| Description | Manuscript letter from Mary Benson, 1841-1918, [wife of the Archbishop of Canterbury, Edward White Benson, 1829-1896] and addressed to 'Miss Chittenden' from Tremans, Horsted Keynes, Sussex. Dated 8 May [no year given].
Benson explains why she finds it difficult to arrange a visit to her correspondent, including the illnesses of 'Miss Tait' [Mary Benson's same sex partner], and her daughter who has just returned from Egypt. She hopes to be in London with her daughter on the 21st, and perhaps take a train to Broxbourne to see her. |
| Administrative History | Mary Benson, nee Sidgwick, 1841-1918, wife of the Archbishop of Canterbury, Edward White Benson, 1829-1896, and mother of E. F. Benson, author of Mapp and Lucia.
After her husband's death in 1896, Mary set up household with Lucy Tait, daughter of the previous archbishop of Canterbury, Archibald Campbell Tait, who had first moved in with the Bensons in 1889. She died on 15 June 1918 in East Sussex. Tait and Benson are buried at St Mary's Church, Addington, Surrey, with their respective families. |