The North American Review, volume 167, 1898
who was Edith Blake?
Edith Osborne was born at Newtown, Anner, Ireland in 1845, into a family of moderately wealthy land owners. She developed an interest in painting at an early age and was much encouraged by her family and also by artists such as the Swiss landscape artist Alexandre Calame and the Thomas Shotter Boys who visited the family home.
Although Edith's parents had been negotiating an arranged marriage for her, in 1874 she eloped with Captain Henry Blake of the Royal Irish Constabulary. Appalled at Blake's lower social status the family immediately disinherited Edith from a considerable fortune. At first the newly married couple had a difficult life, having to use Blake's low income to also support his widowed mother and 12 brothers and sisters.
During the 1870s Ireland was in political turmoil and unrest was widespread. As part of an attempt to restore law and order, Henry Blake was appointed as a Special Magistrate. Although this post was to place him under the threat of assassination from extremists,
Edith's response was characteristically brave, as she would accompany her husband on his duties many a time with a concealed revolver.
A few years later, Blake entered the Colonial Service of the British Empire, and was promoted to the post of Governor of the Bahamas in 1884. It proved to be the beginning of a spectacular career that would take the couple to many exciting parts of the British Empire including Jamaica, where Blake served as Governor between 1889-1897.
Throughout their travels Edith Blake took an avid interest in the fauna and flora. It was during her time in Jamaica that she was able to combine her artistic abilities and her interest in butterflies and moths (Lepidoptera) to produce a collection of nearly 200 watercolours.
In retirement the Blakes returned to their native Ireland to a much-loved house in Youghal, County Cork. Following Henry's death in 1918, Edith became a sad recluse
wearing only mourning black for the rest of her life. She died at home in 1926.
(biographical note from the Natural History Museum web site.)
Although Edith's parents had been negotiating an arranged marriage for her, in 1874 she eloped with Captain Henry Blake of the Royal Irish Constabulary. Appalled at Blake's lower social status the family immediately disinherited Edith from a considerable fortune. At first the newly married couple had a difficult life, having to use Blake's low income to also support his widowed mother and 12 brothers and sisters.
During the 1870s Ireland was in political turmoil and unrest was widespread. As part of an attempt to restore law and order, Henry Blake was appointed as a Special Magistrate. Although this post was to place him under the threat of assassination from extremists,
Edith's response was characteristically brave, as she would accompany her husband on his duties many a time with a concealed revolver.
A few years later, Blake entered the Colonial Service of the British Empire, and was promoted to the post of Governor of the Bahamas in 1884. It proved to be the beginning of a spectacular career that would take the couple to many exciting parts of the British Empire including Jamaica, where Blake served as Governor between 1889-1897.
Throughout their travels Edith Blake took an avid interest in the fauna and flora. It was during her time in Jamaica that she was able to combine her artistic abilities and her interest in butterflies and moths (Lepidoptera) to produce a collection of nearly 200 watercolours.
In retirement the Blakes returned to their native Ireland to a much-loved house in Youghal, County Cork. Following Henry's death in 1918, Edith became a sad recluse
wearing only mourning black for the rest of her life. She died at home in 1926.
(biographical note from the Natural History Museum web site.)
[Note:
It is of interest, especially from the Jamaican angle, that Lady Blake's family in Ireland was known as Bernal-Osbourne, and was descended from Jacob Israel Bernal, head of a prominent Spanish-Jewish family in London in the 18th century, who had property and commercial connections in Jamaica. There are still Bernal descendants in Jamaica. Edith Bernal-Osbourne's grandfather, Ralph Bernal, was a prominent lawyer and politician in England who had converted to Christianity in 1805 in his early 20s; as a Jew in England at that time he would not have had a vote, nor have been able to attend a university nor be called to the bar, all of which 'privileges' were only open to male members of the Church of England. The same restriction on his civil rights existed in Jamaica where he owned property. The Jews in Jamaica, and the Free Coloured and Free Black people of the island, received full civil rights about the same time at the very end of the 1820s.]
It is of interest, especially from the Jamaican angle, that Lady Blake's family in Ireland was known as Bernal-Osbourne, and was descended from Jacob Israel Bernal, head of a prominent Spanish-Jewish family in London in the 18th century, who had property and commercial connections in Jamaica. There are still Bernal descendants in Jamaica. Edith Bernal-Osbourne's grandfather, Ralph Bernal, was a prominent lawyer and politician in England who had converted to Christianity in 1805 in his early 20s; as a Jew in England at that time he would not have had a vote, nor have been able to attend a university nor be called to the bar, all of which 'privileges' were only open to male members of the Church of England. The same restriction on his civil rights existed in Jamaica where he owned property. The Jews in Jamaica, and the Free Coloured and Free Black people of the island, received full civil rights about the same time at the very end of the 1820s.]