"Lady Journalists. (Second Series)," in the Lady's Pictorial, 25 November 1893 (p.823) covers Mrs. (Eliza) Lynn Linton (1822–1898); Mrs. (Charlotte) Talbot Coke (1843–1922); Mrs. Alfred Berlyn (née Emma Ambrosia Annie Close, 1862–1943; "Vera"); Miss Charlotte Robinson (1859?–1901); Miss Susan (Anne) Carpenter (1850?–1929; "Mrs. Pepys"); Miss Clifford ("Rirette," English born; based in Paris); Miss Florence Mulleneux (1871–?; married Harold Catterson Smith, 7 August 1895); Miss Lillie Harris (Mrs. J. C. Cozens-Williams, 1863–1921); Miss Charlotte O'Conor Eccles (1863–1911); Miss Mary Adelaide Belloc (later Marie Adelaide Elizabeth Rayner Belloc-Lowndes, 1868–1947). It is illustrated with a portrait of Mrs. Lynn-Linton.
[The portrait below is in the original piece, but the decorated initials, bold print and dates for each journalist, endpiece and links have all been added. Thanks to Valerie Fehlbaum, from the Department of English Language and Literature at the Université de Genève (and the author of a biography of Ella Hepworth Dixon) for sharing the scans that served as the basis of these transcripts for readers of the Victorian Web. — Philip Jackson]
Eliza Lynn-Linton.
MRS. LYNN-LINTON, whose brilliant and incisive articles upon social problems in general and womanhood in particular are known all over the world, was one of the three pioneers of journalism for women. Mrs. [Harriet] Grote, the Hon. Mrs. Norton and Mrs. Lynn-Linton were the first of the now numerous band of lady journalists, and commenced the work more than forty years ago. Mrs. Lynn-Linton quickly made her mark, and for two years wrote the social leader for the Morning Chronicle three times a week. The Blue Books, &c. were sent to Mrs. Lynn-Linton at breakfast time each morning and the boy came for the article at four o'clock. Mrs. Lynn-Linton subsequently wrote for the Morning Star, and once went down to the office of the paper and wrote a leader at midnight. The famous "Girl of the Period" articles in the Saturday Review were in almost every case written by Mrs. Lynn-Linton, who has also written for the Daily News, and for about twenty years has been a regular weekly contributor to the Queen. For about ten years Mrs. Lynn-Linton reviewed the novels for the Saturday Review, and she has also been a contributor to the St. James's Gazette, the Evening News, and the Pall Mall Gazette under the regime of Mr. John Morley and of Mr. Frederick Greenwood. Mrs. Lynn-Linton is also the author of several successful novels, and is therefore an example of the link which exists, with more and more actuality every day, between journalism and literature.
rs. Talbot-Coke, whose name is widely known not only as a most accomplished and authoritative writer upon what might perhaps be described as the art of living gracefully, but also as herself a most charming and hospitable woman of the world, a delightful talker such as few but witty Irishwomen can be, is a sympathetic listener, a wise and tasteful adviser upon the thousand and one little details of domestic art and management which are often so sorely troublesome to young housewives unless they are lucky enough to enjoy the advice of so skilled an expert. For a dozen years past Mrs. Talbot-Coke has put her admirable talent and taste at the disposal of the public through the press, having commenced her journalistic career in 1881 by contributing occasionally to the Queen, in which journal in 1887–8, she conducted the "House Decoration" columns with marked success. Mrs. Talbot-Coke was the eldest daughter of the late Major Henry FitzGerald, 1st Life Guards—one of the FitzGeralds of Turlongh, co. Mayo, a family directly descended from the celebrated Earls of Desmond. In former times (prior to the landing of Strongbow) this family was established at Gurteens, in co. Waterford, where they enjoyed great possessions, as well as in the adjoining county of Kilkenny, where they remained till the early part of the seventeenth century, when the devoted attachment of John FitzGerald to the Royal cause was punished with forfeiture of his patrimony. after which the family was transplanted to Mohena or Turlough, co. Mayo, where this branch has remained ever since. By Miss FitzGerald's marriage in 1867 with Mr. John Talbot Coke, she became united with the old family of Cokes of Trusley, Derbyshire, who count among many other distinguished ancestors Sir John Coke, Secretary of State to Charles I. The marriage of Mr. Edward Thomas Coke with Miss Diana Talbot, of Ardfert Abbey, co. Kerry, gave an Irish mother to the family, of which the eldest is Colonel John Talbot-Coke, who was appointed in 1891 to the important post of Assistant-Adjutant-General of the forces in Ireland, whither Mrs. Talbot-Coke accompanied him. Having secured No. 4, Rutland-square, the late residence of Archbishop Walsh, she furnished and decorated this mansion with perfect taste. Quaint furniture, treasures picked up during travels in many lands, pictures, armour, family heirlooms, curious embroideries and needlework, all lend a beauty of their own to Mrs. Talbot Coke's new home.
