Tennyson's Life and Poetry: And Mistakes Concerning TennysonParsons, Eugene
General
Tennyson's Life and Poetry: And Mistakes Concerning Tennyson
Parsons, Eugene
Tennyson, Alfred Tennyson, Baron, 1809-1892
Frederick Tennyson (a co-heir of the Earls of Scarsdale) was born June 5,
1807. He was educated at Eton and Trinity College, Cambridge, where he
distinguished himself by writing Greek verse--winning the prize for a
Sapphic ode on "Egypt." He married an Italian lady, Maria Guiliotta, now
dead, by whom he had two sons--Julius and Alfred,--and three
daughters--Elise, Emily, Matilda. For many years he lived at Tenby in
South Wales; at present he resides in Jersey, and devotes himself to his
favorite Hellenic studies and to poetry.
Charles Tennyson Turner (born July 4, 1808, died April 25, 1879) attended
Louth Grammar School (1815-21), and then was fitted for college at home.
At Trinity, he did admirable work in the classics--obtaining a Bell
scholarship. In 1836, he became vicar of Grasby, where he passed the
greater part of his life, well-known for his good works. In 1838, he
acquired property left him by his great-uncle, Rev. S. Turner, and assumed
the name of Turner by royal license. He married Louisa Sellwood, youngest
sister of Lady Tennyson; he died at Cheltenham.
[42] "In 1872, Mr. Tennyson purchased a small estate on the top of
Blackdown."
_Laureate's Country_, ch. XVI. On the other hand, _Every Saturday_, for
Jan. 1, 1870, says:
"Mr. Tennyson has recently built himself a second residence, in a
picturesque valley in Surrey." "In 1867," says Jennings in his _Lord
Tennyson_ (p. 190), "it was announced that Tennyson had purchased the
Greenhill estate on the borders of Sussex."
This statement is corroborated by a letter of Milnes, dated July 30, 1867:
"Our expedition to Tennyson's was a moral success, but a physical
failure.... The bard was very agreeable, and his wife and son delightful.
He has built himself a very handsome and commanding home in a most
inaccessible site, with every comfort he can require, and every discomfort
to all who approach him. What can be more poetical?"
Reid's _Life of Lord Houghton_, Vol. II, p. 176
Here the circumstances point to only one conclusion--that Tennyson was
living at Aldworth in the summer of 1867. It is a satisfaction to get down
to a solid substratum of truth.
[43]
Johnson's _Cyclopedia_, Vol. VII., p. 755.
Appleton's _Cyclopedia_, Vol. XV., p. 652.
Meyer's _Kon-Lex._, vol. XV., p. 589.
Hart's _Manual of English Literature_, p. 509.
Jenkins' _Handbook of British and American Literature_, p. 401.
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