Ireland -- History -- Rebellion of 1798; Women -- Ireland -- Biography
It began to be noticed by the observant matrons, who chaperoned these
delightful gatherings, that one brilliant talker seemed particularly
anxious to observe the effect his conversation made on clever Elizabeth
Mason, and how persistently he sought her out as a partner in ball and
supper rooms, or at pic-nic or promenade, whenever his professional
occupations allowed him to take part in these functions. They noticed,
with approval, that Elizabeth was not indifferent to the attentions of
the rising young physician, Dr. Robert Emmet,[8] who having studied
medicine and taken his degree with great _éclat_ at one of the most
famous medical schools in Europe, that of the University of
Montpelier,[9] had taken up practice in Cork some years previously.
Footnote 8:
Born in Tipperary in 1729, he was just thirty-one years old at the
date of his marriage.
Footnote 9:
His great-grandson, Dr. Thos. Addis Emmet of New York, himself a
distinguished specialist, records the publication of a book by Dr.
Robert Emmet, in 1753, on some of the diseases of women. It was
originally published in Latin and was afterwards translated into
French, with two editions printed in Paris (_op. cit._ p. 47).
In due course the good-natured gossips of Cork learned that Dr. Emmet
had sent proposals, through James Mason, jun., to Mr. and Mrs. James
Mason of Ballydowney, for the hand of their daughter, Elizabeth, and
that the parents, having satisfied themselves, after due enquiry, that
the connection was a suitable one, had given their consent to the
marriage. Dr. Emmet was the son of a physician, Dr. Christopher Emmet,
in Tipperary, and in addition to his professional earnings had inherited
a considerable fortune from his father. Through his mother, Rebecca
Temple, he was connected with one of the most aristocratic families in
England. Satisfactory marriage settlements were speedily arranged, and
preparations were pushed on for the wedding, which took place in Cork on
November 16th, 1760.
Dr. Madden informs us, on the authority of Elizabeth Mason’s nephew, Mr.
J. St. John Mason, that the doctor built a large house for his bride in
George’s Street. It seems probable that the _ménage_ included from the
beginning the doctor’s widowed mother, Mrs. Rebecca Temple Emmet, and
his widowed and childless sister-in-law, Mrs. Grace Russell Emmet,
relict of his brother Thomas, who died in 1754. At all events these two
ladies died under the doctor’s roof, after the family had moved to
Dublin; the elder in 1774, the younger in 1788. A bequest of the latter
to her “dear sister-in-law” of a gold watch, and ample legacies to the
children seem to betoken that Elizabeth Emmet had the secret of gaining
the hearts of her husband’s kin, and that as mistress of a large and
wealthy household she knew how to make all who sat by her hearth, or
gathered round her table, happy.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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