Fanny Talbot (née) Browne (1824–1917) was a landowner and philanthropist, and a friend and correspondent of the influential art critic

John Ruskin John Ruskin (8 February 1819 20 January 1900) was an English writer, philosopher, art critic and polymath of the Victorian era. He wrote on subjects as varied as geology, architecture, myth, ornithology, literature, education, botany and politi ...

. She is noted for donating the first property— of land known as Cliff of Light (''Dinas Oleu'' in

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...

), at

Barmouth Barmouth ( cy, Abermaw (formal); ''Y Bermo'' (colloquial)) is a seaside town and community (Wales), community in the county of Gwynedd, northwestern Wales, lying on the estuary of the Afon Mawddach and Cardigan Bay. Located in the Historic coun ...

Gwynedd Gwynedd (; ) is a county and preserved county (latter with differing boundaries; includes the Isle of Anglesey) in the north-west of Wales. It shares borders with Powys, Conwy County Borough, Denbighshire, Anglesey over the Menai Strait, and C ...

—to the

National Trust The National Trust, formally the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, is a charity and membership organisation for heritage conservation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In Scotland, there is a separate and ...

Life and works

Fanny Browne was born in

Bridgwater Bridgwater is a large historic market town and civil parish in Somerset, England. Its population currently stands at around 41,276 as of 2022. Bridgwater is at the edge of the Somerset Levels, in level and well-wooded country. The town lies alon ...

, Somerset, in 1824, the daughter of Mary and John Browne. In 1850, she married George Tertius Talbot and they had one son George Quartus (Quarry) Talbot, born in 1854. The couple lived in the household of her parents in Bridgwater. She moved to Ty'n-y-Ffynon, a cottage in

, North Wales following her husband’s death in 1873 aged 47 and devoted herself to local philanthropic work. At the end of 1874, Talbot made Ruskin an offer, through a mutual friend, for the

Guild of St George The Guild of St George is a charitable Education Trust, based in England but with a worldwide membership, which tries to uphold the values and put into practice the ideas of its founder, John Ruskin (1819–1900). History Ruskin, a Victorian ...

, of twelve or thirteen cottages and a 4.5-acre area of land at Barmouth. Her generous offer astonished Ruskin and their friendship was established on a note of great cordiality. Talbot’s correspondence with Ruskin continued until 1889. Both were keen chess players and played games by correspondence. Among other subjects they discussed were the Guild of St George and Talbot's son, Quartus (Quarry), an aspiring artist. Of Talbot, Ruskin wrote: "She's a motherly, bright, black-eyed woman of fifty with a nice married son who is a superb chessplayer. She herself is a very good one, and it's her greatest indulgence to have a written game with me. She's an excellent nurse, and curious beyond any magpie that ever was, but always giving her spoons away instead of stealing them. Practically clever beyond most women; but if you answer one question she'll ask you six!" Talbot supported

Canon Rawnsley Hardwicke Drummond Rawnsley (29 September 1851 – 28 May 1920) was an Anglican priest, poet, local politician and conservationist. He became nationally and internationally known as one of the three founders of the National Trust for Places of ...

Octavia Hill Octavia Hill (3 December 1838 – 13 August 1912) was an English Reform movement, social reformer, whose main concern was the welfare of the inhabitants of cities, especially London, in the second half of the nineteenth century. Born into a fa ...

and other public-minded citizens in the work of founding the National Trust. She donated ''Dinas Oleu'' to the National Trust after its foundation in 1895. ''Oleu'' is a stretch of rugged hillside, to which a further have since been added. Talbot lived at Ty'n-y-Ffynon until her death in 1917. She had shared her home with her friend Blanche Atkinson, novelist and author of children's book, who died in 1911. The house bears a memorial plaque for Talbot.

References

External links

Fanny Talbot on Barmouth history siteFanny Talbot on Bridgwater history site

* ttp://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/nature/galleries/weatherman_barmouth/08/ Barmouth walk gallerybr>National Trust Images: Mrs Fanny Talbot
{{DEFAULTSORT:Talbot, Fanny 1824 births 1917 deaths People from Bridgwater English philanthropists English humanitarians Housing reformers Women of the Victorian era National Trust people 19th-century landowners Guild of St George