28 Facts About Georgiana Burne-Jones

Georgiana, Lady Burne-Jones was a British painter and engraver, and the second oldest of the MacDonald sisters.

Georgiana Burne-Jones was married to the Late Pre-Raphaelite artist Edward Burne-Jones, and was the mother of painter Philip Burne-Jones, aunt of novelist Rudyard Kipling and Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin, confidante and friend of George Eliot, William Morris, and John Ruskin.

Georgiana Burne-Jones was a Trustee of the South London Gallery and was elected to the parish Council of Rottingdean, near Brighton in Sussex.

Georgiana Burne-Jones is known for the biography of her husband, The Memorials of Edward Burne-Jones and for publishing his Flower Book.

Georgiana Burne-Jones became the mother-in-law of John William Mackail, who married her daughter Margaret.

Georgiana Burne-Jones moved to London with her family in 1853, following the death of her sister Carrie from tuberculosis; first to Sloane Square, and then to 33 Walpole Street.

Georgiana Burne-Jones moved on her marriage into rented rooms in Great Russell Street.

Georgiana Burne-Jones was ill for months, and on her recovery refused to return to their old rooms where so much tragedy had occurred.

Georgiana Burne-Jones attended the Government School of Design, which was part of the South Kensington museums complex in a building that is part of the Victoria and Albert Museum.

Georgiana Burne-Jones dismissed her time at the school in a single sentence in Memorials by saying she had not learned anything of importance.

In 1856, Georgiana Burne-Jones took lessons from Ford Madox Brown and remembered, "Madox Brown's incredible kindness in allowing me and Miss Seddon, sister to his dead friend Thomas Seddon the artist, to come and try to paint from a model in his studio".

In 1867 the Georgiana Burne-Jones family moved again, to the Grange, an 18th-century house set in a large garden in North End Road, Fulham, London.

The self-educated novelist encouraged her young friend to make up for her lack of education, and Georgiana Burne-Jones studied to improve her scant French and German, and took Latin lessons.

Georgiana Burne-Jones loved her new country house and garden, and became active in village affairs.

Georgiana Burne-Jones encouraged the loan of her husband's paintings and those of others in her circle.

Georgiana Burne-Jones became the only woman on the committee established to turn governance of the gallery over to the local authority, and discovered a talent for detail-oriented committee work.

Jane Morris wrote that her husband had commented "Well, a man can be an ass for the sake of his children", but in general the Socialists of their circle and Georgiana Burne-Jones herself were appalled.

In 1895, the new Lady Georgiana Burne-Jones took her first steps into elected office, winning a seat on the parish council of her beloved Rottingdean, to the apparent delight of both her husband and her old friend William Morris.

Georgiana Burne-Jones supported interests of the working class and women's issues, taking positions in her electioneering materials that were radical for the wife of a baronet and simply baffling to the villagers of Rottingden.

Edward Georgiana Burne-Jones, who had been Morris's friend and partner since their college days, was devastated, and his health declined substantially.

Georgiana Burne-Jones was cremated and his ashes were buried in a grave lined with moss and roses at the village church in Rottingdean.

Edward Georgiana Burne-Jones had dreaded that someone unsympathetic would attempt his biography, and had asked his wife to take up the task.

Memorials of Edward Georgiana Burne-Jones was published six years later, in 1904, in two volumes, and remains a standard reference.

At the outbreak of the Boer War, England was swept up in a wave of pro-war patriotism, but Georgiana Burne-Jones opposed Britain's action in South Africa.

When news of the relief of the siege of Mafeking arrived, Georgiana Burne-Jones hung a banner at North End House reading "We have killed and take possession," paraphrasing a verse from the Bible.

In 1905, Georgiana arranged the publication of The Flower Book, a limited-edition facsimile of an album of watercolour flower paintings by Edward Burne-Jones.

Georgiana Burne-Jones died on 2 February 1920 after a short illness.

Georgiana Burne-Jones tinkered with the portrait for years, and it remained unfinished at his death.