Anne Ramsden Bennett Archive

Biographical History

Anne Ramsden Bennett, née Gladstone, was born in Liverpool in 1817 to David Gladstone (1783-1863) and Emmeline Ramsden (1797-1885). Her father, David Gladstone, a Liverpool merchant, was the younger brother of Sir John Gladstone, 1st Baronet (1764-1851). She was the cousin of William Ewart Gladstone (1809-1898).

Ramsden Bennett was the eldest child of seven children. Her siblings were George Gladstone (1819-1847), Harriet Emmeline Gladstone (1821-1905), David Thomas Gladstone (1823-1888), Charles Alexander Gladstone (1824-1855), Henry John Gladstone (1826-1915) and Eliza Catherine Gladstone (1830-1910). 

Ramsden Bennett worked as a literary assistant and translator of modern language texts. She shared a long literary collaboration with William Ewart Gladstone, working on texts with him such as Juventus Mundi. Their collaboration ended in 1871 after Ramsden Bennett converted to Catholicism. Ramsden Bennett also copied historical manuscripts for the historian J. A. Froude, after being introduced by their mutual friend John William Parker, the editor of Fraser’s Magazine from July 1847 until November 1860.

Through Parker, Ramsden Bennett also met Mary Ellen Meredith in 1860. Ramsden Bennett and Mary Ellen Meredith became good friends. When Mary Ellen Meredith died, she left some papers to Ramsden Bennett, who also took care of Mary’s son, Harold.

In 1836, Ramsden Bennett married Thomas France Bennett, a Liverpool merchant. They had eight children, Elizabeth Anne Bennett, Mary Jane Bennett, John Gladstone Bennett, James J. Bennett, Alice Bennett, John Henry Bennett, Theodore Joseph Bennett, and Ellen Lane Bennett.    

Ramsden Bennett died in Switzerland at La Favorite Vevey Vaud, 24th January 1906.

Scope and Content

The contents of the Anne Ramsden Bennett Archive date from 1804 to 1949. They contain personal correspondence and papers related to Ramsden Bennett’s life and work, correspondence and papers from other members of the Ramsden and the Gladstone families, and some of the correspondence and papers of Ramsden Bennett’s close friend, Mary Ellen Meredith.

Anne Ramsden Bennett collected her correspondence with family members and between other family members, as well as some of their papers. Family members featured include:

·        David Gladstone (father)

·        Emmeline Gladstone (née Ramsden, mother)

·        Thomas Ramsden (grandfather)

·        Anne Ramsden (grandmother)

·        David Thomas Gladstone (brother, Rev., the Vicar of Rye)

·        Margaret Gladstone (sister-in-law, wife of David Thomas Gladstone)

·        Eliza Catherine Nimmo (née Gladstone, sister)

·        Eliza Williams (Lily) Nimmo (niece, daughter of Eliza Catherine Nimmo and Thomas Nimmo)

·        Lieutenant George Gladstone (brother)

·        Lieutenant Charles Alexander Gladstone (brother)

·        John G. Bennett (son)

·        Ethel Gladstone (niece, daughter of David Thomas Gladstone and Margaret Gladstone)

·        William Ewart Gladstone (cousin)

·        Robert Gladstone Junior (cousin)

·        Hugh Williamson Gladstone (cousin)

·        William Henry Gladstone (first cousin once removed)

·        Stephen Edward Gladstone (first cousin once removed)

Some of the family papers include her father, David Gladstone’s, journal from the summer of 1813 in Iceland, notes taken by Ramsden Bennett based on the recollections of her mother and grandparents ‘during a residence of many years at Dunkirk’ when Napoleon Bonaparte and his wife Josephine stayed in the adjacent property during Napoleon’s time as First Consul, papers relating to the genealogy of the Gladstone and Bennett families, and family photographs.

There is also personal correspondence between Thomas Love Peacock and his daughter Mary Ellen Meredith and Anne Ramsden Bennett, and professional correspondence and papers related to Ramsden Bennett’s work as a literary assistant and translator including her collaborations with William Ewart Gladstone, Alex MacMillan (of Macmillan & Co.), and James Anthony Froude.

