abergavenny says <TTHEMETOPIC>women's labour pains</TTHEMETOPIC> are <QUOTE DIRECT="Y">the rod of [God's] correction</QUOTE>,</TTECHNIQUES> but that it is <TTHEMETOPIC>Christ's mercy</TTHEMETOPIC> which produces women's delivery. Her collection ends with an <TGENRE GENRENAME="ACROSTIC"><TGENRE GENRENAME="POETRY">acrostic</TGENRE></TGENRE> on <TTHEMETOPIC>her own name</TTHEMETOPIC>, and one in <TGENRE GENRENAME="POETRY">verse</TGENRE> on her daughter's.</P></SHORTPROSE></TEXTUALFEATURES><RECEPTION><SHORTPROSE><P ID="w--aberfr--0--P--4"><PANTHOLOGIZATION>Her prayers became publicly known: <NAME STANDARD="Bentley, Thomas">Thomas Bentley</NAME> printed them in his <TITLE TITLETYPE="MONOGRAPHIC" REG="The Monument of Matrones">Monument of Matrones</TITLE> in <DATE VALUE="1582--">1582</DATE> under the title <TITLE TITLETYPE="ANALYTIC" REG="The Praiers made by the right Honourable Ladie Frances Aburgavennie">The Praiers made by the right Honourable Ladie Frances Aburgavennie, and committed at the houre of hir death, to the right Worshipfull Ladie Marie Fane (hir onlie daughter) as a Jewell of health for the soule, and a perfect path to Paradise, verie profitable to be used of everie faithfull Christian man and woman</TITLE>.</PANTHOLOGIZATION> <RRESPONSES RESPONSETYPE="RE-EVALUATION" FORMALITY="FORMAL"><NAME STANDARD="Walpole, Horace">Horace Walpole</NAME> meant to honour her in his <TITLE TITLETYPE="MONOGRAPHIC" REG="A Catalogue of the Royal and Noble Authors of England, with lists of their works">Catalogue of Royal and Noble Authors of England</TITLE> in <DATE VALUE="1758--">1758</DATE>, though he confused her with her aunt <NAME STANDARD="Bergavenny, Joan,,, Lady">Joan, Lady Bergavenny</NAME>.</RRESPONSES></P></SHORTPROSE></RECEPTION></DIV2>
</ENTRY><ENTRY id="acklva" standard="Ackland, Valentine">
<ORLANDOHEADER TYPE="text" ID="b--acklva--0--ORLANDOHEADER--1"><FILEDESC><TITLESTMT><DOCTITLE>Valentine Ackland: biography</DOCTITLE></TITLESTMT><PUBLICATIONSTMT><AUTHORITY>Orlando Project</AUTHORITY></PUBLICATIONSTMT><SOURCEDESC>Created from original research by members of the Orlando Project</SOURCEDESC></FILEDESC></ORLANDOHEADER><HEADING>Biography</HEADING><STANDARD>Ackland, Valentine</STANDARD><DIV1 ID="b--acklva--0--DIV1--1"><DIV2 ID="b--acklva--0--DIV2--1"><DATASTRUCT><DATAITEM> <BIRTHNAME WROTEORPUBLISHEDAS="WROTEPUBLISHEDASYES" REG="Ackland, Mary Kathleen McCrory"><GIVEN>Mary</GIVEN><GIVEN>Kathleen</GIVEN><GIVEN>McCrory</GIVEN><SURNAME>Ackland</SURNAME></BIRTHNAME></DATAITEM><DATAITEM><PSEUDONYM WROTEORPUBLISHEDAS="WROTEPUBLISHEDASYES">Valentine Ackland</PSEUDONYM><SCHOLARNOTE ID="b--acklva--0--SCHOLARNOTE--1"><P ID="b--acklva--0--P--1"><NAME STANDARD="Ackland, Valentine">VA</NAME> renamed herself when she became serious about being a poet. From about 1930, she used the androgynous name of Valentine Ackland, partly as a pen-name and partly as a disguise appropriate to the lesbian identity that she had adopted by this time.</P></SCHOLARNOTE></DATAITEM><DATAITEM><MARRIED>Turpin</MARRIED></DATAITEM><DATAITEM><NICKNAME NAMETYPE="FAMILIAR">Molly</NICKNAME><SCHOLARNOTE ID="b--acklva--0--SCHOLARNOTE--2"><P ID="b--acklva--0--P--2"><NAME STANDARD="Ackland, Valentine">VA</NAME> was called Molly by family and friends until her mid-twenties.</P></SCHOLARNOTE></DATAITEM></DATASTRUCT></DIV2></DIV1><DIV1 ID="b--acklva--0--DIV1--2"><HEADING>Birth and Influences</HEADING><DIV2 ID="b--acklva--0--DIV2--2"><CHRONSTRUCT RELEVANCE="SELECTIVE" CHRONCOLUMN="BRITISHWOMENWRITERS" RESP="SYS" ID="b--acklva--0--CHRONSTRUCT--1"><DATE VALUE="1906-05-20">20 May 1906</DATE><CHRONPROSE>Mary Kathleen McCrory Ackland (later <NAME STANDARD="Ackland, Valentine">VA</NAME>) was born at <PLACE><ADDRESS><ADDRLINE>54 Brook Street</ADDRLINE></ADDRESS> in <SETTLEMENT>London</SETTLEMENT><REGION REG="Middlesex"></REGION><GEOG REG="England"></GEOG></PLACE>.</CHRONPROSE></CHRONSTRUCT><SHORTPROSE><P ID="b--acklva--0--P--3"><BIRTHPOSITION POSITION="YOUNGEST">She was the younger of her parents' two daughters.</BIRTHPOSITION></P></SHORTPROSE></DIV2></DIV1><DIV1 ID="b--acklva--0--DIV1--3"></DIV1><DIV1 ID="b--acklva--0--DIV1--4"><DIV2 ID="b--acklva--0--DIV2--3"><SHORTPROSE><P ID="b--acklva--0--P--4">She was born into a wealthy, <CLASS SOCIALRANK="PROFESSIONAL">upper-middle-class</CLASS> <NATIONALITY>English</NATIONALITY> family. Her childhood in <PLACE><SETTLEMENT>London</SETTLEMENT><REGION REG="Middlesex"></REGION><GEOG REG="England"></GEOG></PLACE> was fashionable, with riding in <PLACE><PLACENAME>Rotten Row</PLACENAME><SETTLEMENT REG="London"></SETTLEMENT><REGION REG="Middlesex"></REGION><GEOG REG="England"></GEOG></PLACE> and shopping at <ORGNAME STANDARD="Selfridge's Ltd">Selfridge's</ORGNAME> department store opposite the family house in <PLACE><ADDRESS><ADDRLINE>Brook Street</ADDRLINE></ADDRESS><SETTLEMENT REG="London"></SETTLEMENT><REGION REG="Middlesex"></REGION><GEOG REG="England"></GEOG></PLACE>. She wore such clothes as a white velvet coat with a beaver-edged collar and a tricorne velvet and beaver hat. When she was seventeen, she enjoyed a <SOCALLED>London season</SOCALLED>. In this world, according to Ackland, <QUOTE DIRECT="Y">it was fashionable to commit extravagances and follies,</QUOTE> and she committed them, despite the fact that she was extremely shy. Unfortunately she began to overcome her shyness by drinking, and eventually developed a serious drinking problem.</P></SHORTPROSE><CHRONSTRUCT RELEVANCE="COMPREHENSIVE" CHRONCOLUMN="BRITISHWOMENWRITERS" RESP="SYS" ID="b--acklva--0--CHRONSTRUCT--2"><DATE VALUE="1923-05-">May 1923</DATE><CHRONPROSE>Mary Ackland (later <NAME STANDARD="Ackland, Valentine">VA</NAME>) was given a <SOCALLED>coming-out</SOCALLED> dance in <PLACE><SETTLEMENT>London</SETTLEMENT>'s<REGION REG="Middlesex"></REGION><GEOG REG="England"></GEOG></PLACE> <ORGNAME REG="Savoy Hotel" STANDARD="Savoy Hotel">Savoy Ballroom</ORGNAME>.</CHRONPROSE></CHRONSTRUCT></DIV2><DIV2 ID="b--acklva--0--DIV2--4"><SHORTPROSE><P ID="b--acklva--0--P--5">As a child, <NAME STANDARD="Ackland, Valentine">VA</NAME> was a fervent <DENOMINATION SELF-DEFINED="SELFYES">Anglo-Catholic</DENOMINATION>, following her mother's example. Later in life she became a <DENOMINATION SELF-DEFINED="SELFYES" REG="Roman Catholic"><ORGNAME REG="Roman Catholic Church" STANDARD="Roman Catholic Church">Roman Catholic</ORGNAME></DENOMINATION>, struggled with her Catholicism, and eventually became a <DENOMINATION SELF-DEFINED="SELFYES" REG="Quaker"><ORGNAME REG="Quakers" STANDARD="Society of Friends">Quaker</ORGNAME></DENOMINATION>.</P></SHORTPROSE></DIV2><DIV2 ID="b--acklva--0--DIV2--5"><SHORTPROSE><P ID="b--acklva--0--P--6"><NAME STANDARD="Ackland, Valentine">VA</NAME> engaged in many <SEXUALIDENTITY SELF-DEFINED="SELFYES">lesbian</SEXUALIDENTITY> relationships in her life. She states: <QUOTE DIRECT="Y">I was naturally more inclined to love women than men.</QUOTE> She also had <SEXUALIDENTITY REG="heterosexual">brief sexual relationships with men</SEXUALIDENTITY> during her youth, as well as an unconsummated marriage of short duration.</P></SHORTPROSE></DIV2></DIV1><DIV1 ID="b--acklva--0--DIV1--5"><DIV2 ID="b--acklva--0--DIV2--6"><SHORTPROSE><P ID="b--acklva--0--P--7">During <NAME STANDARD="Ackland, Valentine">VA</NAME>'s childhood, she lived alternately in the fashionable heart of <PLACE><SETTLEMENT>London</SETTLEMENT><REGION REG="Middlesex"></REGION><GEOG REG="England"></GEOG></PLACE> and at the family's holiday house at <PLACE><SETTLEMENT>Winterton</SETTLEMENT> in <REGION>Norfolk</REGION><GEOG REG="England"></GEOG></PLACE>. The Norfolk community of fishermen and their families seemed like home to her, and she considered Norfolk her spiritual home all her life.</P></SHORTPROSE></DIV2></DIV1><DIV1 ID="b--acklva--0--DIV1--6"><HEADING>Family</HEADING><FAMILY><DIV2 ID="b--acklva--0--DIV2--7"><HEADING>Mother</HEADING><SHORTPROSE><P ID="b--acklva--0--P--8"><NAME STANDARD="Ackland, Valentine">VA</NAME>'s mother, <NAME STANDARD="Ackland, Ruth">Ruth Ackland</NAME>, was a tireless High Anglican, given to organising the neighbourhood and the village in <SIGNIFICANTACTIVITY PHILANTHROPYVOLUNTEER="PHILANTHROPYVOLUNTEERYES">charitable causes</SIGNIFICANTACTIVITY>. But alongside this formidable communty involvement, she remained uninvolved in her younger daughter's life, and indeed largely ignored her.