Rosamund Marriott Watson
Rosamund Marriott Watson was a notable English poet born in 1860 in London, emerging from an upper-middle-class background. She demonstrated early literary talent, influenced by her exposure to French and German poetry. In 1879, she married George Francis Armytage, with whom she had two daughters, but the marriage ended in a difficult separation in 1885. Following this, Watson formed a relationship with painter Arthur Graham Tomson, marrying him in 1887, and experiencing a more supportive and creatively fruitful partnership. Her poetry gained recognition, particularly with the publication of *The Bird-Bride* in 1889, which explored themes of marital discord. Watson also contributed to the literary community by editing *Sylvia's Journal*, promoting women's writing in the 1890s. After a scandalous affair led her to leave Tomson for novelist H. B. Marriott Watson, she adopted his surname and continued to publish under the name Rosamund Marriott Watson. Throughout her life, she produced various works, including poetry and prose, until her death at the age of fifty-one. Her contributions to literature reflect the complexities of her personal experiences and the cultural currents of her time.
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Subject Terms
Rosamund Marriott Watson
Writer
- Born: October 6, 1860
- Birthplace: Hackney, England
- Died: December 29, 1911
- Place of death: Shere, England
Biography
The poet who was to take the name of Rosamund Marriott Watson began her stormy life in upper-middle-class circumstances in 1860 in London, the youngest child of Benjamin Williams Ball. She received sufficient education at home to become acquainted with French and German poetry, already reflected in her earliest verse. In 1879, she married the well-to-do George Francis Armytage; they had two daughters. Her first derivative verses were signed R. Armytage, and her first successful collection, Tares, was published anonymously in 1884. In 1885, she and Armytage became legally separated, and at first she lived with her daughters in a house allotted to her by Armytage. However, late in 1886 she went to Cornwall to live with the painter Arthur Graham Tomson. Armytage sued her for divorce and she lost custody of her daughters. She married Tomson in 1887, and they had a child.
Her second marriage was far more compatible than her first and favorable for her literary output. In 1889, she published The Bird-Bride: A Volume of Ballads and Sonnets, which brought her fame by age thirty and reflected her insight into the pain of both parties when a marriage is inexplicably incompatible. It was followed by A Summer Night (1891). Both collections were published under the partial pseudonym Graham M. Tomson. Arthur Graham Tomson illustrated many of her works during this period. Among numerous projects, Watson edited Sylvia’s Journal from 1893 through 1894, a periodical which encouraged new writing by women. She was taken up by literary lights of the day, including author Thomas Hardy, the feminist Mona Caird, and the “decadent” writers associated with the literary journal The Yellow Book. Their circle tended to oppose marriage as an institution.
In 1895, a scandal not untypical of her time and circle erupted when she chose the novelist H. B. Marriott Watson over her husband, Tomson. Tomson divorced her and received custody of their child. Although now free to marry Watson, she chose never to do so; however, she assumed his name, and henceforth published as Rosamund Marriott Watson, beginning in 1895 with her collections Vespertilia, and Other Verses. She had her fourth child with H. B. Marriott Watson and remained with him until her death at age fifty-one. During this final phase of her life, she continued to develop as a writer, publishing two prose works, The Art of the House (1897) and The Heart of a Garden (1906), critical reviews of poetry in the Athenaeum, and another major poetry collection, After Sunset (1904). Her last volume of poetry, The Lamp and the Lute, was edited and published posthumously by her partner, H. B. Marriott Watson.