Author: Lenox-Conyngham, Elizabeth Emmet
Biography:
LENOX-CONYNGHAM, Elizabeth Emmet, formerly HOLMES (1801-89: DIB)
She was the only child of Robert Holmes (1755-1859) and his wife Mary Anne Emmet (1773-1805), born on 22 Dec. 1801 and baptised on 8 Jan. 1802 at Eustace Street Presbyterian Church, Dublin. Her father was a well-known barrister, twice imprisoned during the rebellions of 1798 and 1803. His rebel sympathies and refusal to accept patronage hindered his advancement. On his retirement, he went to London where he lived with his daughter in Eaton Square. He died there on 7 Oct. 1859 with his death ignored in the English press but widely reported in Ireland. Her mother was the sister of Robert Emmet (1778-1803) who was executed for his part in the 1803 rebellion; another brother, Thomas Addis Emmet (1764-1827) went into exile. Mary Anne Holmes died of consumption in 1805. Her poem "The Exile to his Country" was printed by Elizabeth in The Dream (1833). She married George Lenox Conyngham (1797-1866), Chief Clerk in the Foreign Office, on 4 May 1827 at Castleknock, Co. Dublin. They had a son and a daughter and lived in London. Her husband died 26 Nov. 1866 at their home at 108 Eaton Square, leaving an estate of £35,000. She died 23 Oct. 1889 at 27 Cheyne Walk, Chelsea. Both were buried in Brompton Cemetery. She left an estate of £2500. She published four collections of poetry which included translations from German: The Dream (1833), Hella 1836), Horae Poeticae (1859) and Eiler and Helvig (1863). Charles Stuart Stanford, editor of the Dublin Magazine, recalled her as "Elizabeth Holmes . . . 'the admired of all admirers.' Even then her reputation as a German scholar was remarkable, and she was, perhaps, the first lady in this country who made German literature her study.” (DIB; Dublin University Magazine Jul. 1834, 116; Morning Post 12 May 1827, 27 Nov. 1866; Dublin Evening Mail 5 Dec. 1859, 2 Nov. 1889) AA
Other Names:
- Mrs. George Lenox-Conyngham