</P></SHORTPROSE></DIV2><DIV2 ID="b--acklva--0--DIV2--8"><HEADING>Father</HEADING><SHORTPROSE><P ID="b--acklva--0--P--9"><NAME STANDARD="Ackland, Valentine">VA</NAME>'s father, <NAME STANDARD="Ackland, Robert Craig">Robert Craig Ackland</NAME>, was a successful West End <JOB>dentist</JOB>. Relations between him and Mary (later Valentine) broke down in her teenage years when she had a relationship with one of the young women at her school in Paris. He brought her home and sent her to domestic science college in Eastbourne as a punishment. Shortly thereafter he died suddenly of cancer, having never forgiven her.</P></SHORTPROSE></DIV2></FAMILY></DIV1><DIV1 ID="b--acklva--0--DIV1--7"><HEADING>Education, Relationships with Women</HEADING><DIV2 ID="b--acklva--0--DIV2--9"><HEADING>London</HEADING><SHORTPROSE><P ID="b--acklva--0--P--10">Until the age of sixteen, <NAME STANDARD="Ackland, Valentine">VA</NAME> was educated at <ORGNAME REG="Queen's College,, London" STANDARD="Queen's College,, London"><SCHOOL INSTITUTION="PRIVATE" STUDENTBODY="SINGLESEX" INSTITUTIONLEVEL="SECONDARY" REG="Queen's College,, London">Queen's College</SCHOOL></ORGNAME> in <PLACE><ADDRESS><ADDRLINE>Harley Street</ADDRLINE></ADDRESS>, <SETTLEMENT>London</SETTLEMENT><REGION REG="Middlesex"></REGION><GEOG REG="England"></GEOG></PLACE>, which she likened to a convent and described as <QUOTE DIRECT="Y">a most expensive public school for young ladies.</QUOTE> In addition to regular lessons, she took extra lessons in <SUBJECT>riding</SUBJECT>, <SUBJECT>violin</SUBJECT>, and <SUBJECT>swimming</SUBJECT>.</P></SHORTPROSE></DIV2></DIV1><DIV1 ID="b--acklva--0--DIV1--8"><DIV2 ID="b--acklva--0--DIV2--10"><CHRONSTRUCT RELEVANCE="COMPREHENSIVE" CHRONCOLUMN="BRITISHWOMENWRITERS" RESP="SYS" ID="b--acklva--0--CHRONSTRUCT--3"><DATERANGE CERTAINTY="C" FROM="1919-12-20" TO="1920-05-" EXACT="TO">Between late 1919 and mid 1920</DATERANGE><CHRONPROSE>On a visit to <PLACE><GEOG>Italy</GEOG></PLACE> with her parents, Mary Ackland (later <NAME STANDARD="Ackland, Valentine">VA</NAME>) fell in love for the first time in her life, with a young woman.</CHRONPROSE></CHRONSTRUCT></DIV2></DIV1><DIV1 ID="b--acklva--0--DIV1--9"><DIV2 ID="b--acklva--0--DIV2--11"><HEADING>Paris</HEADING><CHRONSTRUCT RELEVANCE="COMPREHENSIVE" CHRONCOLUMN="BRITISHWOMENWRITERS" RESP="SYS" ID="b--acklva--0--CHRONSTRUCT--4"><DATE VALUE="1922-05-" CERTAINTY="BY">Early 1922</DATE><CHRONPROSE>Mary Ackland (later <NAME STANDARD="Ackland, Valentine">VA</NAME>) was sent to <PLACE><SETTLEMENT>Paris</SETTLEMENT><GEOG REG="France"></GEOG></PLACE> to live with three middle-aged sisters, the Mademoiselles de Rigny, for further education.</CHRONPROSE></CHRONSTRUCT></DIV2></DIV1><DIV1 ID="b--acklva--0--DIV1--10"><DIV2 ID="b--acklva--0--DIV2--12"><CHRONSTRUCT RELEVANCE="COMPREHENSIVE" CHRONCOLUMN="BRITISHWOMENWRITERS" RESP="SYS" ID="b--acklva--0--CHRONSTRUCT--5"><DATE VALUE="1922-05-">May 1922</DATE><CHRONPROSE>In <PLACE><SETTLEMENT>Paris</SETTLEMENT><GEOG REG="France"></GEOG></PLACE> Mary Ackland (later <NAME STANDARD="Ackland, Valentine">VA</NAME>) fell in love again, this time with Lana, a fellow student there.</CHRONPROSE></CHRONSTRUCT><SHORTPROSE><P ID="b--acklva--0--P--11">Her father was horrified and angry at their love, calling it <QUOTE DIRECT="Y">filthy</QUOTE> and <QUOTE DIRECT="Y">unnatural</QUOTE>. Mary was told that she would go blind and mad as a result of her <SOCALLED>unnaturalness</SOCALLED>.</P></SHORTPROSE></DIV2></DIV1><DIV1 ID="b--acklva--0--DIV1--11"><DIV2 ID="b--acklva--0--DIV2--13"><CHRONSTRUCT RELEVANCE="COMPREHENSIVE" CHRONCOLUMN="BRITISHWOMENWRITERS" RESP="SYS" ID="b--acklva--0--CHRONSTRUCT--6"><DATE VALUE="1922-05-" CERTAINTY="AFTER">Later 1922</DATE><CHRONPROSE><CONTESTEDBEHAVIOUR>The father of Mary Ackland (later <NAME STANDARD="Ackland, Valentine">VA</NAME>), disgusted by her relationship with a fellow pupil in Paris, sent her to a <SCHOOL INSTITUTIONLEVEL="POST-SECONDARY">Domestic Training College</SCHOOL> at <PLACE><SETTLEMENT>Eastbourne</SETTLEMENT><REGION REG="Sussex"></REGION><GEOG REG="England"></GEOG></PLACE> to learn <SUBJECT>Domestic Economy</SUBJECT>.</CONTESTEDBEHAVIOUR></CHRONPROSE></CHRONSTRUCT><SHORTPROSE><P ID="b--acklva--0--P--12">She felt completely out of place and only stayed a few weeks. No one from her social class attended the school, and the other students had no interest in the <SUBJECT>literature</SUBJECT>, <SUBJECT>painting</SUBJECT>, and <SUBJECT>music</SUBJECT> which she had been studying up to that point.</P></SHORTPROSE></DIV2></DIV1><DIV1 ID="b--acklva--0--DIV1--12"><DIV2 ID="b--acklva--0--DIV2--14"><CHRONSTRUCT RELEVANCE="COMPREHENSIVE" CHRONCOLUMN="BRITISHWOMENWRITERS" RESP="SYS" ID="b--acklva--0--CHRONSTRUCT--7"><DATERANGE FROM="1924--" TO="1930-10-" EXACT="FROM">1924-1930</DATERANGE><CHRONPROSE>Mary Ackland (later <NAME STANDARD="Ackland, Valentine">VA</NAME>) carried on a lesbian relationship with <NAME STANDARD="Foster, Bo">Bo Foster</NAME>, a wealthy young speaker for the Conservative Party, with whom she fell in love at eighteen.</CHRONPROSE></CHRONSTRUCT><SHORTPROSE><P ID="b--acklva--0--P--13"><NAME STANDARD="Ackland, Valentine">VA</NAME> calls Foster <SOCALLED>X</SOCALLED> in her autobiography. They remained lovers during Ackland's marriage, and their relationship lasted until she fell in love with <NAME STANDARD="Warner, Sylvia Townsend">Sylvia Townsend Warner</NAME>.</P></SHORTPROSE></DIV2></DIV1><DIV1 ID="b--acklva--0--DIV1--13"><HEADING>Brief Married Life</HEADING><FAMILY><MEMBER RELATION="HUSBAND"><DIV2 ID="b--acklva--0--DIV2--15"><CHRONSTRUCT RELEVANCE="COMPREHENSIVE" CHRONCOLUMN="BRITISHWOMENWRITERS" RESP="SYS" ID="b--acklva--0--CHRONSTRUCT--8"><DATE VALUE="1925-07-09">9 July 1925</DATE><CHRONPROSE>Mary Ackland (later <NAME STANDARD="Ackland, Valentine">VA</NAME>) married <NAME STANDARD="Turpin, Richard">Richard Turpin</NAME> at the <PLACE><SETTLEMENT CURRENT="London" REG="City of Westminster">Westminster</SETTLEMENT><REGION REG="Middlesex"></REGION><GEOG REG="England"></GEOG></PLACE> Registrar's Office, London.</CHRONPROSE></CHRONSTRUCT><SHORTPROSE><P ID="b--acklva--0--P--14">The marriage was never consummated, and was annulled a few years later. Turpin was a <JOB>dealer in stamps</JOB> who later became a <JOB>novelist</JOB>.</P></SHORTPROSE></DIV2></MEMBER></FAMILY></DIV1><DIV1 ID="b--acklva--0--DIV1--14"><CULTURALFORMATION><DIV2 ID="b--acklva--0--DIV2--16"><HEADING>Catholic Conversion</HEADING><CHRONSTRUCT RELEVANCE="COMPREHENSIVE" CHRONCOLUMN="BRITISHWOMENWRITERS" RESP="SYS" ID="b--acklva--0--CHRONSTRUCT--9"><DATE VALUE="1925-07-17">17 July 1925</DATE><CHRONPROSE>Mary Ackland (later <NAME STANDARD="Ackland, Valentine">VA</NAME>) was received (with her new husband, <NAME STANDARD="Turpin, Richard">Richard Turpin</NAME>) into the <DENOMINATION SELF-DEFINED="SELFYES" REG="Roman Catholic"><ORGNAME REG="Roman Catholic Church" STANDARD="Roman Catholic Church">Catholic</ORGNAME></DENOMINATION> Church.</CHRONPROSE></CHRONSTRUCT><SHORTPROSE><P ID="b--acklva--0--P--15">Thanks to the encouragement of <NAME STANDARD="Foster, Bo">Bo Foster</NAME> (who was her lover at the time), <NAME STANDARD="Ackland, Valentine">VA</NAME> had been taking Catholic instruction. She was troubled about how to reconcile the Catholic sacrament of Confession with her lesbian relationship, but Foster's and her own reasoning (that God would not blame their love) prevailed. Gradually, however, VA lapsed from her faith.