May de la Cherois Crommelin (1850-1930)

Life
[Maria Henrietta de Lacherois Crommelin; var. Marie] b. Carrowdore Castle, dg. of S. de la Cherois Crommelin of Carrowdore Castle, Co. Down, and descendent of Samuel-Louis Crommelin (q.v.), Mary was ed. at home; lived early life in Ireland, thereafter in London where her family on account of the ‘land troubles’ [Land War]; became a worldwide traveller, and one of the first women in the Royal Geographic Society; wrote over 30 [var. 40] novels after Queenie (1874), and num. short stories;
 
novels incl. A Jewel of a Girl (1877; 1879), set in Ireland and Holland; Orange Lily (1879), in which Lily Keag, dg. of an Orangman, who falls in love with servant boy returning rich from America to claim her; Black Abbey (1880), relating the home-life and the near-wreck created of Bella’s ill-chosen marriage in the eponymous home; ‘Divil-May-Care’ (1899), weaving humorous episodes around Richard Burke, an officer of the Indian army, at home on leave in Antrim;
 
also The Golden Bow (1899), dealing with a courtship in the north of Ireland; several works reflecting her wide travels incl. Over the Andes to Chile (1898). JMC IF DIW ATT DUB OCIL

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Works
  • [anon.,] Queenie, 3 vols. (London: Hurst & Blackett 1874), 322, 296, 297pp., and Do. [another edn.] (London: George Routledge & Sons 1879), 256pp.;
  • My Love But She’s a Lassie, 3 vols. (London: Hurst & Blackett 1875), and Do. [another edn.] (London: [George Routledge & Sons 1877), 363pp.;
  • A Jewel of a Girl, 3 vols. (London: Hurst & Blackett 1877), 281, 286, 273pp., and Do. [another edn.] (London: George Routledge & Sons 1879), 383pp.;
  • Orange Lily, 2 vols. (London: Hurst & Blackett 1879), 282pp., 281pp.; Do. [another edn.] (London: George Routledge & Sons 1880), 374pp., and Do. [as Orange Lily and Other Tales] (London: George Routledge & Sons 1889);
  • Black Abbey, 3 vols. (London: Sampson Low, Martson, Searle & Rivington 1880, 1882);
  • ed., My Book of Friends: Pen and Ink Portraits byThemselves, arranged by M. Crommelin (London & NY: Routledge 1883 [or 1882]), 284pp.;
  • Miss Daisy Dimity, 3 vols. (London: Hurst & Blackett 1881), 319, 316, 281pp.; and Do. [2nd edn.] (London: George Routledge Sons 1883), 319pp., 8°;
  • In the West Countrie, 3 vols. (London: Hurst & Blackett 1883, 1885);
  • Joy, or The Light of Cold Home Ford, 3 vols. (London: Hurst & Blackett 1884), and Do. [another edn.] (London: Hurst & Blackett 1886), 367pp.;
  • Brown Eyes [Arrowsmith Christmas Annual] (Bristol: J. W. Arrowsmith 1882; London: Griffith & Farran, 1882), 128pp., and Do. [Arrowsmith’s Bristol Library] (Bristol: J. W. Arrowsmith 1884), 8°.
  • Goblin Gold (London & NY: Frederick Warne & Co. [1885]), 153pp.; Do. [another edn.], 1 vol. (London: Holden & Hardingham [1912]);
  • Love, the Pilgrim [3 vols] (London: Hurst & Blackett 1886), Do., rep. (London: George Routledge 1888), vi, 379pp.
  • Poets in the Garden (London: Fisher Unwin 1886), 256pp.;
  • Dead Men’s Dollars (Bristol: J. W. Arrowsmith; London Simpkin, Marshall & Co.[1887]), 304pp.;
  • Love, The Pilgrim, 3 vols. (London: Hurst & Blackett 1886), 299, 335, 315pp., and Do. (London: George Routledge & Sons 1888), iv, 379pp.;
  • with J[ames] Moray Brown, Violet Vyvian, M.F.H.: A Novel, 3 vols. (London: Hurst & Blackett 1889), 296, 287, 296pp.; Do. [2nd edn.], 1 vol. (London: J. V. White 1890), iv, 304pp. and Do. [3rd edn.] (London: White), iv, 304pp .[note];
  • For the Sake of the Family (London & Sydney: Eden, Remington & Co. 1892), 314pp., and Do. [3rd edn.; Greenback Ser. of Popular Novels] (London: Jarrold 1899), 314pp.;
  • The Freaks of Lady Fortune, 2 vols: (London: Hurst and Blackett 1889); Do. [another edn.] (F. V. White 1891, 1893), vi, 312pp.; Do. [Polish trans.] (1889);
  • Midge (London: Trischler & Co. 1890), 297pp. [3rd thousand];
