Edith Somerville (left) and Violet Martin (right) from “Irish Memories” (1919) by E. Œ. Somerville and Martin Ross. Image from Wikimedia Commons.
I discovered Edith Œnone Somerville (Irish, 1858-1949), cousin and writing partner of Violet Martin (Irish, 1862-1915), while searching the National Sporting Library & Museum archives for content to post on the NSLM’s Facebook page for Women’s History Month. One of my favorite things about my job are the opportunities I have to research our collections and share them digitally, but I felt that Edith Somerville’s story deserved more than a Facebook post.
Somerville was the first female Master of Foxhounds in Ireland, the West Carbery in Skibereen, County Cork. By no means incidentally, she was also a writer, humorist, artist, suffragist and feminist, and believer in the occult. She was President of the Munster Women’s Franchise League, was awarded the degree of Doctor of Letters by Trinity College Dublin in 1932, and was invited to become a member of the Irish Academy of Letters by W.B. Yeats the following year.
Writing
In 1866, Somerville met her second cousin Violet Martin, and the two quickly became close friends and working partners. Writing under her initials E. Œ. Somerville and the pseudonym Martin Ross, the pair immediately set to work on their first novel, An Irish Cousin, in 1887. Its popularity would lead to another four novels, three travel books, three collections of Irish R.M. tales, four collections of short stories and many more essays and articles. Though Somerville & Ross are best-known for their comical Irish R.M. tales, The Real Charlotte, written in 1894, received the most critical acclaim of any of their works and is considered one of Ireland’s great literary masterpieces. The NSLM Library holds eighty-four volumes by Somerville & Ross, including The Real Charlotte, Irish Memories, and Through Connemara in a Governess Cart. Our archive also holds a letter from Edith Somerville to Harry Worcester Smith. (Click to see the original letter in the archives of the NSLM.)
Somerville, E. Œ., and Martin Ross. “Through Connemara in a Governess Cart,” W.H. Allen & Co., Ltd. 1893. John H. and Martha Daniels Collection, National Sporting Library & Museum.
Art
Edith Anna Œnone Somerville (Irish, 1848-1949) An Irish Trout Stream, 1929, oil on canvas, 17 1/4 x 13 inches, Gift of John H. Daniels, 2002Somerville was a professionally trained artist, studying in Düsseldorf and at the Colarossi art studio in Paris. She created the design and artwork for the E. Œ. Somerville & Martin Ross publications, although some of the illustrations in their travel books were heavily edited by publishers wishing to depict a more refined version of the traveling female. Throughout her life, Somerville returned to Paris to continue studying art. Many of her works can now be found in major art galleries or museums across the world, including the NSLM.
Suffrage
Both Somerville and Ross were involved with the Suffragist and early Women’s Rights movement in the United Kingdom. They actively took part in demonstrations and electioneering campaigns across Ireland and England. As part of the Suffragist movement, Somerville became President of the Munster Women’s Franchise League (MWFL) in 1910. Within the first year of her presidency, she established multiple branches of the organization across Ireland. She wrote many pamphlets and speeches stressing the importance of a strong and practical education for women.
Edith Anna Œnone Somerville (Irish, 1848-1949) Forrard On!, 1928 Pen and ink on paper, 7×6 inches National Sporting Library & Museum
The Occult
Though Edith Somerville had prior interest in the occult, she began to delve deeper into it when Ross died in 1915. Spiritualism was popular in the early 20th century and it was said that one of the ways the deceased could contact the living was through automatic writing. This writing practice allowed a spirit to use a host to convey a written message. The words originate from a supernatural source and are transferred through the living host and onto paper. Theoretically, the living person writes without being conscious of what was actually being written. Using a medium who specialized in this practice, Somerville began to communicate with Ross daily. Through this process, Somerville & Ross penned another eight books together.
Edith Somerville died in 1941 at the fine age of 91. She is buried next to Violet Martin in Castletownshend, Co. Cork, Ireland.
Posted April 13, 2020
Republished with the kind permission of the author and the National Sporting Library & Museum, Middleburg, Virginia. First published in the NSL&M’s blog, Drawing Covert.