</P></SHORTPROSE></DIV2></CULTURALFORMATION></DIV1><DIV1 ID="b--acklva--0--DIV1--15"><FAMILY><MEMBER RELATION="HUSBAND"><DIV2 ID="b--acklva--0--DIV2--17"><SHORTPROSE><P ID="b--acklva--0--P--16">Having been received into the Catholic Church, Ackland and <NAME STANDARD="Turpin, Richard">Turpin</NAME> were re-married at <PLACE><PLACENAME>Westminster Cathedral</PLACENAME><SETTLEMENT REG="London"></SETTLEMENT><REGION REG="Middlesex"></REGION><GEOG REG="England"></GEOG></PLACE> eight days after their civil marriage at the Westminster Registrar's Office. She wore a white dress and a nun-like coif for her head to cover the fact that she had had her hair <SOCALLED>Eton-cropped</SOCALLED> the morning of the wedding. The short haircut made her look extremely boyish and shocked the assembled guests, much to her delight.</P><P ID="b--acklva--0--P--17">From the beginning, the marriage was not a happy one. Ackland was in a lesbian relationship (with Foster) at the time, and Turpin had enjoyed homosexual relationships. After an early dinner on their wedding day, the newlyweds drove to a nursing home, where Turpin had a minor operation the next morning, and stayed in hospital for a week. Later they were unable to consummate the marriage, since Ackland found sexual intercourse too painful.</P></SHORTPROSE></DIV2></MEMBER></FAMILY></DIV1><DIV1 ID="b--acklva--0--DIV1--16"><DIV2 ID="b--acklva--0--DIV2--18"><SHORTPROSE><P ID="b--acklva--0--P--18">Because of the pain she experienced in attempting penetrative intercourse with her husband, <NAME STANDARD="Ackland, Valentine">VA</NAME> then had an operation to have her hymen stretched, which she found humiliating. After the operation, she decided that she did not wish to return to Turpin.</P></SHORTPROSE></DIV2></DIV1><DIV1 ID="b--acklva--0--DIV1--17"><DIV2 ID="b--acklva--0--DIV2--19"><HEADING>Pregnancy</HEADING><CHRONSTRUCT RELEVANCE="COMPREHENSIVE" CHRONCOLUMN="BRITISHWOMENWRITERS" RESP="SYS" ID="b--acklva--0--CHRONSTRUCT--10"><DATE VALUE="1926-12-26" CERTAINTY="C">Late December 1926</DATE><CHRONPROSE>Mary Turpin (later <NAME STANDARD="Ackland, Valentine">VA</NAME>) discovered during her brief marriage that she was pregnant as a result of an even briefer extra-marital affair; the pregnancy produced much turmoil, but ended in miscarriage.</CHRONPROSE></CHRONSTRUCT><SHORTPROSE><P ID="b--acklva--0--P--19">Early the next year, still pregnant, she suggested to her husband that he should agree to a divorce. Initially he resisted this and offered instead to accept her illegitimate child as his own if she would return to him. She refused this offer, and eventually persuaded him to adopt her plans. Pursuing a divorce for non-consummation, she underwent a medical examination so cursory that the doctor failed to realise that she was pregnant. This careless examination, coupled with the testimony of the doctor who performed the operation on her hymen and with her own false testimony, persuaded the Catholic Church to grant an annulment of her marriage on the grounds that she was <SOCALLED>virgo intacta</SOCALLED>.</P></SHORTPROSE></DIV2></DIV1><DIV1 ID="b--acklva--0--DIV1--18"><DIV2 ID="b--acklva--0--DIV2--20"><SHORTPROSE><P ID="b--acklva--0--P--20"><NAME STANDARD="Ackland, Valentine">VA</NAME> was deeply disappointed when this pregnancy ended in miscarriage.</P></SHORTPROSE></DIV2></DIV1><DIV1 ID="b--acklva--0--DIV1--19"><HEADING>Friendships</HEADING><DIV2 ID="b--acklva--0--DIV2--21"><SHORTPROSE><P ID="b--acklva--0--P--21">After she left her husband, <NAME STANDARD="Ackland, Valentine">VA</NAME> spent a good deal of time at <PLACE><SETTLEMENT>Chaldon</SETTLEMENT> in <REGION>Dorset</REGION><GEOG REG="England"></GEOG></PLACE>. There, she was able to write and join a supportive community of artistic friends, including <NAME STANDARD="Powys, T. F.">Theodore Powys</NAME> and his wife <NAME STANDARD="Powys, Violet">Violet</NAME>, <NAME STANDARD="Powys, Llewelyn">Llewelyn Powys</NAME> and his wife <NAME STANDARD="Gregory, Alyse">Alyse Gregory</NAME>, Philippa Powys, <NAME STANDARD="Muntz, Betty">Betty Muntz</NAME>, and <NAME STANDARD="Tomlin, Stephen">Stephen Tomlin</NAME>, among many others. She numbered among her friends the artists <NAME STANDARD="John, Augustus">Augustus John</NAME> and <NAME STANDARD="Gill, Eric">Eric Gill</NAME>.</P></SHORTPROSE></DIV2></DIV1><DIV1 ID="b--acklva--0--DIV1--20"><HEADING>Sylvia Townsend Warner</HEADING><DIV2 ID="b--acklva--0--DIV2--22"><CHRONSTRUCT RELEVANCE="COMPREHENSIVE" CHRONCOLUMN="BRITISHWOMENWRITERS" RESP="IMG" ID="b--acklva--0--CHRONSTRUCT--11"><DATE VALUE="1931-01-12">12 January 1931</DATE><CHRONPROSE><NAME STANDARD="Ackland, Valentine">VA</NAME> and <NAME STANDARD="Warner, Sylvia Townsend">Sylvia Townsend Warner</NAME> committed themselves to each other in a <SEXUALIDENTITY SELF-DEFINED="SELFYES">lesbian</SEXUALIDENTITY> <SOCALLED>marriage</SOCALLED>.</CHRONPROSE></CHRONSTRUCT><SHORTPROSE><P ID="b--acklva--0--P--22">Their relationship had begun on <DATE VALUE="1930-10-11">11 October 1930</DATE>, soon after they first met, at <PLACE><SETTLEMENT>Chaldon</SETTLEMENT> in <REGION>Dorset</REGION><GEOG REG="England"></GEOG></PLACE>. Warner remained true to Ackland, despite the latter's infidelities, until Ackland's death.</P></SHORTPROSE></DIV2></DIV1><DIV1 ID="b--acklva--0--DIV1--21"><DIV2 ID="b--acklva--0--DIV2--23"><HEADING>Country Life</HEADING><CHRONSTRUCT RELEVANCE="COMPREHENSIVE" CHRONCOLUMN="BRITISHWOMENWRITERS" RESP="SYS" ID="b--acklva--0--CHRONSTRUCT--12"><DATERANGE CERTAINTY="C" FROM="1930-10-11" TO="1933--" EXACT="FROM">Late 1930 to 1933</DATERANGE><CHRONPROSE><NAME STANDARD="Ackland, Valentine">VA</NAME> and <NAME STANDARD="Warner, Sylvia Townsend">Sylvia Townsend Warner</NAME> lived in <PLACE><PLACENAME>Miss Green's cottage</PLACENAME> at <SETTLEMENT CURRENT="East Chaldon">Chaldon Herring</SETTLEMENT><REGION REG="Dorset"></REGION><GEOG REG="England"></GEOG></PLACE>.</CHRONPROSE></CHRONSTRUCT><SHORTPROSE><P ID="b--acklva--0--P--23">In 1933 they moved to <PLACE><PLACENAME>Frankfort Manor</PLACENAME> in <REGION>Norfolk</REGION><GEOG REG="England"></GEOG></PLACE>, partly because <NAME STANDARD="Ackland, Valentine">VA</NAME>'s mother lived close by in Winterton. However, they became disenchanted with the amount of work and money needed to keep up the large property. VA's alcoholism was also a problem, as was her mother's proximity. In <DATE VALUE="1935--">1935</DATE> they moved back to Chaldon, to live in a primitive stone cottage known as <PLACE><ADDRESS><ADDRLINE>24 West Chaldon</ADDRLINE></ADDRESS><SETTLEMENT REG="Chaldon"></SETTLEMENT><REGION REG="Dorset"></REGION><GEOG REG="England"></GEOG></PLACE>.</P><P ID="b--acklva--0--P--24">In <DATE VALUE="1937--">1937</DATE>, Ackland and <NAME STANDARD="Warner, Sylvia Townsend">Warner</NAME> moved to <PLACE><SETTLEMENT>Lower Frome Vauchurch</SETTLEMENT><REGION REG="Dorset"></REGION><GEOG REG="England"></GEOG></PLACE> on the river Frome, near <PLACE><SETTLEMENT>Maiden Newton</SETTLEMENT><REGION REG="Dorset"></REGION><GEOG REG="England"></GEOG></PLACE>, where they lived for the rest of their lives. Early in the Second World War, <DATERANGE FROM="1940-04-" TO="1940-11-" EXACT="BOTH">from April to November 1940</DATERANGE>, they moved to <PLACE><SETTLEMENT>Winterton</SETTLEMENT> in <REGION>Norfolk</REGION><GEOG REG="England"></GEOG></PLACE> to look after Ackland's mother, who was alone.</P></SHORTPROSE></DIV2></DIV1><DIV1 ID="b--acklva--0--DIV1--22"><DIV2 ID="b--acklva--0--DIV2--24"><HEADING>Elizabeth Wade White</HEADING><CHRONSTRUCT RELEVANCE="COMPREHENSIVE" CHRONCOLUMN="BRITISHWOMENWRITERS" RESP="SYS" ID="b--acklva--0--CHRONSTRUCT--13"><DATE VALUE="1938-11-">November 1938</DATE><CHRONPROSE><NAME STANDARD="Ackland, Valentine">VA</NAME> began an intimate relationship with <NAME STANDARD="White, Elizabeth Wade">Elizabeth Wade White</NAME>, a young American friend of both Ackland and <NAME STANDARD="Warner, Sylvia Townsend">Sylvia Townsend Warner</NAME>.</CHRONPROSE></CHRONSTRUCT><KEYWORDCLASS KEYWORDTYPE="Spanish Civil War">Politics</KEYWORDCLASS><SHORTPROSE><P ID="b--acklva--0--P--25">The three women had done political work together during the Spanish Civil War. <NAME STANDARD="Ackland, Valentine">VA</NAME>'s relationship with <NAME STANDARD="Warner, Sylvia Townsend">Sylvia Townsend Warner</NAME> became increasingly strained as a result of this affair with White, which continued for more than ten years.