Re: Elizabeth Gerrard Barrett b 13 Nov 1857, d13 May 1932, Relationship??
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In reply to:
Elizabeth Gerrard Barrett b 13 Nov 1857, d13 May 1932, Relationship??
Joan Elliott 9/01/02
Hi there,
All I can tell you is that Elizabeth Barrett Browning was the eldest of twelve children. However her widower father had forbidden his adult children to marry as he was neurotically possessive.
Elizabeth met Robert Browning when she was 40 and married him secretly. Her father never communicated with her again. For years she wrote him weekly but he never opened her letters. Elizabeth & Robert moved to Italy where the health of the frail Elizabeth improved enough, after three miscarriages, for her to give birth to her only child, nicknamed "Pen", when she was 43.
Her son "Pen" married but died childless, and thus was his parents' only descendant.
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According to his biography:
"...Pen's will could not be found, and as he had no descendants, his estranged wife and his sixteen Barrett cousins claimed his estate..."
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Now whether these "sixteen Barrett cousins" were 1st cousins or what I couldn't say. To be 1st cousins it would mean that some of Elizabeth's brothers must have defied their father as well and married.
You can visit the Armstrong Browning Library's web site at:
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http://www.browninglibrary.org/ebrowning.htmhttp://www.browninglibrary.org/ebrowning.htm
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and read a bios for Elizabeth, Robert & "Pen", but there are other sites on line that may offer even more on the Barrett family.
Just type Elizabeth's name into your search engine of choice.
Bye for now,
Kathleen