12 Facts About Edith Somerville

Edith Somerville wrote in collaboration with her cousin "Martin Ross" under the pseudonym "Somerville and Ross".

The eldest of eight children, Somerville was born on the island of Corfu, then part of the United States of the Ionian Islands, a British protectorate where her father was stationed.

Edith Somerville is said to have dominated her sister and brothers in a family where women were encouraged to be bold.

Edith Somerville received her primary education at home, and then attended Alexandra College in Dublin.

In 1898 Edith Somerville went to paint at the Etaples art colony, accompanied by Violet.

Edith Somerville was a devoted sportswoman who, in 1903, had become master of the West Carbery Foxhounds.

Edith Somerville was active in the suffragist movement, corresponding with Dame Ethel Smyth.

Edith Somerville was in London still recovering from the shock of Violet's death when the Easter Rising of 1916 broke out.

Edith Somerville had exhibitions of her pictures in Dublin and in London between 1920 and 1938, and was active as an illustrator of sporting picture books and children's picture books, including that of Ethel Penrose, another cousin.

In 1936, her brother Henry Boyle Townsend Edith Somerville, a retired Vice-Admiral in the Royal Navy, was killed by the IRA at the family home in Castletownshend.

Edith Somerville finished his book "Will Mariner" after his death.

Edith Somerville died at Castletownshend in October 1949, aged 91, and is buried alongside Violet Florence Martin at Saint Barrahane's Church, Castletownsend with a joint memorial to them both.