Robinson, Ellen Lawless (1839-1914) née Ternan, actressMore Info on CreatorLess Info on Creator
Ellen ('Nelly') Lawless Ternan (1839-1914), actress, was born on 3 March 1839 at 11 Upper Clarence Place, Maidstone Road, Rochester, Kent, the third of four children of the actors Thomas Lawless Ternan (1790-1846) and his wife, Frances Eleanor, née Jarman (1802-1873). Ellen had two elder sisters, Frances Eleanor and Maria Susanna, and a younger brother who died in infancy. All three sisters entered the acting profession early. After the early death of their father in 1846 they were obliged to earn their living, touring the north of England, Ireland, and Scotland with their mother. Nelly's first adult engagement was in a burlesque at the Haymarket in 1857, and it was after this that she was engaged by Charles Dickens, with her mother and Maria, to perform with his amateur company in The Frozen Deep in Manchester. It was during this theatrical engagement that Ellen began a relationship with Dickens which was to continue until his death in 1870.
Dickens left Nelly £1000 in his will and set up a private trust fund which freed her from the necessity of working again after his death in 1870. She travelled abroad, then on 31 January 1876, in the parish church at Kensington, she married a clergyman twelve years her junior, George Wharton Robinson (1850–1910). She helped her husband to run a boys' school in Margate, and gave birth to a son and a daughter. Her last years were spent at Southsea, where she was reunited with her sisters. She died from cancer at 18 Guion Road, Fulham, London, on 25 April 1914 and was buried in the Highland Road cemetery, Southsea, in her husband's grave.
Trollope, Frances Eleanor (1835-1913) née Ternan, actress and authorMore Info on CreatorLess Info on Creator
Frances Eleanor Trollope (1835-1913), was born in August 1835 on a paddle-steamer in Delaware Bay during her parents' tour of America. After a successful career on the stage she went to Florence to study opera singing, and became governess to Bice (Beatrice), the daughter of the widowed Thomas Adolphus Trollope (1810-1892). On 29 October 1866 she married her employer. They lived in Italy for many years. She wrote a number of novels, several of which, including 'Aunt Margaret's Trouble' (1866) and 'Mabel's Progress' (1867), were serialized anonymously by Dickens in All the Year Round. After her husband's death in 1892 she wrote the life of her mother-in-law, Frances Trollope (1779-1863). During her last years her sister Ellen lived with her in Southsea, and she died there on 14 August 1913.
Robinson, Geoffrey Wharton (fl 1909-1924) army officerMore Info on CreatorLess Info on Creator
Geoffrey Wharton Robinson was the son of Ellen Ternan and her husband, Geoffrey Wharton Robinson. Robinson was a captain in the Lancashire Fusiliers in the years before the First World War. Previously he had served in the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers before being transferred after the disbandment of the 3rd and 4th battalions. By 1913, he had retired from the army and was looking for alternative employment.
Scope and ContentLetter from Ellen Ternan to her son, 1913; Ternan family photographs; portraits of Ellen Ternan and her mother: copy of "Dickens Incognito" by Felix Aylmer with letters by the author, 1959.
NotesFormerly reference MS915C
Conditions governing accessOpen for research although 24 hours advance notice should be given.
Extent1 box and 1 portrait
Finding aidsA pdf item-level catalogue is attached to this description.