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Margaret Power

Female 1789 - 1849  (59 years)    Has 2 ancestors but no descendants in this family tree.

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  • Name Margaret Power 
    Birth 1 Sep 1789  Knockbrit, Tipperary Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Gender Female 
    Address Aug 1822  Napoli, Campania, Italia Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Death 4 Jun 1849 
    Siblings 1 Sibling 
    Person ID I255921  Geneagraphie
    Last Modified 26 Mar 2009 

    Father Edmund Power   d. Yes, date unknown 
    Mother Ellen Sheehy   d. Yes, date unknown 
    Family ID F103605  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

    Family 1 Captain Maurice St. Leger Farmer   d. Oct 1817 
    Marriage 1805 
    Family ID F272205  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
    Last Modified 26 Mar 2009 

    Family 2 Earl Charles John Gardiner,   b. 19 Jul 1782   d. 25 May 1829, Hôtel Maréchal-Ney, Paris, France Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 46 years) 
    Marriage 16 Feb 1818  Saint Mary le Bon, St Marylebone Road, London, Middlesex, England Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Family ID F107985  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
    Last Modified 26 Mar 2009 

    Family 3 Comte Gillion Gaspard Alfred Grimaud, 'Le beau d'Orsay',   b. Abt 1798   d. 4 Aug 1852, Paris, Île-de-France, France Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 54 years) 
    Marriage 1827 
    Family ID F103604  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
    Last Modified 26 Mar 2009 

  • Event Map Click to hide
    Link to Google MapsMarriage - 16 Feb 1818 - Saint Mary le Bon, St Marylebone Road, London, Middlesex, England Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsAddress - According to the Countess Blessington - Aug 1822 - Napoli, Campania, Italia Link to Google Earth
     = Link to Google Earth 
    Pin Legend  : Address       : Location       : City/Town       : County/Shire       : State/Province       : Country       : Not Set

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  • Notes 
    • Irish novelist and miscellaneous writer.
      Her childhood was made unhappy by her father's character and poverty, and her early womanhood wretched by her compulsory marriage at the age of fifteen to a Captain Maurice St Leger Farmer, whose drunken habits brought him at last as a debtor to the kings bench prison, where, in October 1817, he died.
      His wife had left him some time before, and in February 1818 she married Charles John Gardiner, 1st Earl of Blessington . Of rare beauty, charm and wit, she was no less distinguished for her generosity and for the extravagant tastes which she shared, with her husband, which resulted in encumbering his estates with a load of debt. In the autumn of 1822 they went abroad, spent four months of the next year at Genoa in close intimacy with Byron , and remained on the continent till Lord Blessington's death in May 1829.
      Some time before this they had been joined by Count D'Orsay , who in 1827 married Lady Harriet Gardiner, Lord Blessington's only daughter by a former wife. D'Orsay, who had soon separated from his wife, now accompanied Lady Blessington to England and lived with her till her death. Their home, first at Seamore Place, and afterwards Gore House, Kensington , became a centre of attraction for whatever was distinguished in literature, learning, art, science and fashion.
      After her husband's death she supplemented her diminished income by contributing to various periodicals as well as by writing novels. She was for some years editor of The Book of Beauty and The Keepsake, popular annuals of the day. In 1834 she published her Conversations with Lord Byron, perhaps the only one of her works which has any value. Her Idler in Italy (1839-1840), and Idler in France (1841) were popular for their personal gossip and anecdote, descriptions of nature and sentiment.
      Early in 1849 , Count D'Orsay left Gore House to escape his creditors; the furniture and decorations were sold, and Lady Blessington joined the count in Paris, where she died on the 4th of June 1849.
      Her Literary Life and Correspondence (3 vols.), edited by RR Madden, appeared in 1855. Her portrait was painted in 1808 by Sir Thomas Lawrence .

      Her childhood was made unhappy by her father's character and poverty, and her early womanhood wretched by her compulsory marriage at the age of fifteen.
      Marguerite had left him some time before, moving to Hampshire where she met the Irish earl Charles John Gardiner, 1st Earl of Blessington , a widower with four children (two legitimate), seven years her senior. They married at St Mary's , Bryanston Square , Marylebone on 16 February 1818 (only four months after her first husband's death). Of rare beauty, charm and wit, she was no less distinguished for her generosity and for the extravagant tastes she shared with her husband, which resulted in encumbering his estates with a load of debt. On 25 August 1822 they set out for a continental tour with Marguerite's youngest sister, the 21-year-old Mary Anne, and servants. They met Count D'Orsay (who had first become an intimate of Lady Blessington in London in 1821) in Avignon on 20 November 1822, before settling at Genoa for four months from 31 March 1823. There they met Byron on several occasions, giving Lady Blessington material for her Conversations with Lord Byron.
      After that they settled for the most part in Naples , where she met the Irish writer Richard Robert Madden , who was to become her biographer. They also spent time in Florence with their friend Walter Savage Landor , author of the Imaginary Conversations which she greatly admired. It was in Italy , on December 1, 1827, that Count D'Orsay married Harriet Gardiner, Lord Blessington's only daughter by his former wife. However, Harriet and d'Orsay soon separated. The Blessingtons and the newlywed couple moved to Paris towards the end of 1828, taking up residence in the Hôtel Maréchal Ney , where the Earl suddenly died at 46 of an apopleptic stroke in 1829. D'Orsay, who had recently separated from his wife, then accompanied Lady Blessington to England and lived with her until her death. Their home, first at Seamore Place, and afterwards Gore House, Kensington , now the site of The Albert Hall, became a center of attraction for all that was distinguished in literature, learning, art, science and fashion. Benjamin Disraeli wrote Venetia whilst staying there.
      After her husband's death she supplemented her diminished income by contributing to various periodicals as well as by writing novels. She was for some years editor of The Book of Beauty and The Keepsake, popular annuals of the day. In 1834 she published her Conversations with Lord Byron. Her Idler in Italy (1839-1840), and Idler in France (1841) were popular for their personal gossip and anecdote, descriptions of nature and sentiment.
      Early in 1849, Count D'Orsay left Gore House to escape his creditors; subsequently the furniture and decorations were sold in a public sale successfully discharging Lady Blessington's debts. Lady Blessington joined the count in Paris, where she died on June 4, 1849 of a burst heart. On examination it was found that her heart was three times normal size.
      Her Literary Life and Correspondence (3 vols.), edited by Richard Robert Madden, appeared in 1855. Her portrait was painted in 1808 by Sir Thomas Lawrence and can be seen in The Wallace Collection, London.



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