Gwendoline Maud Plunket Greene (; 6 February 187829 July 1959) was an English writer on religion.

Early life and family

Gwendoline Maud Parry was born on 6 February 1878 in

Kensington Kensington is a district in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in the West End of London, West of Central London. The district's commercial heart is Kensington High Street, running on an east–west axis. The north-east is taken up b ...

, London, the daughter of Sir Charles Hubert Hastings Parry, 1st Baronet, a composer, teacher and historian of music, and Lady Elizabeth Maud Herbert, daughter of Sidney Herbert, 1st Baron Herbert of Lea and

Elizabeth Herbert, Baroness Herbert of Lea Mary Elizabeth Herbert, Baroness Herbert of Lea (née Ashe à Court-Repington; 21 July 1822 – 30 October 1911), known simply as Elizabeth Herbert, was an English Roman Catholic writer, translator, philanthropist, and influential social figure ...

. Her elder sister, Dorothea "Dolly" Parry (1876–1963), married the politician

Arthur Ponsonby, 1st Baron Ponsonby of Shulbrede Arthur Augustus William Harry Ponsonby, 1st Baron Ponsonby of Shulbrede (16 February 1871 – 23 March 1946), was a British politician, writer, and social activist. He was the son of Henry Ponsonby, Sir Henry Ponsonby, Private Secretary to Que ...

in 1898, and had a son and a daughter, the " Bright Young Things"

Elizabeth Ponsonby Hon. Elizabeth Ponsonby (28 December 190031 July 1940) was an English aristocrat who was a prominent member of the Bright Young Things, well-connected socialites who featured heavily in the contemporary tabloid press for what were perceived to be ...

and

Matthew Ponsonby, 2nd Baron Ponsonby of Shulbrede Matthew Henry Herbert Ponsonby, 2nd Baron Ponsonby of Shulbrede (26 July 190429 April 1976) was a British peer. Life Ponsonby was the son of Arthur Ponsonby, by his marriage to Dorothea Parry. He was educated at Leighton Park School and Balliol C ...

. The Parry sisters grew up amidst "the heart of late Victorian musical and artistic society", as Greene would later tell Evelyn Waugh, friend to her children. She mentioned dinner parties with Beatrix Potter and

Oscar Wilde Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 185430 November 1900) was an Irish poet and playwright. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of the most popular playwrights in London in the early 1890s. He is ...

. As a child Gwen Greene was very attractive and she won a beauty show as a teenager. She was an accomplished violinist and performed at a concert in 1891.

Marriage and later life

After the death of a previous fiancé, on 20 July 1899, she married Harry Plunket Greene. Their children were the Bright Young Things Richard George Hubert Plunket Greene,

David Plunket Greene David Plunket Greene (19 November 1904 – 24 February 1941), together with his brother Richard and sister Olivia, was part of the Bright Young Things who inspired the novel ''Vile Bodies'' to Evelyn Waugh, a family friend. Biography David Plun ...

and Olivia Honor Mary Plunket Greene. They separated in 1919 and she decided to bring up her children alone. Evelyn Waugh was a frequent guest of the Plunket Greenes, he was in love with all the family. It has been said that Waugh's conversion to Catholicism was favored by Gwen Greene giving him

von Hügel The Hügel family is a German noble family originating from Württemberg. In 1790, members of the younger branch of the family were elevated to the rank of Imperial Baron by Leopold II, while in 1801 members of the elder line of family were raised ...

's letter and her book, ''Mount Zion''. In 1928 she edited ''Baron Friedrich von Hugel's Letters to a Niece'', published with J. M. Dent & Son. Friedrich von Hügel was married to her aunt, Lady Mary Catherine Herbert (1849–1935).de la Bedoyère, Michael (1951), The Life of Baron von Hügel, London: J. M. Dent & Sons After the death of von Hügel, Greene's spiritual director was Father

Bede Jarrett Bede Jarrett OP (22 August 1881 – 17 March 1934) was an English Dominican friar and Catholic priest who was also a noted historian and author. Known for works including ''Mediæval Socialism'' and ''The Emperor Charles IV'', Jarrett also foun ...

. As Gwen Greene she published ''Two Witnesses'' (1930), ''Mount Zion'' (1931), and ''The Prophet Child'' (1935). In 1936 Gwen Greene retired to Longleat Estate, Aucombe, with her daughter Olivia, who was battling alcoholism. In 1941 her son David committed suicide. In 1958 her daughter Olivia died from breast cancer and one month later Greene moved into St. Teresa's Private Hospital, Corston. She died on 29 July 1959. Her sister Dolly wrote: "She did not want to live... she died of a broken heart... the devotion to her children was remarkable". Richard Plunket Greene died in 1978. When

Harman Grisewood Harman Joseph Gerard Grisewood, CBE (8 February 1906 – 8 January 1997) was an English radio actor, radio and television executive, novelist and non-fiction writer.

, who wanted to write a biography of Gwendolen Maud Plunket Greene, wrote to Alexander Plunket Greene, Richard's son, this latter told him that his father destroyed everything to do with the family, all correspondence included.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Plunket Greene, Gwendoline Maud 1878 births 1959 deaths 20th-century British women writers British socialites English religious writers English Roman Catholic writers British women violinists Daughters of baronets