Katherine Everett (1872 – 1954) was an Anglo-Irish writer, memorist, and designer of houses and gardens.
Katherine Everett | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | Kathleen Olive Herbert 1872 Cahernane House, County Kerry, Ireland |
| Died | 1954 (aged 81–82) England |
Life
editKatherine Everett was born Kathleen Olive Herbert in 1872 in Cahernane House, County Kerry. Her father was Henry Herbert of the Muckross estate. Everett had a difficult and unhappy relationship with her mother, leading her to leave home as a teenager living with relatives or others as a companion. She attended the Slade Art School, where she got to know her first cousin, John Everett.[1][2] They married in 1901[3] and had two sons, Henry, born 1902 and Anthony, born 1906. Her husband would leave for long periods at a time, eventually leaving Everett in 1914 with two young sons and no income. She worked for a time as a nurse, in various hospitals including Mercer's Hospital, Dublin. Later she became a gardener and companion to the Baring banking family. From 1915 she and her sons lived in a Georgian house, Sybil Hill, which belonged to the widowed Lady Ardilaun. She was Everett's distant cousin and godmother. After Lady Ardilaun's death in 1925, Everett left Ireland and never returned.[1] She lived for a time in British Columbia,[4] and Italy, before settling in England.[1]
During her life time, Everett became renowned for the designs and renovations of houses and gardens, primarily in England.[3] She started by becoming a building contractor to support herself and her sons.[5] Everett and her young son Anthony were the subject of Henry Tonks' 1908 drawing, Summer.[6]
Everett died in England in 1954.[2]
Writing
editShe published her autobiography, Bricks and Flowers, in 1949 followed by the collection of stories, Walk with Me, in 1951.[4] More recent examinations of her autobiography have viewed it as a queer text, particularly in relation to the unorthodox way in which Everett lived as a woman supporting herself and her children.[7] She recounts episodes during the Irish Civil War, where she travelled across Ireland to salvage furniture from the houses of Lady Ardilaun.[1] Bricks and Flowers was reissued in 2018.[2]
References
edit- ^ a b c d O'Byrne, Robert. "An Unsinkable Woman". Dublin Review of Books. Retrieved 30 October 2020.
- ^ a b c "Katherine Everett: a life devoted to building houses and designing gardens". The Irish Times. 18 December 2018. Retrieved 30 October 2020.
- ^ a b O'Keeffe, Jane O'Hea (2013). Voices from the great houses : Cork and Kerry. Cork: Mercier Press. ISBN 9781781171936.
- ^ a b "Katherine Everett". www.ricorso.net. Retrieved 30 October 2020.
- ^ "Bricks and Flowers". www.fadedpage.com. Retrieved 30 October 2020.
- ^ "'Summer', Henry Tonks, 1908". Tate. Retrieved 30 October 2020.
- ^ Moultonc, Mo (2015). "Bricks and Flowers". British queer history. Manchester: Manchester University Press. ISBN 978-1-5261-0156-3.