</P></SHORTPROSE><CHRONSTRUCT RELEVANCE="COMPREHENSIVE" CHRONCOLUMN="BRITISHWOMENWRITERS" RESP="SYS" ID="b--acklva--0--CHRONSTRUCT--14"><DATERANGE FROM="1949-08-31" TO="1949-09-29" EXACT="BOTH">31 August-29 September 1949</DATERANGE><CHRONPROSE><LIVESWITH><NAME STANDARD="Ackland, Valentine">VA</NAME> lived with her lover, <NAME STANDARD="White, Elizabeth Wade">Elizabeth Wade White</NAME>, in the same house that Ackland had shared with <NAME STANDARD="Warner, Sylvia Townsend">Sylvia Townsend Warner</NAME> for many years at <PLACE><SETTLEMENT>Lower Frome Vauchurch</SETTLEMENT><REGION REG="Dorset"></REGION><GEOG REG="England"></GEOG></PLACE>.</LIVESWITH></CHRONPROSE></CHRONSTRUCT><SHORTPROSE><P ID="b--acklva--0--P--26"><NAME STANDARD="Warner, Sylvia Townsend">Sylvia Townsend Warner</NAME>, who had originally bought the house, wished not to pressure <NAME STANDARD="Ackland, Valentine">VA</NAME>, but to allow her the freedom to choose whom she preferred as a partner. She moved out to live in lodgings nearby, rejecting VA's suggestion that they should all live as a threesome. At this point Ackland, realising that Warner's love and support were critical to her, ended her relationship with White, who went home to her partner in America. Although the experiment only lasted a month, the resulting disruption to the relationship between Warner and Ackland lasted much longer.</P><P ID="b--acklva--0--P--27">Despite these and other difficulties, <NAME STANDARD="Ackland, Valentine">VA</NAME> and Warner celebrated the thirty-seventh anniversary of their <SOCALLED>marriage</SOCALLED> on <DATE VALUE="1968-01-12">12 January 1968</DATE>, shortly before <NAME STANDARD="Ackland, Valentine">VA</NAME> became terminally ill.</P></SHORTPROSE></DIV2></DIV1><DIV1 ID="b--acklva--0--DIV1--23"><HEADING>Politics</HEADING><DIV2 ID="b--acklva--0--DIV2--25"><HEADING>Peace Activism and Communism</HEADING><SHORTPROSE><P ID="b--acklva--0--P--28">Although there was no tradition of political involvement in either of their family backgrounds, <NAME STANDARD="Ackland, Valentine">VA</NAME> and Warner became politically active during the 1930s because of events in Europe. In particular, they became convinced of the need for a <ORGNAME STANDARD="Popular Front">Popular Front</ORGNAME> in Britain. Ackland, who was shy, was far less outspoken and argumentative politically than Warner, but she too was regarded in Wessex as a top <POLITICALAFFILIATION ACTIVISM="ACTIVISTYES">Communist Party</POLITICALAFFILIATION> activist.</P></SHORTPROSE><CHRONSTRUCT RELEVANCE="COMPREHENSIVE" CHRONCOLUMN="BRITISHWOMENWRITERS" RESP="SYS" ID="b--acklva--0--CHRONSTRUCT--15"><DATE VALUE="1935--">1935</DATE><CHRONPROSE><NAME STANDARD="Ackland, Valentine">VA</NAME> and <NAME STANDARD="Warner, Sylvia Townsend">Warner</NAME> joined the <ORGNAME STANDARD="Communist Party">Communist Party</ORGNAME>, believing, like many of their contemporaries, that <POLITICALAFFILIATION ACTIVISM="ACTIVISTYES" WOMAN-GENDERISSUE="GENDERNO" MEMBERSHIP="MEMBERSHIPYES">Communism</POLITICALAFFILIATION> offered the best or only defence against encroaching Fascism.</CHRONPROSE></CHRONSTRUCT><SHORTPROSE><P ID="b--acklva--0--P--29">They were involved as Communist Party members in a daily struggle for social change until they left for the United States in 1939. They began compiling a scrapbook of the political struggles in Europe and Britain, and sold the <TITLE TITLETYPE="JOURNAL">Daily Worker</TITLE> at an enormous peace rally at <PLACE><SETTLEMENT>Dorchester</SETTLEMENT><REGION REG="Dorset"></REGION><GEOG REG="England"></GEOG></PLACE>. They struggled to convince the agricultural workers of <PLACE><REGION>Dorset</REGION><GEOG REG="England"></GEOG></PLACE> to emerge from deference to the interfering gentry and instead take command of their own social lives. Among Popular Front projects, <NAME STANDARD="Ackland, Valentine">VA</NAME> began a book-lending scheme designed to initiate readers gradually into <POLITICALAFFILIATION ACTIVISM="ACTIVISTYES" WOMAN-GENDERISSUE="GENDERNO">Socialism</POLITICALAFFILIATION>.</P><P ID="b--acklva--0--P--30">With Warner, Ackland was a member of publisher <NAME STANDARD="Gollancz, Victor">Victor Gollancz</NAME>'s <ORGNAME STANDARD="Left Book Club">Left Book Club</ORGNAME>. Her connection with the <TITLE TITLETYPE="JOURNAL">Left Review</TITLE> brought her into contact with intellectuals such as <NAME STANDARD="Rickword, Edgell">Edgell Rickword</NAME> and his wife <NAME STANDARD="Rickword, Johnnie">Johnnie</NAME>, <NAME STANDARD="Lipton, Julius">Julius Lipton</NAME> and his wife <NAME STANDARD="Lipton, Queenie">Queenie</NAME>, <NAME STANDARD="Lindsay, Jack">Jack Lindsay</NAME>, <NAME STANDARD="Wintringham, Tom">Tom Wintringham</NAME>, and <NAME STANDARD="Slater, Montagu">Montagu Slater</NAME>.</P></SHORTPROSE></DIV2><DIV2 ID="b--acklva--0--DIV2--26"><HEADING>Spanish Civil War</HEADING><SHORTPROSE><P ID="b--acklva--0--P--31"><NAME STANDARD="Ackland, Valentine">VA</NAME> and Warner were involved in the Spanish Civil War from its outset. They travelled to <PLACE><SETTLEMENT>Barcelona</SETTLEMENT><REGION REG="Catalonia"></REGION><GEOG REG="Spain"></GEOG></PLACE> as first-aid volunteers in <DATE VALUE="1936-09-30" CERTAINTY="BY">late September 1936</DATE> in response to an article written by <NAME STANDARD="Cunard, Nancy">Nancy Cunard</NAME> in the <TITLE TITLETYPE="JOURNAL">Daily Worker</TITLE>, and were attached for three weeks to the <ORGNAME STANDARD="Primera Unidad Sanitaria Britanica">Primera Unidad Sanitaria Britanica</ORGNAME> and the <ORGNAME STANDARD="Primera Ambulancia Inglesa en Espana">Primera Ambulancia Inglesa en Espana</ORGNAME>. After they returned to England, they worked on countless Aid-Spain committees, and Ackland, in particular, longed to return to Spain.<KEYWORDCLASS KEYWORDTYPE="Red Cross volunteers">Spanish Civil War</KEYWORDCLASS> A year later, <NAME STANDARD="Ackland, Valentine">VA</NAME> and Warner made a second visit to <PLACE><GEOG>Spain</GEOG></PLACE>, attending the Second Congress of the <ORGNAME STANDARD="International Association of Writers for the Defence of Culture">International Association of Writers for the Defence of Culture</ORGNAME>, held in <PLACE><SETTLEMENT>Madrid</SETTLEMENT><GEOG REG="Spain"></GEOG></PLACE>.</P><P ID="b--acklva--0--P--32"><NAME STANDARD="Spender, Stephen">Stephen Spender</NAME>'s later autobiography incorporates a <QUOTE DIRECT="Y">vitriolic personal attack</QUOTE> on both women and their work in Spain. Such unthinking heterosexism and homophobia is (says biographer <NAME STANDARD="Mulford, Wendy">Wendy Mulford</NAME>) an index of attitudes prevailing among <QUOTE DIRECT="Y">privileged left-wing intellectuals</QUOTE> of the day in Britain, even highly-educated people convinced of their own progressiveness. at the time. Spanish Republicans, on the other hand, had no problem welcoming and accepting the two women as intellectual comrades. Ackland's and Warner's peace work continued until <DATE VALUE="1939-05-">May 1939</DATE>, when they sailed to the United States.</P></SHORTPROSE></DIV2></DIV1><DIV1 ID="b--acklva--0--DIV1--24"><HEADING>Travel and Holidays</HEADING><DIV2 ID="b--acklva--0--DIV2--27"><SHORTPROSE><P ID="b--acklva--0--P--33"><NAME STANDARD="Warner, Sylvia Townsend">Sylvia Townsend Warner</NAME> and Ackland travelled together to <PLACE><SETTLEMENT REG="New York City">New York</SETTLEMENT><REGION REG="New York"></REGION><GEOG REG="USA"></GEOG></PLACE> in <DATE VALUE="1939-05-">May 1939</DATE> to attend the <ORGNAME STANDARD="Third Congress of American Writers">Third Congress of American Writers</ORGNAME>. Their postwar holidays included trips to <PLACE><GEOG>Italy</GEOG></PLACE> in February 1949, and to <PLACE><REGION REG="Clare">County Clare</REGION> in <GEOG>Ireland</GEOG></PLACE> (where they almost bought a house) and the <PLACE><REGION>Auvergne</REGION> in <GEOG>France</GEOG></PLACE> in 1950. That winter, November to March 1951, they rented <PLACE><PLACENAME>Great Eye Folly</PLACENAME> at <SETTLEMENT>Salthouse</SETTLEMENT> on the <REGION REG="Norfolk">North Norfolk coast</REGION><GEOG REG="England"></GEOG></PLACE>. In 1966 and 1967, they took their last two sea-air-and-salt-water holidays to <PLACE><GEOG>Scotland</GEOG></PLACE>. Despite Ackland's breast cancer (diagnosed early in 1968) and her mastectomy, they went on a trip to see Clough and <NAME STANDARD="Williams-Ellis, Amabel">Amabel Williams-Ellis</NAME> in <PLACE><SETTLEMENT>Portmeirion</SETTLEMENT><REGION REG="Merioneth"></REGION>, <GEOG REG="Wales">North Wales</GEOG></PLACE> in September 1968.