MS 681 17

Reference code

MS 681 17

Title

Moulton-Barrett family papers: Papers and portraits of Georgiana Elizabeth (Lizzie) Moulton-Barrett (née Barrett) (1833-1918)

Level

Series

Administrative / Biographical history

Georgiana Elizabeth Moulton-Barrett (1833-1918), known as Lizzie, was the daughter of George Goodin Barrett (1792-1854) and Elizabeth Turner, and sister of Edward George Barrett (1822-1907) and Richard Barrett (1824-1844). She was born in Milverton, Warwickshire. Shortly after her birth. Lizzie's mother became mentally ill and spent the rest of her life in an institution.She was first sent to a boarding school at Leamington. By March 1844 Lizzie attended a boarding school ran by Marianne Depledge Sykes (1822-96) and her mother, located 20 York Buildings, New Road, in London When school was not in session she lived with her cousins the Moulton-Barretts at nearby 50 Wimpole Street and also visited them during the term. When she began to form an attachment to her cousin Alfred Price Moulton-Barrett (1820-1904), his father Edward sent Lizzie back to her cousin in Leamington.

In 1855, she married her cousin Alfred in Paris. Like his sisters Elizabeth and Henrietta, Alfred was disinherited by his father for marrying against his wishes. The couple lived on Lizzie’s inheritance and with support from her brother Edward George Barrett. The marriage in some respects reconnected the divided branches of the Barrett family, who had been involved in lengthy and acrimonious legal disputes over the Jamaican estates in the 1820s and 1830s.

Lizzie was a skilled artist and portrait painter. She made copies of several miniature portraits of the Barrett family which have been passed down in the family (see MS 681 24). She and Alfred lived in France and Belgium until he died at Saint Jean de Luz, France in 1904. Lizzie died in London in 1918. The couple had four children: Edward Alfred, Alice Elizabeth, George Goodin and Mary Ethel.

Date

1843-1907

Extent & medium

3 files and 11 items

Content description

These papers comprise family and personal papers, drawings, photographs and objects of Georgiana Elizabeth (Lizzie) Moulton-Barrett

Arrangement

The papers have been arranged into 4 series:

01 Family and personal papers
02 Portraits of GEB
03 Drawings by GEB
04 Photographs of and belonging to GEB
05 Objects

Associated material

See items relating to Lizzie Moulton-Barrett in papers of her husband Alfred Moulton-Barrett in MS 681 16; in papers of her father George Goodin Barrett MS 681 06 and her brother Edward George Barrett in MS 681 18 07.

Publication note

Some of these papers have been published or cited in Kelley, Hudson et al.: The Brownings’ Correspondence Vols 1-31, 1809-1865 - as Letter numbers or ‘Supporting Documents’ (SDs) Nos. Also, transcripts of some letters and documents have been published online at www.browningscorrespondence.com