Pamela Adelaide Genevieve Grey, Viscountess Grey of Fallodon (born Wyndham; later Pamela Tennant, Baroness Glenconner; 14 January 1871 – 18 November 1928), was an English writer. The wife of Edward Tennant, 1st Baron Glenconner, and later of Edward Grey, 1st Viscount Grey of Fallodon, she is one of the '' Wyndham Sisters'' by John Singer Sargent which were at the centre of the cultural and political life of their time. Like their parents, they were part of

The Souls The Souls was a small loosely-knit but distinctive elite social and intellectual group in the United Kingdom from 1885 to the turn of the century. Many of the most distinguished British politicians and intellectuals of the time were members. Th ...

Early life

Wyndham was born on 14 January 1871 at

Clouds House Clouds House, also known simply as Clouds, is a Grade II* listed building at East Knoyle in Wiltshire, England. Designed by Arts and Crafts architect Philip Webb for Percy Wyndham and his wife Madeline, it was first completed in 1886, but an 1 ...

Salisbury Salisbury ( ) is a cathedral city in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers Avon, Nadder and Bourne. The city is approximately from Southampton and from Bath. Salisbury is in the southeast of ...

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated Wilts) is a historic and ceremonial county in South West England with an area of . It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset to the southwest, Somerset to the west, Hampshire to the southeast, Gloucestershire ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. She was the daughter of Percy Wyndham (1835–1911) and Madeline Caroline Frances Eden Campbell. Her mother was the daughter of

Sir Guy Campbell, 1st Baronet Major-General Sir Guy Campbell, 1st Baronet, CB (22 January 1786 – 26 January 1849), was a British Army officer, the eldest son of Lieutenant-General Colin Campbell and his wife Mary, daughter of Guy Johnson (or Johnstone). His branch of the ...

, and his wife Pamela FitzGerald, daughter of

Lord Edward FitzGerald Lord Edward FitzGerald (15 October 1763 – 4 June 1798) was an Irish aristocrat who abandoned his prospects as a distinguished veteran of British service in the American War of Independence, and as an Irish Parliamentarian, to embrace the caus ...

and Pamela Syms. Her father was the son of

George Wyndham, 1st Baron Leconfield George Wyndham, 1st Baron Leconfield (5 June 1787 – 18 March 1869), was a British soldier and peer. A direct descendant of Sir John Wyndham, he was the eldest natural son of George O'Brien Wyndham, 3rd Earl of Egremont, and Elizabeth Ili ...

, and his wife Mary Fanny Blunt, the daughter of Reverend William Blunt. The 1899 portrait of Pamela and her sisters (

Mary Mary may refer to: People * Mary (name), a feminine given name (includes a list of people with the name) Religious contexts * New Testament people named Mary, overview article linking to many of those below * Mary, mother of Jesus, also calle ...

, wife of the 11th Earl of Wemyss, and Madeline, wife of

Charles Adeane Charles Robert Whorwood Adeane (2 November 1863 – 11 February 1943) was a British army officer. Background Adeane was the only son of the politician Henry John Adeane and his wife Lady Elizabeth Philippa Yorke, eldest daughter of Charles York ...

, the Lord Lt. of Cambridgeshire) by John Singer Sargent, known as the ''Wyndham sisters'', has been described as "the greatest picture of modern times" by ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...

''.

Career

In 1919, Wyndham published the successful memoirs of her son Edward Tennant, who had been killed during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. She also published poems, prose, children's literature, and edited poetry and prose anthologies. She was friends, among others, with

Henry James Henry James ( – ) was an American-British author. He is regarded as a key transitional figure between literary realism and literary modernism, and is considered by many to be among the greatest novelists in the English language. He was the ...

, Oscar Wilde and

Edward Burne-Jones Sir Edward Coley Burne-Jones, 1st Baronet, (; 28 August, 183317 June, 1898) was a British painter and designer associated with the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood which included Dante Gabriel Rossetti, John Millais, Ford Madox Brown and Holman ...

, and was part of the "poetic and literary circle known as

". In 1912, she hosted three lectures by Ezra Pound in her private art gallery. One her greatest friends was

Edith Olivier Edith Maud Olivier MBE (31 December 1872 – 10 May 1948) was an English writer, also noted for acting as hostess to a circle of well-known writers, artists, and composers in her native Wiltshire. Family and childhood Olivier was born in Wilto ...

; Olivier was a year younger than Wyndham, and they were childhood friends.

Personal life

In 1895, she married Edward Tennant (1859–1920), who was educated at Eton and at

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge or Oxford. ...

. Edward was the eldest surviving son of eleven children born to

Sir Charles Tennant, 1st Baronet Sir Charles Clow Tennant, 1st Baronet JP DL (4 November 1823 – 4 June 1906) was a Scottish businessman, industrialist and Liberal politician. Early life Tennant was the son of John Tennant (1796–1878) and Robina (née Arrol) Tennant. His ...

