Best known work

• Red Pottage, 1899

Other well known work(s)

• The Danvers Jewels, 1887
• Sir Charles Danvers, 1889
• Diana Tempest, 1893
• Moth and Rust, 1902
• Prisoners, 1906
• Under One Roof, 1918
• The Romance of His Life, 1921

Genres

• Fiction - Short Stories
• Fiction - Novels

Nom de plume

None

Social class

Upper class

Parental background

Well-connected with aristocratic relatives of old Yorkshire families. Father and grandfather and great-grandfather and were rectors.

At publication of best known work

• Age: 40
• Marital status: Unmarried
• Number of children: 0

Physical description

ICVWW supporter and Cholmondeley fan Brenda Ayres suggests that Cholmondeley did not think that she was either attractive or clever, and she was sure that no one would want to marry her. Her obituary in The Times describes her as "grave, quiet, low-voiced, with a kind of gracious and dignified angularity, Mary Cholmondeley looked exactly what she was - an Englishwoman of good old stock" (July 17, 1925).

Did you know?

At the age of 16, her mother’s health had so severely declined, Cholmondeley had to take over running the household which included 18 servants. She wanted to do more with her life though than home duties, and so she wrote. Cholmondeley was the aunt of the modernist novelist Stella Benson. Mary’s uncle, Bishop Reginald Heber, published several famous hymns including 'Holy holy holy'.

Additional information

Created by ICVWW Director Carolyn Oulton, this site provides a comprehensive overview of Cholmondeley's life and works. Jane Crisp quotes excerpts of Cholmondeley's works and letters in her detailed biog.