Louisa Catherine Beaufort (1781 - 1863) was an Irish antiquarian, author and artist.

Family

Beaufort was the daughter of Rev

Daniel Augustus Beaufort Daniel Augustus Beaufort LL.D. (1 October 1739 – 1821), was an Anglican priest and geographer, born in England to French Huguenot parents. He was rector of Navan, County Meath, Ireland, from 1765 to 1818, and a talented amateur architect also ...

and Mary Waller. Her grandfather was from the

Huguenot The Huguenots ( , also , ) were a religious group of French Protestants who held to the Reformed, or Calvinist, tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, the Genevan burgomaster Be ...

community in London and moved to Ireland as chaplain to the viceroy. She had two sisters, Harriet (called Henrietta) and Frances Anne Beaufort, and two brothers, William and

Francis Francis may refer to: People *Pope Francis, the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State and Bishop of Rome *Francis (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters *Francis (surname) Places * Rural M ...

. Two other sisters died in infancy. Her sister Frances, a botanist and author, married, as his fourth wife,

Richard Lovell Edgeworth Richard Lovell Edgeworth (31 May 1744 – 13 June 1817) was an Anglo-Irish politician, writer and inventor. Biography Edgeworth was born in Pierrepont Street, Bath, England, son of Richard Edgeworth senior, and great-grandson of Sir Sal ...

, and thus became step-mother to the novelist

Maria Edgeworth Maria Edgeworth (1 January 1768 – 22 May 1849) was a prolific Anglo-Irish novelist of adults' and children's literature. She was one of the first realist writers in children's literature and was a significant figure in the evolution of the n ...

. W. J. McCormack states that both Daniel and Louisa advised Maria Edgeworth in her writing of ''The Absentee.''

Achievements

Louisa Beaufort had a paper presented to the

Royal Irish Academy The Royal Irish Academy (RIA; ga, Acadamh Ríoga na hÉireann), based in Dublin, is an academic body that promotes study in the sciences, humanities and social sciences. It is Ireland's premier List of Irish learned societies, learned socie ...

in October 1827 on the architecture and antiquities of Ireland prior to the twelfth century; this essay was then published. The work is illustrated by lithographs by the author. Beaufort was the first woman to have a paper presented to and published by the Academy. Her opportunity may have arisen because her father was one of the founders of that institution in 1785, and he served as its librarian from 1788-91.

Legacy

Louisa Beaufort wrote a number of tour journals which are among the manuscripts in the Library of Trinity College. Also in the Library is a book of watercolours of antiquities which Beaufort dedicated to her brother Admiral Francis Beaufort in 1857.Louisa Beaufort's manuscript entitled 'Irish scraps to amuse my dear Admiral'. Trinity College Dublin MS 8269 The journal, of which these are the illustrations, is at the

Huntington Library The Huntington Library, Art Museum and Botanical Gardens, known as The Huntington, is a collections-based educational and research institution established by Henry E. Huntington (1850–1927) and Arabella Huntington (c.1851–1924) in San Mar ...

, San Marino, California.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Beaufort, Louisa Irish women artists Irish women writers 1781 births 1863 deaths Irish antiquarians 19th-century women writers