After Mary Ellen Meredith’s death, Anne Ramsden Bennett took in some of her correspondence and papers. This includes verses written by Mary Ellen Meredith and sent to John W. Parker (editor of Fraser’s Magazine), some of the papers of Mary Ellen Meredith’s father, Thomas Love Peacock, including corrected proofs of parts of Chapelle and Bachaumont and Gryll Grange, drawings by the artist, Henry Wallis, and a letter from Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley.

The archive reflects literary and artistic circles in the nineteenth century, the literary contribution of women at this time when many women like Ramsden Bennett were employed as literary assistants and translators, Anne Ramsden Bennet’s close friendship with Mary Ellen Meredith, her evolving relationship with William Ewart Gladstone, and the histories of the Gladstone and the Bennett families.

Notable people featured in the archive aside from Anne Ramsden Bennett include: William Ewart Gladstone, Mary Ellen Meredith, James Anthony Froude, Thomas Love Peacock, Henry Wallis, J. W. Parker, Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, and Napoleon and Josephine Bonaparte.

Physical Description and Extent

The Anne Ramsden Bennett Archive consists of 3 boxes. Records are mostly paper and include letters, journals, notes, newspaper cuttings, and drawings, but there are also photographs, a pressed flower, and a silver model of a rudder.

Provenance

After Anne Ramsden Bennett’s death the archive passed to her grandchild, Adele Mary Bennett. When she died in 1955 it was passed it to her niece Muriel Grindrod. She, on her death in 1984, left them to her niece, Mrs Patricia Mary Walsh who in the same year deposited them as a gift in St. Deiniol’s Library (now Gladstone’s Library) through her mother, Mrs P. Grindrod of Hambledown, Kent.

Arrangement

The archive is believed to be in the arrangement that it was deposited at Gladstone’s Library in, however, no records exist to prove whether this is the case.

The archive is divided into two series: correspondence and papers. The correspondence is divided into sub-series by individual. These include: David Gladstone, Emmeline Gladstone, David Thomas Gladstone, Anne Ramsden Bennett, Eliza Williams (Lily) Nimmo, Ethel Gladstone, and Miscellaneous.

The papers are divided into sub-series by individual and then by type. These include: David Gladstone, David Thomas Gladstone, George and Charles Alexander Gladstone, Anne Ramsden Bennett, Thomas Love Peacock, Mary Meredith, Genealogical papers, Photographs, etc., and Miscellaneous.

Access and Finding Aid

The catalogue for the archive is available to be viewed here.

The majority of the archive is available to be viewed upon request. To arrange a viewing, complete the Request to View Archives form and email it to [email protected] at least 14 day's prior to your intended visit.

As some of the records in this archive are from the 1940s some items are restricted under GDPR. In these cases, they may only be viewed by individuals completing historical, scientific, or statistical research and with a view to publish some journalistic, academic, artistic, or literary material that is in the public interest. If any of the material that you have requested does contain personal data, you will be sent an application form that enables us to check that your request is lawful.

Reprographics

All reprographics queries should be directed to [email protected]. Information about Gladstone’s Library’s reprographics services can be found here.

Related Collections

Letters to Anne Ramsden Bennett from Sir Stephen Glynne, 1867-74, are in the Glynne-Gladstone Archive (GG/28), as are some of her recollections of her early life (GG/1962-1963).

William Ewart Gladstone owned copies of Anne Ramsden Bennett’s translations of Imitation of the Most Blessed Virgin (1897, classmark WEG/F 36/BEN) and of Saint Francis de Sales’ Guide for Confession and Communion (1896, classmark G/30/12), both originally written in French, as well as an enlarged edition of Meditations for all the days of the year for the use of priests, religious, and the faithful (Classmark F 36/110). These can be found in the Gladstone’s Library’s Reading Rooms.

Correspondence between William Ewart Gladstone and Ramsden Bennett (1851-97) are among the Gladstone Papers in the British Library.

Additional Information

 You can read a blog post about the archive here.