Jeanie Gwynne Bettany Kernahan (25 January 1857 – 16 February 1941) was a British novelist, sometimes publishing under the name Mrs. Coulson Kernahan after her second marriage in 1892.

Early life

Mary Jean Hickling Gwynne was born in

Audley, Staffordshire Audley is a large village in Staffordshire, England. It is the centre of Audley Rural parish, approximately four miles (6 km) north west of Newcastle-under-Lyme and 3 miles (5 km) from Alsager near the Staffordshire-Cheshire border. Audley is l ...

, the daughter of Samuel Goodland Gwynne and Jane Woolley Wright Gwynne. Her father was a mathematics master at Taunton College.J. A. H.
"Mrs. Coulson Kernahan"
''The Bystander'' 2 (March 9, 1904): 31. She was educated at

University College London , mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £143 million (2020) , budget = ...

Career

Bettany wrote novels, including ''The House of Rimmon'' (1885), ''Two Legacies'' (1886), ''A Laggard in Love'' (1890), ''Trewinnot of Guy's'' (1898), ''Frank Redland, Recruit'' (1899), ''The Avenging of Ruthanna'' (1900), ''No Vindication'' (1901), ''An Unwise Virgin'' (1903), ''The Sinnings of Seraphine'' (1906), ''The Mystery of Magdalen'' (1906), ''The Fraud'' (1907), ''Ashes of Passion'' (1909), ''The Thirteenth Man'' (1910),''The House of Blight'' (1911), ''The Mystery of Mere Hall'' (1912), ''The Go-Between'' (1912), ''The Stolen Man'' (1915), ''The Trap'' (1917), ''The Hired Girl'' (circa 1920), ''The Temptation of Gideon Holt'' (1923), ''The Whip of the Will'' (1927), ''Tales of Our Village'' (1928), ''The Blue Diamond'' (1932), ''A Village Mystery'' (1934), ''The Woman Who Understood'' (1935), ''Devastation'' (1940), and ''The Affair of Maltravers'' (1949, published posthumously). With her second husband, she wrote ''Bedtime Stories of Make-Believe-Land'' (1912), and ''Tom, Dot and Talking Mouse and Other Bedtime Stories'' (1916). Bettany's short stories and poems were published in ''The Argosy'', ''

Belgravia Belgravia () is a Districts of London, district in Central London, covering parts of the areas of both the City of Westminster and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Belgravia was known as the 'Five Fields' Tudor Period, during the ...

,'' ''Lippincott's'', and '' Temple Bar''. She described her experiences of clairvoyance and premonition for the ''Journal of the Society of Psychical Research'' and other periodicals. Bettany wrote a

cantata A cantata (; ; literally "sung", past participle feminine singular of the Italian verb ''cantare'', "to sing") is a vocal composition with an instrumental accompaniment, typically in several movements, often involving a choir. The meaning of ...

for children's voices, ''Elsa and the Imprisoned Fairy'' (1889), with music by Thomas Murby.

Personal life

On 1 August 1878, Jeanie Gwynne married botanist

George Thomas Bettany George Thomas Bettany (30 March 1850 – 2 December 1891) was an English biologist, anthropologist, and author of scientific and popular works. Born in Penzance, Cornwall, the son of George Bettany, a schoolmaster and journalist. Bettany was edu ...

, "a scholar and editor of high repute". Their son George Kernahan Bettany was born in 1891, shortly before her husband's death. She was considered "destitute" and because of her husband's work she was given a

civil list pension Pensions in the United Kingdom, whereby United Kingdom tax payers have some of their wages deducted to save for retirement, can be categorised into three major divisions - state, occupational and personal pensions. The state pension is based on ...

. In 1892, the widowed Bettany married her husband's colleague, fellow writer Coulson Kernahan. Their daughter Beryl was born in 1896. Jeanie Gwynne Kernahan converted to

Roman Catholicism The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwide . It is am ...

in 1898. She died in 1941, aged 84 years.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bettany, Jeanie Gwynne 1857 births 1941 deaths People from Audley, Staffordshire British women novelists