</P></SHORTPROSE></DIV2></DIV1><DIV1 ID="b--acklva--0--DIV1--25"><HEADING>A Health Victory</HEADING><DIV2 ID="b--acklva--0--DIV2--28"><CHRONSTRUCT RELEVANCE="COMPREHENSIVE" CHRONCOLUMN="BRITISHWOMENWRITERS" RESP="SYS" ID="b--acklva--0--CHRONSTRUCT--16"><DATE VALUE="1947-10-08">8 October 1947</DATE><CHRONPROSE><NAME STANDARD="Ackland, Valentine">VA</NAME> experienced what she called a <QUOTE DIRECT="Y">crisis</QUOTE>, which enabled her, over time, to conquer her addiction to alcohol.</CHRONPROSE></CHRONSTRUCT><SHORTPROSE><P ID="b--acklva--0--P--34">She had been unsuccessfully seeking medical help and struggling to free herself of her nineteen-year-old alcohol addiction.</P></SHORTPROSE></DIV2></DIV1><DIV1 ID="b--acklva--0--DIV1--26"><HEADING>Antique Shop</HEADING><DIV2 ID="b--acklva--0--DIV2--29"><CHRONSTRUCT RELEVANCE="COMPREHENSIVE" CHRONCOLUMN="BRITISHWOMENWRITERS" RESP="SYS" ID="b--acklva--0--CHRONSTRUCT--17"><DATE VALUE="1952--">1952</DATE><CHRONPROSE><NAME STANDARD="Ackland, Valentine">VA</NAME> <JOB CURRENTALTERNATIVETERM="self-employed" REG="antique dealer">opened an antique shop</JOB> in <PLACE><SETTLEMENT>Lower Frome Vauchurch</SETTLEMENT><REGION REG="Dorset"></REGION><GEOG REG="England"></GEOG></PLACE>, where she lived with <NAME STANDARD="Warner, Sylvia Townsend">Sylvia Townsend Warner</NAME>.</CHRONPROSE></CHRONSTRUCT><SHORTPROSE><P ID="b--acklva--0--P--35"><NAME STANDARD="Ackland, Valentine">VA</NAME> established her shop in a room known in the village as the <SOCALLED>Long Room</SOCALLED>. She built up a good reputation for customer service and a successful <JOB>mail-order business</JOB>, mostly with the <PLACE><GEOG REG="USA">United States</GEOG></PLACE>. By <DATE VALUE="1966-05-">May 1966</DATE> she felt too ill to carry on the business except as an agency to supply particular items to customers. Warner closed the shop after Ackland died.</P></SHORTPROSE></DIV2></DIV1><DIV1 ID="b--acklva--0--DIV1--27"><HEADING>Religious Struggles</HEADING><CULTURALFORMATION><DIV2 ID="b--acklva--0--DIV2--30"><CHRONSTRUCT RELEVANCE="COMPREHENSIVE" CHRONCOLUMN="BRITISHWOMENWRITERS" RESP="SYS" ID="b--acklva--0--CHRONSTRUCT--18"><DATERANGE FROM="1951--" TO="1958--" EXACT="BOTH">1951-1958</DATERANGE><CHRONPROSE>During these years, <NAME STANDARD="Ackland, Valentine">VA</NAME> was attempting to find her way back to some kind of religious faith.</CHRONPROSE></CHRONSTRUCT><SHORTPROSE><P ID="b--acklva--0--P--36">The issues of religion and politics caused great unhappiness between Ackland and her lifelong partner, <NAME STANDARD="Warner, Sylvia Townsend">Sylvia Townsend Warner</NAME>, almost destroying their relationship. Ackland became increasingly <POLITICALAFFILIATION INVOLVEMENT="INVOLVEMENTYES" REG="Liberal">right-wing</POLITICALAFFILIATION>, and their political views diverged sharply.</P></SHORTPROSE><CHRONSTRUCT RELEVANCE="COMPREHENSIVE" CHRONCOLUMN="BRITISHWOMENWRITERS" RESP="SYS" ID="b--acklva--0--CHRONSTRUCT--19"><DATE VALUE="1961-07-17">17 July 1961</DATE><CHRONPROSE><NAME STANDARD="Ackland, Valentine">VA</NAME> was received back into the <DENOMINATION SELF-DEFINED="SELFYES" REG="Roman Catholic"><ORGNAME REG="Roman Catholic Church" STANDARD="Roman Catholic Church">Catholic</ORGNAME></DENOMINATION> Church on the anniversary of her first reception into it.</CHRONPROSE></CHRONSTRUCT><SHORTPROSE><P ID="b--acklva--0--P--37">A few years later, however, she left again, disenchanted with the liberalising changes in the Church effected by the <ORGNAME STANDARD="Second Vatican Council">Second Vatican Council</ORGNAME> (convened on <DATE VALUE="1962-10-11">11 October 1962</DATE>).</P></SHORTPROSE><CHRONSTRUCT RELEVANCE="COMPREHENSIVE" CHRONCOLUMN="BRITISHWOMENWRITERS" RESP="SYS" ID="b--acklva--0--CHRONSTRUCT--20"><DATE VALUE="1969-09-11">11 September 1969</DATE><CHRONPROSE><NAME STANDARD="Ackland, Valentine">VA</NAME> was accepted as a member of the <ORGNAME STANDARD="Society of Friends">Society of Friends</ORGNAME>; she remained a <DENOMINATION SELF-DEFINED="SELFYES" REG="Quaker"><ORGNAME REG="Quakers" STANDARD="Society of Friends">Quaker</ORGNAME></DENOMINATION> during the remaining two months of her life.</CHRONPROSE></CHRONSTRUCT><SHORTPROSE><P ID="b--acklva--0--P--38"><NAME STANDARD="Ackland, Valentine">VA</NAME> was reacting to her own personal doubts: her inability to deal with what she felt to be the Anglicanisation of the Catholic Mass, and her disbelief in the concept of one true Church. She felt that the Quaker philosophy matched her current way of thinking. Warner, relieved that Ackland was no longer a Catholic, went with her to Quaker meetings; they found it comforting to attend together.</P></SHORTPROSE></DIV2></CULTURALFORMATION></DIV1><DIV1 ID="b--acklva--0--DIV1--28"><DIV2 ID="b--acklva--0--DIV2--31"><HEADING>Political Divergence</HEADING><SHORTPROSE><P ID="b--acklva--0--P--39">Late in <NAME STANDARD="Ackland, Valentine">VA</NAME>'s life, during the period of her reconversion to Catholicism, her political views diverged significantly from Warner's. Ackland became increasingly right-wing and anti-Communist, and, during the 1960s, complained about the Labour government.</P></SHORTPROSE><CHRONSTRUCT RELEVANCE="COMPREHENSIVE" CHRONCOLUMN="BRITISHWOMENWRITERS" RESP="SYS" ID="b--acklva--0--CHRONSTRUCT--21"><DATE VALUE="1966-03-31">End of March 1966</DATE><CHRONPROSE><NAME STANDARD="Ackland, Valentine">VA</NAME> voted <POLITICALAFFILIATION INVOLVEMENT="INVOLVEMENTYES">Liberal</POLITICALAFFILIATION> (against <NAME STANDARD="Wilson, Harold">Harold Wilson</NAME>'s Labour government) in the general election, a departure from socialism which pained <NAME STANDARD="Warner, Sylvia Townsend">Warner</NAME> considerably.</CHRONPROSE></CHRONSTRUCT></DIV2></DIV1><DIV1 ID="b--acklva--0--DIV1--29"><HEADING>Health Problems</HEADING><DIV2 ID="b--acklva--0--DIV2--32"><SHORTPROSE><P ID="b--acklva--0--P--40">In the 1950's <NAME STANDARD="Ackland, Valentine">VA</NAME> suffered pains in her breast, which were mistakenly diagnosed as cancer. Later she suffered a thyroid condition, and, in <DATE VALUE="1960-03-">March 1960</DATE>, was found to have temporal arthritis. This was treated with cortisone, a special diet, and rest. In <DATE VALUE="1963-02-">February 1963</DATE> she was diagnosed with high blood pressure, and, two months later, <DATE VALUE="1963-04-">in April</DATE>, was admitted to hospital to receive anticoagulation treatments and tests for tuberculosis of the pericardium.</P></SHORTPROSE><CHRONSTRUCT RELEVANCE="COMPREHENSIVE" CHRONCOLUMN="BRITISHWOMENWRITERS" RESP="SYS" ID="b--acklva--0--CHRONSTRUCT--22"><DATE VALUE="1966-06-">June 1966</DATE><CHRONPROSE><NAME STANDARD="Ackland, Valentine">VA</NAME> suffered a car crash, which undermined her confidence to the point that often she felt unable to drive.</CHRONPROSE></CHRONSTRUCT><CHRONSTRUCT RELEVANCE="COMPREHENSIVE" CHRONCOLUMN="BRITISHWOMENWRITERS" RESP="SYS" ID="b--acklva--0--CHRONSTRUCT--23"><DATE VALUE="1968-03-06">6 March 1968</DATE><CHRONPROSE><NAME STANDARD="Ackland, Valentine">VA</NAME> was diagnosed as having cancer in her left breast.</CHRONPROSE></CHRONSTRUCT><SHORTPROSE><P ID="b--acklva--0--P--41">An operation was carried out by Sir Hedley Atkins, President of the Royal College of Surgeons, on <DATE VALUE="1968-04-10">April 10th</DATE> to remove the cancerous lump, at the Nuffield Ward of <ORGNAME STANDARD="Guy's Hospital">Guy's Hospital</ORGNAME> in <PLACE><SETTLEMENT>London</SETTLEMENT><REGION REG="Middlesex"></REGION><GEOG REG="England"></GEOG></PLACE>. A mastectomy followed in <DATE VALUE="1968-12-">December</DATE>. The cancer, however, spread to Ackland's lungs. She was nursed at home until she died, less than a year after the mastectomy.