An indefatigable worker as well as a charming hostess, Mrs. Talbot Coke commences early each morning her pleasant task of teaching her fellow-countrywomen the art of making beautiful homes and living up to them afterwards. She is often at her desk at six o'clock in the morning and rarely writes for less than seven hours a day, so that it is only by this useful habit of early rising that she is enabled to fulfil so thoroughly both her literary and social duties. Mrs. Talbot-Coke has been a contributor to various journals, including The Gentlewoman and Woman, but is now chiefly engaged upon Hearth and Home, which paper she started successfully two years or so ago. In addition to her other work, Mrs. Talbot-Coke was the author of that really excellent work "The Gentlewoman at Home," which formed the fifth volume of "the "Victoria Library for Gentlewomen."
rs. Alfred Berlyn, who is well known to our readers as "Vera," was born in New York, educated at Queen's College, Harley-street, and received a journalistic training under her father, Mr. Bernard H. Becker, the well-known journalist, to whom she acted as assistant. After her marriage to Mr. Alfred Berlyn in 1885, she took seriously to journalism — in which profession her husband is also engaged — and has been associated with the leading women's papers, especially with the LADY'S PICTORAL, to which paper she contributes the weekly leading article signed "Vera." She has also written a number of short stories, and contributed special articles on social and other matters to various periodicals and weekly journals. As a writer of smart essays and descriptive papers Mrs. Berlyn is well-known in the provincial press. She made a hit with her volume of charming papers on the East Coast, called "Vera in Poppyland," originally published in the LADY'S PICTORIAL, and her new book, "Sunrise-Land," will shortly be ready for publication. Mrs. Berlyn's bright and sympathetic style renders all her work of unfailing interest, and she is gifted with that excellent and rather unusual thing in woman, a keen perception of humour, which often makes itself pleasantly conspicuous in her work."
iss Charlotte Robinson's remarkably successful career has been, with considerable acumen, ascribed to a genius for her work combined with a buoyancy of spirit which also helps to carry her through the consequent toil. Notwithstanding the demands of a busy life divided between her Manchester and London establishments and various engagements in all parts of the country, one day to overlook the decorations of one of the Manchester, Sheffield, and Lincolnshire Railway hotels, another to appear at Glasgow before the Cunard Board of Directors respecting their famous new steamships, she was induced five years ago to add journalistic work to her other labours, and accepted an appointment on the staff of the Queen, of which she is now a valued member. Her answers to correspondents seeking her professional advice evidence the skill and painstaking of a clever and conscientious counsellor, and she has also contributed able articles on the subjects with which she has been identified for the last ten years, from the electric lighting of our homes to the merits of flats versus houses. Architectural atrocities and utilitarian ugliness have ever been unsparingly denounced by her, various styles of furniture, decorative designs and materials discussed, as well as the recent chief industrial exhibitions in London and elsewhere, in a spirit which proves Miss Robinson to be alive to each new departure, ever ready for new light, and possessed of the experience and moderation born of true knowledge. But the lady who has received for her artistic work the recognition of Royalty, in the form of a warrant which styles her "Home Art Decorator to Her Majesty," has a versatile pen which wings its way beyond the artistic field. Her contributions to the journalism of the day have aided many a philanthropic undertaking, from the "Saturday Life Boat Fund" to the "Little Sisters of the Poor," her articles upon whose kindly labours obtained cordial recognition from his Eminence Cardinal Vaughan. Miss Robinson's account of the Sandringham Technical Schools, which she visited by the invitation of the Princess of Wales, was equally successful, and her journalistic efforts include many graphic descriptions of various ceremonies in which distinguished persons have taken part, such as Mrs. Gladstone's opening of the Dee Bridge, the memorable visit her Majesty paid to Wales, the descent of the Princess Beatrice into a Welsh coal mine, and the Queen of Roumania's experiences at the Eisteddfodd; so that it may be fairly acknowledged that her literary tastes and talents are as catholic as her decorative capacities, which are generally recognised for a breadth and fulness not always to be found in feminine artists and their work.
