Lilian, Lady Richmond Brown

Lilian Alice Mabel, Lady Richmond Brown (née Lilian Alice Mabel Roussel) FZS FLS FRGS FRAI (1885 – October 4, 1946) was an English explorer and author.

Lilian, Lady Richmond Brown

FZS FLS FRGS FRAI
Born
Lilian Alice Mabel Roussel

1885
Guernsey, Channel Islands
Died4 October 1946(1946-10-04) (aged 60–61)
Rye, Sussex, England
Occupation(s)Explorer, author
Spouse
​
​
(m. 1906; div. 1930)​

Early life

Lilian, who was known as "Mabs", was born in 1885.[1] She was a daughter of Robert Roussel who lived at Rohais at Guernsey in the Channel Islands, where she was born.[2]

Explorer

Reportedly after being told she only had a few months to live in the early 1920s, she took up exploring.[3][4][5] In spring 1925, Lilian, F. A. Mitchell-Hedges and amateur archaeologist Thomas Gann travelled to the Mayan ruins at Lubaantun in British Honduras (today known as Belize). They obtained relics for the British Museum.[6]

She was appointed a Fellow of the Zoological Society of London, Fellow of the Linnean Society, Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, and a Fellow of the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland.[7]

Published works

Lady Richmond Brown wrote several articles for magazines and newspapers and, in 1924, published one book, In Unknown Tribes: Uncharted Seas detailing her adventures in the Caribbean and Panama.[8][9]

Personal life

On 27 February 1906, twenty-one year old Lilian married Melville Richmond Brown (1866–1944), three months before he succeeded his father, Sir William Richmond Brown, 2nd Baronet, as the third baronet.[10] The wedding took place at the register office at Christchurch, Hampshire and they lived for a time at White Rock, in Brockenhurst. In May 1910, her husband's affairs were place under the control of a guardian, Sir Melville's younger brother Frederick, due to his "lunacy."[11] She filed for judicial separation in 1909, but they were not divorced until November 1930, with her husband's guardian naming Mitchell-Hedges as co-respondent.[12][11]

Sir Melville, who did not remarry, died on 20 February 1944.[7] Lady Richmond Brown died on October 4, 1946, after several months' illness, at Lodge Playdon, near Rye, Sussex.[3]

References
  1. "Lilian Mabel Alice ('Mabs') (née Roussel), Lady Richmond Brown - National Portrait Gallery". www.npg.org.uk. National Portrait Gallery, London. Retrieved 18 January 2022.
  2. Burke's Genealogical and Heraldic History of Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage. Burke's Peerage Limited. 1914. p. 311. Retrieved 18 January 2022.
  3. Times, Special to THE NEW YORK TIMES The New York (5 October 1946). "LADY BROWN, NOTED AS AN EXPLORER, 63; Leader of Several Expeditions to Central America Dies-- Made Indian Discoveries". The New York Times. Retrieved 18 January 2022.
  4. "Woman's blouse". americanindian.si.edu. National Museum of the American Indian. Retrieved 18 January 2022.
  5. "A Woman in the World's Far Places; Lady Richmond Brown's Adventures Among Unknown and Savage Tribes UNKNOWN TRIBES: UNCHARTED SEAS. By Lady Richmond Brown, F.L.S., F.R.G.S., F.R.S., F.R.A.I. 268 pp., with 52 illustrations. New York: D. Appleton & Co". The New York Times. 25 January 1925. Retrieved 18 January 2022.
  6. "Collections Online | Lady Richmond-Brown". www.britishmuseum.org. British Museum. Retrieved 18 January 2022.
  7. Mosley, Charles, editor. Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage, 107th edition, 3 volumes. Wilmington, Delaware, U.S.A.: Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd, 2003, volume 1, page 540.
  8. Lyons, Imogen (25 January 2016). "Lady Richmond Brown: Adventurer, Archaeologist and Angler". intriguing-people.com. Intriguing People. Retrieved 18 January 2022.
  9. Kanner, Barbara; Decker, Jane (1997). Women in Context: Two Hundred Years of British Women Autobiographers, a Reference Guide and Reader. G.K. Hall. p. 146. ISBN 978-0-8161-7346-4. Retrieved 18 January 2022.
  10. Fox-Davies, Arthur Charles (1910). Armorial Families: A Directory of Gentlemen of Coat-armour. T.C. & E.C. Jack. p. 202. Retrieved 18 January 2022.
  11. "BARONET'S WIFE. EXPLORER AS CO-RESPONDENT DIVORCE DECREE FOR SIR M. RICHMOND BROWN. MR. F. MITCHELL HEDGES STEWARDESS IN LINER GIVES EVIDENCE". Evening Standard. 11 November 1930. p. 17. Retrieved 18 January 2022.
  12. TIMES, Special Cable to THE NEW YORK (11 June 1930). "EXPLORER IS CORESPONDENT; Sir M. Richmond-Brown Sues, Naming F.A. Mitchell-Hedges". The New York Times. Retrieved 18 January 2022.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.