</P></SHORTPROSE></DIV2></DIV1><DIV1 ID="b--acklva--0--DIV1--30"><HEADING>Death</HEADING><DIV2 ID="b--acklva--0--DIV2--33"><CHRONSTRUCT RELEVANCE="SELECTIVE" CHRONCOLUMN="BRITISHWOMENWRITERS" RESP="SYS" ID="b--acklva--0--CHRONSTRUCT--24"><DATE VALUE="1969-11-09">9 November 1969</DATE><CHRONPROSE><NAME STANDARD="Ackland, Valentine">VA</NAME> died of <CAUSE REG="cancer">cancer of the lungs (metastasised breast cancer)</CAUSE> at her home at <PLACE><SETTLEMENT>Frome Vauchurch</SETTLEMENT> in <REGION>Dorset</REGION><GEOG REG="England"></GEOG></PLACE>.</CHRONPROSE></CHRONSTRUCT><SHORTPROSE><P ID="b--acklva--0--P--42"><NAME STANDARD="Ackland, Valentine">VA</NAME> and Sylvia Townsend Warner are buried together in the churchyard of the <PLACE><PLACENAME>East Chaldon Church</PLACENAME><SETTLEMENT REG="Chaldon"></SETTLEMENT><REGION REG="Dorset"></REGION><GEOG REG="England"></GEOG></PLACE>. The stone reads <FOREIGN REG="I shall not altogether die" LANG="la"><QUOTE DIRECT="Y">Non omnis moriar</QUOTE></FOREIGN>, an epitaph that <NAME STANDARD="Ackland, Valentine">VA</NAME> chose.<SCHOLARNOTE ID="b--acklva--0--SCHOLARNOTE--3"><P ID="b--acklva--0--P--43">The Latin phrase is taken from <NAME STANDARD="Horace">Horace</NAME> (<TITLE TITLETYPE="MONOGRAPHIC">Odes</TITLE> III 30, 6). It forms the opening words of a claim to immortality for the poet, which translates into English: <QUOTE DIRECT="Y">I shall not altogether die; a great part of me will escape Libitina (death).</QUOTE></P></SCHOLARNOTE></P></SHORTPROSE></DIV2></DIV1>
<ORLANDOHEADER TYPE="text" ID="w--acklva--0--ORLANDOHEADER--1"><FILEDESC><TITLESTMT><DOCTITLE>Valentine Ackland: writing</DOCTITLE></TITLESTMT><PUBLICATIONSTMT><AUTHORITY>Orlando Project</AUTHORITY></PUBLICATIONSTMT><SOURCEDESC>Based on original research by members of the Orlando Project.</SOURCEDESC></FILEDESC></ORLANDOHEADER><HEADING>Writing</HEADING><STANDARD>Ackland, Valentine</STANDARD><AUTHORSUMMARY ID="w--acklva--0--AUTHORSUMMARY--1"><SHORTPROSE><P ID="w--acklva--0--P--1"><NAME STANDARD="Ackland, Valentine">VA</NAME> published very little in her lifetime, and has gone largely unrecognised since. Her lifelong partner, <NAME STANDARD="Warner, Sylvia Townsend">Sylvia Townsend Warner</NAME>, was very supportive of Ackland and helped her to get her writing into print. <GENERICRANGE>This writing (which dates from four decades of the mid twentieth century) took the form of <TGENRE GENRENAME="POETRY">poetry</TGENRE>, as well as <TGENRE GENRENAME="POLITICALWRITING">political critique</TGENRE>, an <TGENRE GENRENAME="AUTOBIOGRAPHY">autobiography</TGENRE>, and <TGENRE GENRENAME="LETTER">letter</TGENRE>s. <NAME STANDARD="Ackland, Valentine">VA</NAME> contributed <TGENRE GENRENAME="ESSAY">articles</TGENRE> regularly to magazines such as <TITLE TITLETYPE="JOURNAL">Country Standard</TITLE>, <TITLE TITLETYPE="JOURNAL">Left Review</TITLE>, and <TITLE TITLETYPE="JOURNAL">The Countryman</TITLE>, none of which paid very well.</GENERICRANGE> At present she is better known for her association with Warner than for anything she wrote herself.</P></SHORTPROSE></AUTHORSUMMARY><HEADING>Earlier Poetry</HEADING><DIV2 ID="w--acklva--0--DIV2--1"><PRODUCTION><SHORTPROSE><P ID="w--acklva--0--P--2"><PPERIODICALPUBLICATION>From the mid-1930s until the mid-1940s, Ackland published many of her early poems in the <TITLE TITLETYPE="JOURNAL">New Republic</TITLE>, <TITLE TITLETYPE="JOURNAL">New Masses</TITLE>, and <TITLE TITLETYPE="JOURNAL">The New Yorker</TITLE></PPERIODICALPUBLICATION>. <RRESPONSES RESPONSETYPE="INITIAL" FORMALITY="FORMAL">At that time <NAME STANDARD="Wilson, Edmund,, 1895 - 1972">Edmund Wilson</NAME>, among others, appreciated her poetry.</RRESPONSES> She always considered herself a poet, and wanted recognition only for her poems, not for herself. After World War Two, her poetry appeared comparatively dated, <RRESPONSES RESPONSETYPE="INITIAL" FORMALITY="INFORMAL">and she was saddened when her later poems went unrecognised.</RRESPONSES> <NAME STANDARD="Warner, Sylvia Townsend">Sylvia Townsend Warner</NAME> published several collections of Ackland's poetry posthumously, which together represent more than ever appeared during Warner's lifetime.<SCHOLARNOTE ID="w--acklva--0--SCHOLARNOTE--1"><P ID="w--acklva--0--P--3">Much of the information above comes from a brief, unattributed biographical note at the end of Ackland's book of poetry, <TITLE TITLETYPE="MONOGRAPHIC">The Nature of the Moment</TITLE>, edited and published posthumously in 1973 by <NAME STANDARD="Warner, Sylvia Townsend">Sylvia Townsend Warner</NAME>.</P></SCHOLARNOTE></P></SHORTPROSE></PRODUCTION></DIV2><DIV2 ID="w--acklva--0--DIV2--2"><HEADING><TITLE TITLETYPE="MONOGRAPHIC">Whether a Dove or Seagull</TITLE></HEADING><TEXTSCOPE DBREF="103327" PLACEHOLDER="Warner, Sylvia Townsend, and VA, Whether a Dove or a Seagull, 1933"></TEXTSCOPE><PRODUCTION><CHRONSTRUCT RESP="SYS" CHRONCOLUMN="BRITISHWOMENWRITERS" RELEVANCE="COMPREHENSIVE" ID="w--acklva--0--CHRONSTRUCT--1"><DATE CALENDAR="NEWSTYLE" CERTAINTY="CERT" VALUE="1933-11-">November 1933</DATE><CHRONPROSE><PAUTHORSHIP AUTHORNAMETYPE="ANONYMOUS"><RBESTKNOWNWORK><PDEDICATION><NAME STANDARD="Ackland, Valentine">VA</NAME>, with <NAME STANDARD="Warner, Sylvia Townsend">Sylvia Townsend Warner</NAME>, published <TITLE TITLETYPE="MONOGRAPHIC">Whether a Dove or Seagull</TITLE>, a <TGENRE GENRENAME="POETRY"><TGENRE GENRENAME="LOVE">collection of love poems</TGENRE></TGENRE>.</PDEDICATION></RBESTKNOWNWORK></PAUTHORSHIP></CHRONPROSE></CHRONSTRUCT><SHORTPROSE><P ID="w--acklva--0--P--4"><PAUTHORSHIP AUTHORSHIPCONTROVERSY="DOUBTFUL" CONTROVERSYDATE="HISTORICAL" AUTHORNAMETYPE="ANONYMOUS">In the American edition, published by <ORGNAME STANDARD="Viking Press">Viking Press</ORGNAME> in <DATE VALUE="1933-11-">November 1933</DATE>, the two authors' <TTHEMETOPIC>love</TTHEMETOPIC> poems are printed with no attributions, so that readers could not ascertain who wrote each individual poem.</PAUTHORSHIP> <PEDITIONS>However, in the English edition, published by <ORGNAME STANDARD="Chatto and Windus">Chatto and Windus</ORGNAME> in <DATE VALUE="1934-03-">March 1934</DATE>, a key appears at the back of the volume identifying which woman wrote each poem.</PEDITIONS></P><P ID="w--acklva--0--P--5"><PEARNINGS><NAME STANDARD="Ackland, Valentine">VA</NAME>'s account at her publisher <ORGNAME STANDARD="Viking Press">Viking Press</ORGNAME> was always overdrawn because she ordered innumerable copies of the book for her family and friends.</PEARNINGS></P></SHORTPROSE></PRODUCTION><TEXTUALFEATURES><SHORTPROSE><P ID="w--acklva--0--P--6"><TTECHNIQUES><TVOICENARRATION>The poems are arranged so that the <TGENRE GENRENAME="LOVE">love poems</TGENRE> respond to each other.</TVOICENARRATION></TTECHNIQUES></P><P ID="w--acklva--0--P--7"><PAUTHORSHIP AUTHORSHIPCONTROVERSY="DOUBTFUL" CONTROVERSYDATE="HISTORICAL" COLLABORATION="COLLABORATIONYES"><TTECHNIQUES>Warner and Ackland point out in a <TITLE TITLETYPE="ANALYTIC">Note to the Reader</TITLE>, which is a kind of <TGENRE GENRENAME="MANIFESTO">manifesto</TGENRE>, that the text is <EMPH>not</EMPH> a collaboration, but rather a joint collection of their poetry. They explain that the book is a political experiment, designed in a spirit of protest. Withholding the authorial signature was intended to prevent readers from critiquing the poems according to the pre-determined merit of the author.</TTECHNIQUES> <NAME STANDARD="Harman, Claire">Claire Harman</NAME> in <NAME STANDARD="Ackland, Valentine">VA</NAME>'s <TITLE TITLETYPE="MONOGRAPHIC" REG="Oxford Dictionary of National Biography">ODNB</TITLE> invokes the similarly unattributed collaboration of <NAME STANDARD="Wordsworth, William">Wordsworth</NAME> and <NAME STANDARD="Coleridge, Samuel Taylor">Coleridge</NAME> in <TITLE TITLETYPE="MONOGRAPHIC">Lyrical Ballads</TITLE>, 1798.