  • Cross Roads, 3 vols. (London: Hurst & Blackett 1890), 299, 297, 284pp. and Do. [another edn.] as Love Knots, or Cross Roads (London & Sydney: Eden, Remington& Co. 1892), 354pp.;
  • Mr & Mrs Herries: A Novel in One Volume (London: Hutchinson 1892), 250pp.;
  • Dust Before the Wind, 2 vols. (London: Bliss, Sands & Foster 1894);
  • Half Round the World for a Husband: A Comedy of Errors (London: T. Fisher Unwin 1896), viii, 344pp. [ded. to Hon. Francis and Mrs. Pakenham, ‘in warm memory of a happy month spent at the Legation in Buenos Ayres’];
  • Over the Andes from Argentina to Chili and Peru (London: Richard Bentley & Son 1896), viii, 387pp., ill. [front.; 2 pls.]
  • ‘Divil May Care’; Alias Richard Burke, sometime Adjutant of the Black Northerners, 3 vols. (London: F. V. White & Co. 1899), x, 306pp. [ded. ‘To All Ulster Friends’];
  • Bay Ronald, 3 vols. (London: Hurst & Blackett 1893), 307, 323, 324pp.; and Do. [rev. edn. in Greenback Series] (London: Jarrold & Sons 1899);
  • Kinsah: A Daughter of Tangier [a story of harem life] (London: John Long 1899), 287pp., ill. [1 lf. of pls.; front. by Robert Sauber];
  • Bettina (London: John Long 1900), 271pp.;
  • The Vereker Family (London: John Long 1900), 333pp. [tales];
  • Bettina (London: John Long 1900);
  • The Luck of the Lowland Laddie (London: John Long 1900), 319pp.;
  • A Woman-Derelict (London: John Long [1901]), 316pp.
  • A Daughter of England (London: John Long [1902]), 347pp., 8°;
  • Partners Three (London: John Long 1903);
  • Phoebe of the White Farm (London: John Long 1903) [var. 1906]
  • Partners Three (London: John Long 1903);
  • Crimson Lilies (London: John Long 1903), 310pp., and Do. [pop. edn.] (London: John Long [1912]);
  • One Pretty Maid and Others (London: John Long 1904);
  • The White Lady (London: John Long 1905);
  • The House of Howe (London: John Long [1907]);
  • I Little Knew! (London: John Milne [1908]), vi, 319pp.
  • Lovers on the Green (London: Hutchinson 1910)
  • Madam Mystery: A Romance in Torraine (London: Hutchinson & Co. 1910);
  • with A. Williams, Isle of the Dead [1911];
  • Madam Mystery: A Romance in Torraine (Hutchinson & Co. 1910);
  • with A. Williams, Isle of the Dead (1911) [joint author-novel];
  • The Golden Bow (London: Holden & Hardingham 1912);
  • Little Soldiers (London: Hutchinson & Co [1914]), 39 col. ills. by Louis Wain
  • Pink Lotus: A Comedy in Kashmir (1914);
  • Sunshine on the Nile (Jarrolds [1920]);
  • Little Soldiers (London: Hutchinson & Co [1914]), ill. [by Louis Wain]
  • Pink Lotus, A Comedy in Kashmir (1914);
  • Sunshine on the Nile (London: Jarrolds [1920]);
  • Aunt Angel (London: Odhams Press [1921]);
  • Halfpenny House (London: Hurst & Blackett [1924]).
Miscellaneous
The Fate of Fenella: A Novel by Twenty-four authors (London: Hutchinson [Pater-noster Row] 1892), viii, 384pp. [contribs.: Helen Mathers, Mrs. Edward Kennard, Justin H. McCarthy, Richard Dowling, Mrs. Trollope, Mrs. Hungerford, A. Conan Doyle, Arthur A’Beckett. May Crommelin, Jean Middlemass, F. C. Phillips, Clement Scott, “Rita”, Clo[tilda] Graves, Joseph Hatton, H. W. Lucy, Mrs. Lovett Cameron, Adeline Sergeant, Bram Stoker, G. Manville Fenn, Florence Marryat, “Tasma” Frank Danby, and F. Anstey.
 
London Society [Christmas Number - Special Issue] (London: F. V. White 1892), 13, 111pp., ill. [2 lvs. of pls.]. Contents: “Stéphanie”, by the author of Miss Molly; “He and she!” by Curtis Yorke; “Madame Dubois' protége” by Mrs. Alexander Fraser; “The little black ghost” by May Crommelin; “Tennyson” Fayr Madoc; “Molly's mistake” by A. E. Noble; “Had he but known”, by Maud Mary Sykes.
 
Some Arts and Crafts (London: Chapman & Hall 1903), vii, 327pp., ill. [Contents: May Crommelin & Mrs. R. Barton Shaw, “Furniture and decoration”; Maria E. Reeks, “Wood carving”; Elinor Hallé, “The art of enamelling”; A. M. Clive Bayley, “Spinning and weaving”; Ethel M. M. M'Kenna, “Bookbinding”; Alice Hughes, “Photographic portraiture as a profession”.
 