, and succeeded to his father's baronetcy upon his death in 1906. In 1911, he was raised to the peerage as

Baron Glenconner Baron Glenconner, of The Glen in the County of Peebles, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1911 for Sir Edward Tennant, 2nd Baronet, who had earlier represented Salisbury in the House of Commons as a Liberal an ...

, of The Glen in the County of Peebles. From 1908 until his death in 1920, he served as Lord Lieutenant of Peeblesshire. His sister,

Margot Tennant Emma Margaret Asquith, Countess of Oxford and Asquith (' Tennant; 2 February 1864 – 28 July 1945), known as Margot Asquith, was a British socialite, author. She was married to H. H. Asquith, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, from 189 ...

, was married to

H. H. Asquith Herbert Henry Asquith, 1st Earl of Oxford and Asquith, (12 September 1852 – 15 February 1928), generally known as H. H. Asquith, was a British statesman and Liberal Party politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom f ...

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...

from 1894 until 1928. Together, they were the parents of: * Clarissa Madeline Georgiana Felicite Tennant (1896–1960), who married Adrian Bethell, then

Lionel Tennyson, 3rd Baron Tennyson Lionel Hallam Tennyson, 3rd Baron Tennyson (7 November 1889 – 6 June 1951) was known principally as a first-class cricketer who captained Hampshire and England. The grandson of the poet Alfred, Lord Tennyson and the son of the Governor-Genera ...

, then James M. Beck Jr. * Edward Tennant (1897–1916), the war poet who was killed at the Battle of the Somme. * Christopher Grey Tennant, 2nd Baron Glenconner (1899–1983), who married Pamela Paget, the daughter of

Sir Richard Paget, 2nd Baronet Sir Richard Arthur Surtees Paget, 2nd Baronet (13 January 1869 – 23 October 1955) was a British barrister and amateur scientific investigator, who specialised in speech science and the origin of speech. Following the publication of his book o ...

. * David Pax Tennant (1902–1968), a socialite who founded the

Gargoyle Club The Gargoyle was a private members' club on the upper floors of 69 Dean Street, Soho, London, at the corner with Meard Street. It was founded on 16 January 1925 by the aristocratic socialite David Tennant, son of the Scottish 1st Baron Gle ...

in London. * Stephen James Napier Tennant (1906–1987), a socialite known for his

decadent The word decadence, which at first meant simply "decline" in an abstract sense, is now most often used to refer to a perceived decay in standards, morals, dignity, religious faith, honor, discipline, or skill at governing among the members of ...

lifestyle who was called "the brightest" of the "

Bright Young People __NOTOC__ The Bright Young Things, or Bright Young People, was a nickname given by the tabloid press to a group of Bohemianism, Bohemian young Aristocracy (class), aristocrats and socialites in 1920s London. They threw flamboyant costume party, f ...

". In 1922, she married the widower Edward Grey, 1st Viscount Grey of Fallodon (1862–1933), the

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

statesman who served as a

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs The secretary of state for foreign, Commonwealth and development affairs, known as the foreign secretary, is a minister of the Crown of the Government of the United Kingdom and head of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. Seen as ...

(under Asquith), and the

British Ambassador to the United States The British Ambassador to the United States is in charge of the British Embassy, Washington, D.C., the United Kingdom's diplomatic mission to the United States. The official title is His Majesty's Ambassador to the United States of America. T ...

. Viscountess Grey died on 18 November 1928 at Wilsford Manor in

Wilsford, Wiltshire Wilsford is a small village and civil parish in the Vale of Pewsey in the English county of Wiltshire, about southwest of Pewsey. The Salisbury Avon forms part of the northern boundary of the parish. To the south, beyond the A342 from Deviz ...

, England. Her second husband died on 7 September 1933 and the viscountcy became extinct on his death, though he was succeeded in the baronetcy by his cousin, Sir George Grey.

In popular culture

The 2014 book '' Those Wild Wyndhams: Three Sisters at the Heart of Power'' by Claudia Renton is about the lives of the Wyndham sisters, Mary, Madeline, and Pamela.

Works

*''Windlestraw: A book of verse'', 1905 *''The Children and The Pictures'', 1907 published by Heinemann *''The White Wallet'', 1912, republished in 1928 with illustrations by Stephen Tennant *''The Story of Joan Arc'', 1915 *''The Saving of the Children'', 1918 *''Edward Wyndham Tennant: a memoir by his mother Pamela Glenconner'', 1919 *''Shepherd's Crowns: a volume of essays'', 1923

References

;Notes ;Sources *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wyndham, Pamela 1871 births 1928 deaths 20th-century British women writers British women poets British women children's writers 20th-century British poets British memoirists Tennant family Pamela Wyndham English socialites British women memoirists Glenconner Grey of Fallodon 20th-century British writers