Rosina Bulwer Lytton
Encyclopedia
Rosina Bulwer Lytton wrote and published fourteen novels, a volume of essays and a volume of letters. Her husband was Edward Bulwer-Lytton, a novelist and politician. She spelled her married surname without the hyphen
used by her husband.
, the daughter of a prebendary
from Fennor Parish, County Tipperary
, Ireland
. Her father was Francis Massey Wheeler.
His writing and efforts in the political arena took a toll upon their marriage, and the couple legally separated in 1836. Her children were taken from her. In 1839, her novel, Cheveley, or the Man of Honour, in which Edward Bulwer-Lytton was bitterly caricatured, was published.
In June 1858, when her husband was standing as parliamentary candidate for Hertfordshire
, she appeared at the hustings and indignantly denounced him. She was consequently placed under restraint as insane, but liberated a few weeks later following a public outcry. This was chronicled in her book A Blighted Life. For years she continued her attacks upon her husband's character; she would outlive him by nine years.
Hyphen
The hyphen is a punctuation mark used to join words and to separate syllables of a single word. The use of hyphens is called hyphenation. The hyphen should not be confused with dashes , which are longer and have different uses, or with the minus sign which is also longer...
used by her husband.
Family life
Her mother was the writer and advocate of political rights for women, Anna Doyle WheelerAnna Doyle Wheeler
Anna Doyle Wheeler was a writer and advocate of political rights for women and the benefits of contraception. She married Francis Massey Wheeler when she was aged 15 and they separated 12 years later...
, the daughter of a prebendary
Prebendary
A prebendary is a post connected to an Anglican or Catholic cathedral or collegiate church and is a type of canon. Prebendaries have a role in the administration of the cathedral...
from Fennor Parish, County Tipperary
County Tipperary
County Tipperary is a county of Ireland. It is located in the province of Munster and is named after the town of Tipperary. The area of the county does not have a single local authority; local government is split between two authorities. In North Tipperary, part of the Mid-West Region, local...
, Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
. Her father was Francis Massey Wheeler.
Marriage
Rosina Doyle Wheeler married Edward Bulwer-Lytton (at that time surnamed simply Bulwer) on 29 August 1827. This was against his mother's wishes, and so she withdrew his allowance and he was forced to work for a living.His writing and efforts in the political arena took a toll upon their marriage, and the couple legally separated in 1836. Her children were taken from her. In 1839, her novel, Cheveley, or the Man of Honour, in which Edward Bulwer-Lytton was bitterly caricatured, was published.
In June 1858, when her husband was standing as parliamentary candidate for Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England. The county town is Hertford.The county is one of the Home Counties and lies inland, bordered by Greater London , Buckinghamshire , Bedfordshire , Cambridgeshire and...
, she appeared at the hustings and indignantly denounced him. She was consequently placed under restraint as insane, but liberated a few weeks later following a public outcry. This was chronicled in her book A Blighted Life. For years she continued her attacks upon her husband's character; she would outlive him by nine years.
Children
They had two children:- Lady Emily Elizabeth Bulwer-Lytton (17 June 1828 - 29 April 1848)
- (Edward) Robert Lytton Bulwer-LyttonRobert Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Earl of LyttonEdward Robert Lytton Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Earl of Lytton, GCB, GCSI, GCIE, PC was an English statesman and poet...
(8 November 1831 - 24 November 1891); Viceroy of British India from 1876-1880.
Works
- Cheveley: or, The Man of Honour (1839)
- The Budget of the Bubble Family (1840)
- The Prince-Duke and the Page: An Historical Novel (1843)
- Bianca Cappello: An Historical Romance (1844)
- Memoirs of a Muscovite (1844)
- The Peer's Daughters: A Novel (1849)
- Miriam Sedley, or the Tares and the Wheat: A Tale of Real Life (1850)
- The School for Husbands: or Moliére's Life and Times (1852)
- Behind the Scenes, A Novel (1854)
- The World and His Wife, or a Person of Consequence, a Photographic Novel (1858)
- Very Successful (1859)
- The Household Fairy (1870)
- Where there's a Will there's a Way (1871)
- Chumber Chase (1871)
- Mauleverer's Divorce (1871)
- Shells from the Sands of Time (1876)
- A Blighted LifeA Blighted LifeA Blighted Life is an 1880 book by Rosina Bulwer Lytton chronicling the events surrounding her incarceration in a Victorian madhouse by her husband Edward Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Baron Lytton and her subsequent release a few weeks later.-Further reading:...
(1880) - Refutation of an Audacious Forgery of the Dowager Lady's name to a book of the Publication of which she was totally Ignorant (1880)