Mary Benson (née Sidgwick; 1841–1918) was an English hostess of the Victorian era. She was the wife of Edward Benson, who during their marriage became Archbishop of Canterbury. Their children included several prolific authors and contributors to cultural life. During her marriage, she was involved with Lucy Tait (11 February 1856 – 5 December 1938), daughter of the previous Archbishop of Canterbury. She was described by William Gladstone, the British Prime Minister, as the 'cleverest woman in Europe'.
Life
Mary Sidgwick was born in Britain in 1841, at Skipton, Yorkshire, the only daughter of Rev. William Sidgwick of Skipton, Yorkshire, who was a headmaster, and his wife, Mary (née Crofts), whose parents were the Rev. William Crofts, B.D., vicar of North Grimston, and Miss Carr of Bolton Abbey, who were married at York in 1804.[a][1][2] She was the youngest of six children, and was nicknamed Minnie.[3] Among her older brothers was the philosopher Henry Sidgwick.
After her husband's death in 1896 Mary set up household with Lucy Tait, daughter of the previous archbishop of Canterbury, Archibald Campbell Tait, who had first moved in with the Bensons in 1889.[5]
Martin White Benson – A prodigy who raised high hopes with his academic excellence, but died from meningitis at the age of 17.
Arthur Christopher Benson – An academic at Cambridge University, author of popular books in his time, and now remembered for his lyrics to Elgar's "Land of Hope and Glory".
Margaret Benson (Maggie) – An amateur Egyptologist who was committed to a psychiatric institution in her later life, following a now unclear incident involving her mother and possibly Lucy Tait.
Edward Frederic Benson – a socialiser in London's high society and author of much popular fiction, including "Mapp and Lucia".
Mary Eleanor 'Nellie' Benson – social worker. Died of diphtheria at the age of 27.
Robert Hugh Benson – Church of England priest, converted to Roman Catholicism and author of popular religious and supernatural novels centred on apologetic themes of his religion.
Simon Goldhill, A Very Queer Family Indeed: Sex, Religion, and the Bensons in Victorian Britain (2016)
Rodney Bolt, As Good as God, as Clever as the Devil: The Impossible Life of Mary Benson (2011) (republished in paperback as Rodney Bolt – The Impossible Life Of Mary Benson – The Extraordinary Story of a Victorian Wife, 2012)
Gwen Watkins, E. F. Benson & His Family and Friends (2003)
G. Palmer & N. Lloyd, Father of the Bensons (1998)
Janet Grayson, Robert Hugh Benson: Life and Works (1998)
Betty Asquith, The Bensons ... (reprint 1994)
Brian Masters, The Life of E. F. Benson (1991)
David H. Newsome, On the Edge of Paradise: A. C. Benson the Diarist (1980)
David Williams, Genesis and Exodus: A Portrait of the Benson Family (1979)
E. F. Benson, As We Were (1930)
Percy Lubbock, The Diary of Arthur Christopher Benson (1926)
E. F. Benson, Mother (1925)
E. F. Benson, Our Family Affairs 1867–1896 (1920)
A. C. Benson, Life and Letters of Maggie Benson (1917)
C. C. Martindale, The Life of Monsignor Robert Hugh Benson (2 vols., 1916)
A. C. Benson, Hugh, Memoirs of a Brother (1915)
A. C. Benson, The Life of Edward White Benson ... (2 vols., 1899)