iss Susan Carpenter, a very industrious and capable journalist commenced her career in journalism upon her return from Australia, five years ago, when she took up the position of lady-correspondent in London for the Melbourne Leader. Miss Carpenter also acted in a similar capacity for a considerable period for the Yorkshire Post, England, and the Belfast Northern Whig. Miss Carpenter enjoys the distinction of being the only woman employed by the "Press Association," and is a frequent contributor of paragraphs and special articles upon many subjects of current interest to a great variety of journals, including the Times, the Morning Post, the Pall Mall Gazette, the Star, the Globe, the Daily Graphic, and the LADY'S PICTORIAL. Miss Carpenter is a conscientious and unwearying worker, and there are few social functions of importance at which she is not to be found, seeking material for the exercise of her craft.
iss Clifford, whose bright and graphic work is familiar to readers of the LADY'S PICTORIAL, to which she contributes the weekly "Paris Notes," signed "Rirette," has the journalistic instinct very fully developed, leaving no opportunity unseized of employing her busy and vivacious pen in chronicling the doings of the gay city in which she has made her home. Miss Clifford has been employed as a journalist for the past ten years, and during that time has been associated with at least a dozen journals. Amongst other papers, Miss Clifford wrote for several years for the Paris Morning News, the American Register, in which her first article was published when she was not quite seventeen years of age, Life, the Boulevard, the American Messenger, the American edition of the New York Herald, the Hawk, the American Woman, and Galignani's Messenger. At the present time Miss Clifford is an occasional contributor to Galignani, a frequent one to the Daily Telegraph, and a writer every week for the LADY'S PICTORIAL. Her work consists chiefly of general and society news — with the exception of political affairs — descriptive articles, and notes about art, the theatre, fashion, and social gossip. Miss Clifford was decorated by the French Government about two years ago, in her capacity of correspondent for English journals, with the academic Order of "Les Palmes," and is accordingly an "Officier d'Académie." The insignia of the Order is a laurel wreath of small diamonds, attached to a violet moire ribbon, and is worn by Miss Clifford, on occasion, with a very pardonable pride. Miss Clifford is quite one of the successful lady journalists of the day, and her success has been well earned by hard and well-executed work. She is English born and a Protestant, but was brought up in Paris, and adores the city in which, she confesses, she considers it her good luck to reside.
iss Florence Mulleneux, who is probably the youngest lady-journalist in London in active and regular pursuit of her profession, being only in her twenty-third year, may be congratulated upon the enviable fact that her career lies for the most part before her. But none the less she has already done a considerable amount of useful and capable work, for her pen has been more or less busily employed for the past seven years, her first literary achievement having been a story which was awarded the dignity of print while she was a girl of fifteen, not yet emancipated from the schoolroom. Since that time the literary and journalistic instinct which had so early made its presence felt has been assiduously cultivated and developed, with the result that Miss Mulleneux has not only written several successful stories but has been closely associated with the LADY'S PICTORIAL for the past four years, and has also, over the signature "Florence," contributed the bright and interesting "Ladies page," dealing with dress and fashions, to The Sketch from the commencement of that successful and thoroughly up-to-date journal. Miss Mulleneux possesses both ability and that industry without which the brightest talents are of little value, and there is no doubt that she will fulfil the promise of which her necessarily short journalistic and literary career has been so full.