The Woman's Library, 5 vols., ed. Ethel M. McKenna (London: Chapman 1903). Contents: Vol. 1. Janet E. Hogarth, Education and professions: The higher education of women; Beatrice Orange, Teaching as a profession for women; Louise Jopling, On the education or the artistic faculty; Mary Frances Billington, Women and journalism; Madge Kendal, Some pros and cons of theatrical life; Ethel F. Lamport, Medicine as a profession for women; Margaret H. Irwin, Public work for women on local government boards as factory inspectors; Mabyn Armour, Public work for women on local government boards as factory inspectors. Vol. 2: Ruth M. Day, Needlework: Embroidery; J. E. Davis, Dressmaking; Clara Hill, Millinery; Mrs. Turnbull & Miss Turnbull, Knitting and cr[o]chet. Vol. 3: Lady Isabel Margesson, Nursery and sickroom: On the ethical training of children; Ethel Lamport; H. F. Gethen, Nursing in and out of hospital. Vol. 4 [as in Some Arts and Crafts, supra]. Vol. 5: Cookery and housekeeping [Missing]. Vol. 6: The lighter branches of agriculture, by Edith Bradley and Bertha LaMothe: Market gardening; Fruit growing; Dairying; poultry keeping for utility and egg production; Bee-keeping; The marketing of produce, a key to the whole position; Women's agricultural.
 
[ The above combines catalogue listings of British Museum Library and Belfast Central Library, with additions from Copac. ]

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Note: Violet Vyvian, M.F.H.,, 3 vols. (London: Hurst & Blackett 1889) - written with with J[ames] Moray Brown - is available in Inda in paperback and OCR digital editions at Flipkart.com [accessed online; 16.06.2010]. The co-author Capt. J. M. Brown was an authority on riding, polo, and hunting being the author of Shikar Sketches (1887) and Stray Sport (1893) [M.F.H. is Master of the Fox Hunt.]

Criticism
Charlotte O’Conor Eccles, ‘Some Irishwomen in London,’ in Donohue 54 (1905) [biog. sketches of Mary and her sister Caroline]; John Metcalf, ‘North Down’s Literary Associations’, Supplement to The Bell [?] (Sept. 1993) [biog. details as in Life, supra].

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References
Stephen Brown, ed. Ireland in Fiction (Dublin: Maunsel 1919); no bio-dates, but indicates entry in Who’s Who. IF2, calls her a prolific novelist one of whose forefathers was Samuel-Louis Crommelin (1652-1727), b. Picardy, emig. Amsterdam, 1685, before founding the linen industry in Ulster on the invitation of William III. Orange Lily (1879) [Lily Keag, dg. Orangman, falls in love with servant boy, who returns wealthy from America to claim her]; Black Abbey (1880) [home life and marriage at ‘Black Abbey’, Co. Down; Bella’s ill-chosen marriage nearly wrecks the family]; ‘Divil-May-Care’ (1899) [humorous and exciting episodes of Indian officer – Richard Burke – home on leave, set in Antrim, with stage-Irish tinge]; The Golden Bow (1899) [sorrows and suitors in north of Ireland].

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Brian Cleeve & Anne Brady, A Dictionary of Irish Writers (Dublin: Lilliput 1985), cites same titles as Ireland in Fiction, ed. Stephen Brown (Dublin: Maunsel 1919), excepting ‘Divil-May-Care’ [ditto DUB; clearly after DIW];

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Ann Owens Weekes, ed., Unveiling Treasures: The Attic Guide to the Published Works of Irish Women Literary Writers: Drama, Fiction, Poetry (Dublin: Attic Press 1993), lists Orange Lily and Other Tales (London: Routledge 1889); Poets in the Garden (London: Fisher Unwin 1886), poetry; Cross-Roads, 3 vols. (London: Hurst & Blackett 1890), a novel; Over the Andes [to Chile] (London: Bentley 1896), travel; ‘Divil-May-Care’ [alias Richard Burke, &c. as infra] [8 vols., sic: err.] (1899), novel.

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Justin McCarthy, gen. ed., Irish Literature (Washington: University of America 1904), gives extract from The Luck of a Lowland Laddie.

Kate Newmann, ed., Dictionary of Ulster Biography (Belfast: QUB/IIS 1993); adds that Louis brought a colony of Huguenots to Ireland, having investigated the linen industry throughout the country in 1697; established a factory on the Lagan at Bridge St., Lisburn; appointed Overseer of the Royal Linen Manufacture of Ireland in 1699; opened factory in Kilkenny in 1705.

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Notes
John Masefield: Masefield married a Constance de la Cherois Crommelin, prob. a cousin of Mary.

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