Somervell, Mary, fl 1922-1948 (née Beresford | friend of Walter de la Mare)

Person

Biography

Excerpt from the bookseller's description for accession SC-Acc-2026-0078: "Mary Somervell (née Beresford) who was born into a family of clergy in Wiltshire. A deeply religious woman throughout her life, she married Hubert Somervell, the vicar of St Lawrence, Abbott’s Langley (though the marriage did not last), and at some point adopted the middle name Isobel, meaning ‘pledged to God’. Suffering from poor mental health throughout her life, she spent a number of short periods under hospital treatment, and sought refuge in the Community of St Mary the Virgin, an order of Anglican nuns near Wantage. From 1939, through Sister Penelope Lawson, a member of the order, several members of the CSMV came to be devoted to C.S. Lewis, and regularly attended his lectures in Oxford. However, Somervell had been an aspiring poet, and had befriended de la Mare, and sought his advice long before either her unhappy marriage or her correspondence with Lewis."

Found in 1 Collection or Record:

Letters from Walter De la Mare to Mary Somervell

Fonds

Identifier: Coll-2944

Scope and Contents This collection consists of seven thirteen letters and a postcard sent by Walter de la Mare to Mary Somervell, dated 1922-1948. Ten autograph letters signed, three typed letters signed, and one small postcard in an envelope. Also includes the letters' envelopes.Mary Somervell (née Beresford) was a deeply religious woman who suffered from poor mental health throughout her life. She was also an aspiring poet, and had befriended Walter de la Mare. In their correspondence, de la Mare...

Dates: 1922-1948

Found in: University of Edinburgh Library Heritage Collections