Elinor Mary Darwin | |
---|---|
Born |
Elinor Mary Monsell 1879 Limerick, Ireland |
Died | 1954 |
Resting place |
St Mary the Virgin Churchyard, Downe, Kent 51°8′53.98″N 0°52′21.06″E / 51.1483278°N 0.8725167°ECoordinates: 51°8′53.98″N 0°52′21.06″E / 51.1483278°N 0.8725167°E |
Nationality | Irish-English |
Education | Slade School of Art |
Known for | Engraver, painter |
Spouse(s) | Bernard Darwin |
Elinor Mary Darwin (1879–1954) was an Irish born illustrator, engraver and portrait painter. Her illustrations were included in several of her husband, Bernard Darwin's books for children.
Elinor Mary Monsell, the eldest daughter of William Thomas Monsell, was born in Limerick, Munster, Ireland. At 17 years of age she left Ireland for London. Her brother John Robert Monsell was a children's author and illustrator, who collaborated with Herbert Hughes on Rivals!, a 1935 musical version of Richard Brinsley Sheridan's The Rivals.
She married Bernard Darwin on Tuesday, 31 July 1906 at St Luke's Church, Chelsea in London, England. He was a golf writer and grandson of the British naturalist Charles Darwin. Their children were Ursula Darwin (1908-2011) and Sir Robert Vere Darwin (1910–1974).
Prior to World War II many Darwin family members became members of the Eugenics Society. Elinor became one of the Fellows of the Society, as did Leonard Darwin's wife Mildred and other Darwin wives.
She is buried in St Mary the Virgin Churchyard, Downe, Kent; nearby is Down House, the home of the Darwin family. An obituary by Sir Charles Tennyson was published in The Times.
She studied at the Slade School of Art in London, earning a scholarship in 1896.