</PAUTHORSHIP></P></SHORTPROSE></TEXTUALFEATURES><RECEPTION><SHORTPROSE><P ID="w--acklva--0--P--8"><RRESPONSES RESPONSETYPE="INITIAL" FORMALITY="FORMAL">Nonetheless, American reviewers chose to focus almost exclusively on comparisons between the poets, and to avoid the same response in England Warner asked that the English publishers include a key. This, however, undermined the explanation in the manifesto, leaving English reviewers puzzled. The few reviews that discussed the quality of the poems, rather than the novel presentation of them, were predominantly positive; <TTECHNIQUES TECHNIQUETYPE="DICTION">they seem to have felt unable to comment on the physically explicit, erotic diction.</TTECHNIQUES></RRESPONSES></P><P ID="w--acklva--0--P--9"><RRESPONSES RESPONSETYPE="INITIAL" FORMALITY="INFORMAL" GENDEREDRESPONSE="GENDEREDYES"><NAME STANDARD="Frost, Robert">Robert Frost</NAME>, too, the volume's dedicatee, wrote to <NAME STANDARD="Untermeyer, Louis">Louis Untermeyer</NAME>: <QUOTE DIRECT="Y">Don't you find the contemplation of their kind of collusion emasculating? I am chilled to the marrow.</QUOTE> Frost also pleaded with Untermeyer play down any connection between himself and the book. In spite of his disapproval, Frost did find some poems <QUOTE DIRECT="Y">beauties</QUOTE>, and he wanted to tell their authors this. It took him, however, more than a month to thank them for their dedication.</RRESPONSES></P></SHORTPROSE></RECEPTION></DIV2><HEADING>Writings for the <TITLE TITLETYPE="JOURNAL">Left Review</TITLE></HEADING><DIV2 ID="w--acklva--0--DIV2--3"><TEXTSCOPE DBREF="17208" PLACEHOLDER="VA, Country Dealings, 1935"></TEXTSCOPE><PRODUCTION><CHRONSTRUCT RESP="JAH" CHRONCOLUMN="BRITISHWOMENWRITERS" RELEVANCE="COMPREHENSIVE" ID="w--acklva--0--CHRONSTRUCT--2"><DATE VALUE="1935-03-">March 1935</DATE><CHRONPROSE><PPERIODICALPUBLICATION><NAME STANDARD="Ackland, Valentine">VA</NAME>'s first <TGENRE GENRENAME="ESSAY">article</TGENRE>, <TITLE TITLETYPE="ANALYTIC">Country Dealings</TITLE>, appeared in the <TITLE TITLETYPE="JOURNAL">Left Review</TITLE>, arguing that there was a scarcity of <TTHEMETOPIC>good, state-run hospitals</TTHEMETOPIC>, and advocating the benefits of <TTHEMETOPIC>Communism</TTHEMETOPIC>.</PPERIODICALPUBLICATION></CHRONPROSE></CHRONSTRUCT><SHORTPROSE><P ID="w--acklva--0--P--10"><PPERIODICALPUBLICATION>She published two subsequent articles in <DATE VALUE="1935-05-">May</DATE> and <DATE VALUE="1935-09-">September</DATE>, describing <TTHEMETOPIC>the poverty-stricken, precarious status of farm-labourers</TTHEMETOPIC> and <TTHEMETOPIC>the exploitative activities of landowners</TTHEMETOPIC>.</PPERIODICALPUBLICATION></P><P ID="w--acklva--0--P--11"><PPERIODICALPUBLICATION><NAME STANDARD="Ackland, Valentine">VA</NAME> also wrote regularly for the <TITLE TITLETYPE="JOURNAL">Daily Worker</TITLE> and <TITLE TITLETYPE="JOURNAL">New Masses</TITLE>.</PPERIODICALPUBLICATION></P></SHORTPROSE></PRODUCTION></DIV2><DIV2 ID="w--acklva--0--DIV2--4"><HEADING><TITLE TITLETYPE="MONOGRAPHIC">Country Conditions</TITLE></HEADING><TEXTSCOPE DBREF="103320" PLACEHOLDER="VA, Country Conditions, 1936"></TEXTSCOPE><PRODUCTION><CHRONSTRUCT RESP="SYS" CHRONCOLUMN="BRITISHWOMENWRITERS" RELEVANCE="COMPREHENSIVE" ID="w--acklva--0--CHRONSTRUCT--3"><DATE CALENDAR="NEWSTYLE" CERTAINTY="CERT" VALUE="1936--">1936</DATE><CHRONPROSE><NAME STANDARD="Ackland, Valentine">VA</NAME> published <TITLE TITLETYPE="MONOGRAPHIC">Country Conditions</TITLE>, a book that portrayed <TTHEMETOPIC>a depressed agricultural village</TTHEMETOPIC> based on <PLACE><SETTLEMENT>East Chaldon</SETTLEMENT><REGION REG="Dorset"></REGION><GEOG REG="England"></GEOG></PLACE>, where she lived.</CHRONPROSE></CHRONSTRUCT><SHORTPROSE><P ID="w--acklva--0--P--12"><PMATERIALCONDITIONS>She wrote the book (almost short enough to be a <TGENRE GENRENAME="TRACTPAMPHLET">tract</TGENRE>) in <PLACE><PLACENAME>Rat's Barn</PLACENAME><SETTLEMENT REG="East Chaldon"></SETTLEMENT><REGION REG="Dorset"></REGION><GEOG REG="England"></GEOG></PLACE>, a quiet cottage on the downs that belonged to the family of <NAME STANDARD="Powys, T. F.">T. F. Powys</NAME>.</PMATERIALCONDITIONS></P></SHORTPROSE></PRODUCTION><TEXTUALFEATURES><SHORTPROSE><P ID="w--acklva--0--P--13">The book extended ideas covered in her articles for the <TITLE TITLETYPE="JOURNAL">Left Review</TITLE>. <TSETTINGPLACE SETTINGPLACETYPE="REAL" SETTINGCLASS="WORKINGCLASS">The text's <TCHARACTERTYPEROLE>downtrodden family</TCHARACTERTYPEROLE> was based on tenants living at <PLACE><SETTLEMENT>East Chaldon</SETTLEMENT><REGION REG="Dorset"></REGION><GEOG REG="England"></GEOG></PLACE> with Ackland and <NAME STANDARD="Warner, Sylvia Townsend">Sylvia Townsend Warner</NAME>.</TSETTINGPLACE> Ackland added appendices of <TTHEMETOPIC>farm wages across the country</TTHEMETOPIC> and <TTHEMETOPIC>comparisons of hours and wages of workers in the <PLACE><GEOG CURRENT="Russian Federation">USSR</GEOG></PLACE> with those in <PLACE><GEOG>Germany</GEOG></PLACE> and <PLACE><GEOG>Italy</GEOG></PLACE></TTHEMETOPIC> to support her argument.</P></SHORTPROSE></TEXTUALFEATURES><RECEPTION><SHORTPROSE><P ID="w--acklva--0--P--14"><RRESPONSES RESPONSETYPE="INITIAL" FORMALITY="FORMAL">Reviews were positive, but mostly confined to <SOCALLED>the Party parish</SOCALLED>. A reviewer in the <TITLE TITLETYPE="JOURNAL">Times Literary Supplement</TITLE> dismissed the book as <QUOTE DIRECT="Y">distorted propaganda</QUOTE>, but most were enthusiastic, particularly about the effectiveness of <TTECHNIQUES>the restrained method <NAME STANDARD="Ackland, Valentine">VA</NAME> used to argue her case</TTECHNIQUES>.</RRESPONSES> <RRESPONSES RESPONSETYPE="INITIAL" FORMALITY="INFORMAL"><PEARNINGS>The book sold well, and her first royalty cheque was for £4 0s 4d.</PEARNINGS></RRESPONSES></P></SHORTPROSE></RECEPTION></DIV2><HEADING>Autobiography</HEADING><DIV2 ID="w--acklva--0--DIV2--5"><HEADING><TITLE TITLETYPE="MONOGRAPHIC" REG="For Sylvia: An Honest Account">For Sylvia</TITLE></HEADING><TEXTSCOPE DBREF="103321" PLACEHOLDER="VA, For Sylvia: An Honest Account, 1985"></TEXTSCOPE><PRODUCTION><CHRONSTRUCT RESP="JAH" CHRONCOLUMN="BRITISHWOMENWRITERS" RELEVANCE="DECADE" ID="w--acklva--0--CHRONSTRUCT--4"><DATE VALUE="1949-07-04">4 July 1949</DATE><CHRONPROSE><NAME STANDARD="Ackland, Valentine">VA</NAME> finished writing her painful <TGENRE GENRENAME="AUTOBIOGRAPHY">confessional memoir</TGENRE>, <TITLE TITLETYPE="MONOGRAPHIC">For Sylvia: An Honest Account</TITLE>, and gave it to her lifelong partner, <NAME STANDARD="Warner, Sylvia Townsend">Sylvia Townsend Warner</NAME>.</CHRONPROSE></CHRONSTRUCT><SHORTPROSE><P ID="w--acklva--0--P--15"><PMATERIALCONDITIONS><NAME STANDARD="Ackland, Valentine">VA</NAME> experienced a spiritual crisis of total despair on <DATE VALUE="1947-10-08">8 October 1947</DATE>, and decided, at that moment, to stop drinking. This event was the beginning point for her autobiography.</PMATERIALCONDITIONS> <NAME STANDARD="Warner, Sylvia Townsend">Warner</NAME>, privy to Ackland's diaries and ideas, abhorred the <SOCALLED>spiritual journey</SOCALLED> which she felt to be entirely robbing Ackland of self-esteem, and tried to frame her strong criticism of Ackland's soul-purging in a delicate enough manner not to give offence. Ackland, however, remained firm in her convictions and continued in her diary to detail what she saw as her soul's corruption.</P></SHORTPROSE></PRODUCTION><TEXTUALFEATURES><SHORTPROSE><P ID="w--acklva--0--P--16">The work portrayed <TTHEMETOPIC>her new spiritual awareness that she had in the past been selfish, destructive, and insensitive to others</TTHEMETOPIC>, and <TTHEMETOPIC>her feelings of worthlessness and wastefulness</TTHEMETOPIC>. It also detailed <TMOTIF MOTIFNAME="penitence">her remorse</TMOTIF> and conflicted feelings over <TMOTIF MOTIFNAME="double love">being in love with both <NAME STANDARD="Warner, Sylvia Townsend">Sylvia Townsend Warner</NAME> and <NAME STANDARD="White, Elizabeth Wade">Elizabeth Wade White</NAME></TMOTIF>.