Edith Bernal Blake

Edith Bernal, Lady Blake ( Osborne; 7 February 1846 – 18 April 1926) was an Irish botanical illustrator and writer, noted for her work on the flora and fauna of countries such as The Bahamas, Jamaica and Ceylon. Early life Blake was born on 7 February 1846 in Newtown Anner House, near Clonmel, County Tipperary. Though her date of birth is often cited at 1845. She was the eldest daughter of Catherine Isabella Osborne and Ralph Bernal Osborne, who took his wife's surname following their marriage in 1844. The Osbornes appear to have become estranged early in their marriage, with her father living in London, seeing Edith and her Grace raised by her mother alone. Mrs Osbourne was a talented artist, and encouraged both her daughters to take up artistic pursuits. Artists often stayed at Newtown Anner, including Thomas Shotter Boys and Alexandre Calame, and it is possible the sisters received tuition from them. Edith developed an interest in botany around this time, corresponding over the years with Newtown Anner's garden designer Joseph Paxton. Fanny Currey was a frequent visitor to the house, with the pair collaborating on illustrating envelopes from 1858 to 1868. In 1874 she married widower and Royal Irish Constabulary sub-inspector Henry Arthur Blake. As her parents did not approve of the marriage and had been arranging a suitable marriage for her, the couple eloped. Following the marriage, Edith was disinherited. They were sheltered for a time by friends Richard and Harriet Bagwell of Marlfield House. The couple went on to have two sons and a daughter. They first moved to Belfast, seeing Henry appointed resident magistrate (RM) in 1876 and a "special RM" during the land war. When he received assassination threats, Edith would travel with him armed with a gun. Despite her husband's work, Blake was sympathetic to romantic nationalism and became friends with Anna Parnell. Illustration and writing Blake toured Europe in 1872, visiting Austria, (Germany), Italy, Sicily, Greece, and Turkey. During these visits she took sketches of the local architecture, art, and culture which she published in her first book Twelve months in southern Europe (1876). Blake's second publication was The realities of Freemasonry in 1879. Blake's husband received his first appointment in the British colonial service in 1884, as governor of The Bahamas 1884 to 1887, followed by Newfoundland 1887 to 1888, Jamaica 1889 to 1897, Hong Kong 1898 to 1903, and Ceylon 1903 to 1907.