iss Lillie Harris (Mrs. J. C. Cozens-Williams) enjoys the distinction of being one of the youngest lady journalists holding a responsible position on a newspaper, and was the first lady admitted to the Institute of Journalists. Miss Harris began her literary career at a very early age, contributing under various noms de plume to several papers in the North of England. In 1885 she began a series of articles, entitled "Our Young Ladies," for the Newcastle Weekly Chronicle, which caused her name to become known wherever the Chronicle circulated. Miss Harris then joined the staff of the Chronicle, and stories, articles and interviews were alike brightly written by her, and she plunged into the work of her profession with avidity. In October, 1887, Miss Harris visited the scenes of the "Jack the Ripper" murders, and at midnight, accompanied by a detective, went over some of the most notorious of the "doss" houses, the result of her experiences being embodied in a series of articles for the Weekly Telegraph. In January, 1889, Miss Harris left the Newcastle Chronicle to accept the position of lady editor of the Weekly Telegraph, which position she now occupies. In addition to her other work, she founded a Children's Corner, with which is incorporated the Kind-hearted Brigade and Friendly Letter Society, an important movement for children which, although only established four and a half years, has upwards of 88,000 juvenile members, H.R.H. the Princess Louise of Wales (Duchess of Fife) and her Grace the Duchess of Portland being the patronesses. Miss Harris has written several successful novels, her range of subjects is a wide one, and she treats them all with a freshness and vigour that compel attention. Miss Lillie Harris (Mrs. J. C. Cozens-Williams) is a widow. She was married to Mr. Cozens-Williams in January, 1890, and he was accidentally killed in October, 1891, his terribly sad death causing much sorrow in Sheffield and the district, where he was well known.
iss Charlotte O'Conor Eccles is a daughter of the late Alexander O'Conor Eccles, Esq., J.P., of Ballinagard House, Roscommon, and comes of a very old Connaught family. She was educated at Upton Hall, near Birkenhead, and afterwards in Paris and Germany. Her father was an excellent classical scholar, and from him she no doubt inherited the taste for literature which she has since so successfully turned to account. Miss Eccles began to write stories and verse as a child of seven, and knew most of Scott's poems by heart before she was ten. She was always an omnivorous render, and at school won many prizes for composition, and wrote plays which her companions acted. Miss Eccles' first appearance in print was in the columns of the Irish Times, in an article on "Carnival in Cologne," written while studying there. She then contributed a Christmas story sent in competition, and a series of articles to the LADY'S PICTORIAL in 1887. These were afterwards published in book form, and very favourably reviewed, and, oddly enough, most of the critics contended that they were written by a man. Miss Eccles took up journalistic work in 1888, and came to live in London, and after many attempts to gain a footing on the metropolitan press, joined the staff of the London edition of the New York Herald in 1889. Since then she has been a regular contributor to some of the best London and provincial papers, and has learned all the mysteries of sub-editing. At present Miss Eccles writes for the Daily Chronicle, Dublin Weekly Freeman, Evening Telegraph and Social Review, The Sketch, The Million, Hearth and Home, and some American papers and magazines. Her earliest contribution to Blackwood's was in December, 1888, on "Irish Life in the 18th Century," and she has written many articles and stories in London Society, the Strand Magazine, Dublin Review, Irish Monthly, &c., and her translation of a powerful story by Heinrick Sienkiowicz, "For Daily Bread," published in America, proved a great success. Miss Eccles is on the committees of the Irish Literary Society, Writers' Club, and Institute of Journalists' Orphan fund.
iss Mary Adelaide Belloc is fortunate in possessing a double nationality, her father having been a French barrister, whilst through her mother (née Miss Bessie Parkes) she is a great granddaughter of Dr. Joseph Priestley, the discoverer of oxygen. Familiar all her life with the literary world both of Paris and London, she began writing when very young, and contributed several of the foreign "Jehu Junior" biographies which accompany the Vanity Fair cartoons. In her twentieth year she brought out the "Life and Letters of Charlotte Elizabeth, Princess Palatine." This volume, which was published anonymously by Chapman and Hall, was spoken of in the Times review as being one of the most important contributions to the literature of the eighteenth century since the "Memoirs of Saint-Simon." In the same year Miss Belloc was part author of the Pall Mall Gazette "Guide to the Paris Exhibition," and this may be said to have been her first serious start in journalism. Since that time she has written constantly in the Pall Mall Gazette and a number of other London papers and periodicals, among which may be mentioned the Westminster Gazette, the Daily Chronicle, the Illustrated London News, The Sketch, Murray's Magazine, the Idler, &c. Miss Belloc does all the French magazine reviewing on the Review of Reviews, and has always made a speciality of French literature, both old and modern, and spends almost as much time in Paris as in London. She is a member of the Society of Authors, and has been on the committee of the Writers' Club since its foundation. Miss Belloc is a Roman Catholic, and was educated at the convent of Mayfield, Sussex. Her work is marked by a brightness of style as well as by sound judgment and a wide range of information, the result, no doubt, of her lifelong association with literary and artistic people, as well as of her own literary tastes and habit of regular and varied study of the literature of England and France.
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