Mary Charlotte Julia Leith (née Gordon)
(1840-1926), Writer, translator and illustrator; wife of Robert William Disney Leith; daughter of Sir Henry Percy Gordon, 2nd BtSitter in 1 portrait
Mary Charlotte Julia Leith (née Gordon)
by Camille Silvy
albumen print, 30 June 1862
NPG Ax59946
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Jeremy Mitchell and Janet Powney
30 May 2022, 15:50
Mary Charlotte Julia Gordon was born on 9 July 1840, the only child of Sit Henry Percy GordonFRS, second baronet (1817-86) and his wife, Mary Agnes Blanche née Ashburnham (1816-99), daughter of George Ashburnham, third earl of Ashburnham. She was educated at home (North Court, Shorwell, Isle of Wight) and was taught mathematics, ancient Greek and Latin. . She became fluent in German, French and Italian and was self-taught in Icelandic. Growing up, she developed a close relationship with her cousin, the poet Swinburne, and the two became soul-mates. To Swinburne's dismay, on 14 June 1865 she married Colonel Robert William Disney Leith (1819-92), who had lost an arm in the Sikh wars. There were four daughters and two sons of the marriage. Mary became a prolific writer, producing 15 novels and three volumes of verse over the years. Everything she wrote while her husband was alive was published anonymously, but after her husband's death she used her married name of Mrs Disney Leith. She also embarked on an annual visit to Iceland, often accompanied by some of her family, travelling rough by pony across the rugged terrain. These expeditions resulted in two books and a number of other publications about Iceland and its people. Her best remembered book is The Boyhood of Algernon Charles Swinburne, published simultaneously in London and New York in 1917. After her death, she was the subject of an obituary in The Times, an unusual event for a woman at that time.