</P></SHORTPROSE></TEXTUALFEATURES><PRODUCTION><CHRONSTRUCT RESP="SYS" CHRONCOLUMN="BRITISHWOMENWRITERS" RELEVANCE="SELECTIVE" ID="w--acklva--0--CHRONSTRUCT--5"><DATE CALENDAR="NEWSTYLE" CERTAINTY="CERT" VALUE="1985--">1985</DATE><CHRONPROSE><PMODEOFPUBLICATION><TITLE TITLETYPE="MONOGRAPHIC">For Sylvia: An Honest Account</TITLE>, <NAME STANDARD="Ackland, Valentine">VA</NAME>'s <TGENRE GENRENAME="AUTOBIOGRAPHY">confessional memoir</TGENRE>, was finally published by <ORGNAME STANDARD="Chatto and Windus">Chatto and Windus</ORGNAME>, after the deaths of both Ackland and <NAME STANDARD="Warner, Sylvia Townsend">Sylvia Townsend Warner</NAME>, with a foreword by <NAME STANDARD="Howe, Bea">Bea Howe</NAME>.</PMODEOFPUBLICATION></CHRONPROSE></CHRONSTRUCT></PRODUCTION></DIV2><HEADING>Later and Posthumously-Printed Poetry</HEADING><DIV2 ID="w--acklva--0--DIV2--6"><TEXTSCOPE DBREF="103325" PLACEHOLDER="VA, Twenty-Eight Poems, 1957"></TEXTSCOPE><PRODUCTION><CHRONSTRUCT RESP="SYS" CHRONCOLUMN="BRITISHWOMENWRITERS" RELEVANCE="DECADE" ID="w--acklva--0--CHRONSTRUCT--6"><DATE CALENDAR="NEWSTYLE" VALUE="1957-10-" CERTAINTY="C">Autumn 1957</DATE><CHRONPROSE><PMODEOFPUBLICATION PUBLICATIONMODE="PRIVATELYPRINTED"><TITLE TITLETYPE="MONOGRAPHIC">Twenty-Eight Poems</TITLE>, a small collection of <NAME STANDARD="Ackland, Valentine">VA</NAME>'s <TGENRE GENRENAME="POETRY">poems</TGENRE>, was prepared and privately printed by <NAME STANDARD="Warner, Sylvia Townsend">Sylvia Townsend Warner</NAME>.</PMODEOFPUBLICATION></CHRONPROSE></CHRONSTRUCT></PRODUCTION></DIV2><DIV2 ID="w--acklva--0--DIV2--7"><TEXTSCOPE DBREF="103323" PLACEHOLDER="VA, Later Poems, 1970"></TEXTSCOPE><PRODUCTION><CHRONSTRUCT RESP="SYS" CHRONCOLUMN="BRITISHWOMENWRITERS" RELEVANCE="DECADE" ID="w--acklva--0--CHRONSTRUCT--7"><DATE CALENDAR="NEWSTYLE" CERTAINTY="CERT" VALUE="1970--">1970</DATE><CHRONPROSE><PMODEOFPUBLICATION PUBLICATIONMODE="PRIVATELYPRINTED">The year after <NAME STANDARD="Ackland, Valentine">VA</NAME>'s death, a booklet of her <TGENRE GENRENAME="POETRY">poems</TGENRE>, titled <TITLE TITLETYPE="MONOGRAPHIC">Later Poems</TITLE>, was privately printed by <NAME STANDARD="Warner, Sylvia Townsend">Sylvia Townsend Warner</NAME> as a keepsake for friends .</PMODEOFPUBLICATION></CHRONPROSE></CHRONSTRUCT></PRODUCTION></DIV2><DIV2 ID="w--acklva--0--DIV2--8"><TEXTSCOPE DBREF="103324" PLACEHOLDER="VA, The Nature of the Moment, 1973"></TEXTSCOPE><PRODUCTION><CHRONSTRUCT RESP="SYS" CHRONCOLUMN="BRITISHWOMENWRITERS" RELEVANCE="PERIOD" ID="w--acklva--0--CHRONSTRUCT--8"><DATE CALENDAR="NEWSTYLE" CERTAINTY="CERT" VALUE="1973--">1973</DATE><CHRONPROSE><PMODEOFPUBLICATION>A substantial collection of <NAME STANDARD="Ackland, Valentine">VA</NAME>'s <TGENRE GENRENAME="POETRY">poems</TGENRE>, edited by <NAME STANDARD="Warner, Sylvia Townsend">Sylvia Townsend Warner</NAME>, was published posthumously as <TITLE TITLETYPE="MONOGRAPHIC">The Nature of the Moment</TITLE>.</PMODEOFPUBLICATION></CHRONPROSE></CHRONSTRUCT></PRODUCTION></DIV2><DIV2 ID="w--acklva--0--DIV2--9"><TEXTSCOPE DBREF="103322" PLACEHOLDER="VA, Further Poems of Valentine Ackland, 1978"></TEXTSCOPE><PRODUCTION><CHRONSTRUCT RESP="SYS" CHRONCOLUMN="BRITISHWOMENWRITERS" RELEVANCE="DECADE" ID="w--acklva--0--CHRONSTRUCT--9"><DATE CALENDAR="NEWSTYLE" CERTAINTY="CERT" VALUE="1978--">1978</DATE><CHRONPROSE>The collection <TITLE TITLETYPE="MONOGRAPHIC">Further <TGENRE GENRENAME="POETRY">Poems</TGENRE> of Valentine Ackland</TITLE> was published posthumously by <ORGNAME STANDARD="Welmont Publishing">Welmont Publishing</ORGNAME> as one of their <TITLE TITLETYPE="SERIES">Welmont Poets</TITLE> series.</CHRONPROSE></CHRONSTRUCT></PRODUCTION></DIV2><HEADING><TITLE TITLETYPE="MONOGRAPHIC" REG="I'll Stand By You: Selected Letters of Sylvia Townsend Warner and Valentine Ackland">I'll Stand By You</TITLE></HEADING><DIV2 ID="w--acklva--0--DIV2--10"><TEXTSCOPE DBREF="6844" PLACEHOLDER="Warner, Sylvia Townsend, and VA, I'll Stand By You: Selected Letters of STW and VA, 1998"></TEXTSCOPE><PRODUCTION><SHORTPROSE><P ID="w--acklva--0--P--17">Not until <DATE VALUE="1998--">1998</DATE> were any of <NAME STANDARD="Ackland, Valentine">VA</NAME>'s <TGENRE GENRENAME="LETTER">letters</TGENRE> published. In that year about a third of the huge correspondence exchanged between her and her longtime lover was published as <TITLE TITLETYPE="MONOGRAPHIC">I'll Stand By You: Selected Letters of <NAME STANDARD="Warner, Sylvia Townsend">Sylvia Townsend Warner</NAME> and Valentine Ackland</TITLE>. <PMATERIALCONDITIONS>The collection was edited by Susanna Pinney, who started working for Warner shortly after Ackland's death, typing the entire collection of letters between the two women.</PMATERIALCONDITIONS> <PMANUSCRIPTHISTORY><PARCHIVALLOCATION>Warner sent the typescript to the <ORGNAME STANDARD="Berg Collection">Berg Collection</ORGNAME> in the <ORGNAME STANDARD="New York Public Library">New York Public Library</ORGNAME>, and later gave the originals, and her linking narrative, to Pinney.</PARCHIVALLOCATION> She took steps to prevent publication until certain people mentioned in the letters were dead. The collection was too large for a volume; only about a third has been printed.</PMANUSCRIPTHISTORY></P></SHORTPROSE></PRODUCTION><TEXTUALFEATURES><SHORTPROSE><P ID="w--acklva--0--P--18">The letters are an intimate portrayal of the <TTHEMETOPIC>thirty-nine-year love affair between Warner and Ackland</TTHEMETOPIC>, from their first meeting until Ackland's death. <PMATERIALCONDITIONS>Written when the two women were together and apart,</PMATERIALCONDITIONS> the correspondence is a detailed account of their <TTHEMETOPIC>lesbian relationship</TTHEMETOPIC>. Included is their <TTHEMETOPIC>initial falling in love</TTHEMETOPIC>, their <SOCALLED>wedding night</SOCALLED>, the <TTHEMETOPIC>disruptive affair</TTHEMETOPIC> that Ackland had with another woman, Ackland's <TTHEMETOPIC>intense involvement with <ORGNAME STANDARD="Roman Catholic Church">Catholicism</ORGNAME></TTHEMETOPIC> in the latter part of her life (which distressed Warner almost beyond bearing), and the courageous way they both managed to cope with the devastation of Ackland's <TMOTIF MOTIFNAME="illness">terminal illness</TMOTIF>.</P></SHORTPROSE></TEXTUALFEATURES></DIV2><HEADING>Reputation</HEADING><DIV2 ID="w--acklva--0--DIV2--11"><RECEPTION><SHORTPROSE><P ID="w--acklva--0--P--19">Though <NAME STANDARD="Ackland, Valentine">VA</NAME>'s poems were well received when they first began to appear, she was always a poet out of step with her time: more in tune, as <NAME STANDARD="Harman, Claire">Claire Harman</NAME> remarks, with writers of the seventeenth to the early nineteenth century who are in themselves minority tastes, from <NAME STANDARD="Traherne, Thomas">Thomas Traherne</NAME> to <NAME STANDARD="Crabbe, George">George Crabbe</NAME>. Her failure to win recognition for her work was one of several elements in her personal unhappiness. Despite Warner's energetic work to build her reputation, she remains little known today outside a nucleus of lesbian admirers. By the year 2008, she had no entry in <TITLE TITLETYPE="MONOGRAPHIC">Contemporary Authors</TITLE> or the <TITLE TITLETYPE="MONOGRAPHIC">Dictionary of Literary Biography</TITLE>. She is, however, included in the <TITLE TITLETYPE="MONOGRAPHIC">Oxford Dictionary of National Biography</TITLE>.</P></SHORTPROSE></RECEPTION></DIV2><DIV2 ID="w--acklva--0--DIV2--12"><TEXTSCOPE DBREF="51329" PLACEHOLDER="VA, Journey from Winter, 2008"></TEXTSCOPE><RECEPTION><SHORTPROSE><P ID="w--acklva--0--P--20">Also in 2008, a selection of <NAME STANDARD="Ackland, Valentine">VA</NAME>'s poetry appeared entitled <TITLE TITLETYPE="MONOGRAPHIC">Journey From Winter</TITLE>. <RRESPONSES RESPONSETYPE="RECENT" FORMALITY="FORMAL"><NAME STANDARD="Bainbridge, Charles">Charles Bainbridge</NAME>, welcoming this volume as <QUOTE DIRECT="Y">long-overdue</QUOTE>, argued that Ackland's <TTONESTYLE><QUOTE DIRECT="Y">intensely musical and ambitious <TGENRE GENRENAME="LOVE">love poetry</TGENRE></QUOTE> constitutes her best work, especially the late poems, in which <QUOTE DIRECT="Y"><PMATERIALCONDITIONS>a remarkable sense of shared experience battle[s] in the face of physical decay.</PMATERIALCONDITIONS></QUOTE></TTONESTYLE></RRESPONSES></P></SHORTPROSE></RECEPTION></DIV2>
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