| 1861 | Born September 23rd in London. Eldest daughter of Arthur Duke Coleridge (1830-1913), great-nephew of Romantic poet, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, and Mary Anne Jameson (1832-1898), a member of the Jameson Whiskey family and cousin to Gugliemo Marconi, inventor of the oscillating aerial. |
| 1865 | 29th June. Mary's younger sister, Florence Lind Coleridge is born. |
| 1867 or 1868 | While Mary and Florence are having their portrait painted by a student of the artist, John Everett Millais, a friend and neighbour of the Coleridges, the student suddenly and without reason drops his brush and picks up a knife. Before any harm can come to the sisters, Millais enters the room. |
| 1869 | Travels to Switzerland with mother, sister and aunt for an extended holiday. |
| 1873 | Begins to learn Hebrew after expressing a fascination with the shape of the Hebrew alphabet. Is already fluent in French and German. |
| 1875 | Meets William Cory aka William Johnson, a former Master at Eton School. Begins writing poetry. "A Ballade of Autumn" is the only surviving piece from this very early period of her life. |
| 1876 | Mary's father, Arthur, along with the singer, Jenny Lind and her husband, Otto Goldschmitt, forms the London Bach Choir. |
| 1880 | Mary begins to write reviews under a nom de plume for The Theatre. She also writes for the Times Literary Supplement, The Cornhill and The Monthly Packet. |
| 1883 | The death of Mary's Aunt Elizabeth (her mother's sister), who lived with the Coleridges. |
| 1885 | Mary's cousin, Mildred Coleridge, becomes engaged to the freelance writer Charles Warren Adams. Her family do not approve and when Mildred's brother expresses his dislike of Warren in a letter, Mildred urges her fiancé to sue for libel. Mildred's father is Lord John Duke Coleridge, the presiding Lord Chancellor and the case attracts a great deal of attention, much to the mortification of the Coleridge family. Warren Adams wins the case and extracts a public apology from Mildred's brother. Mary, who was very close to her cousin, is forbidden to have any contact with her. Mildred and Warren Adams marry soon after the court case and Mildred remains permanently estranged from the Coleridges. |
| 1886 | Mary begins to learn Greek. She is taught by William Cory at his house in Hampstead. |
| 1887 | April. Mary, her family and her friend, Ella Coltman visit Freshwater in the Isle of Wight. They visit Alfred, Lord Tennyson, a friend of Arthur Coleridge. On April 16th and 18th, Mary and Ella take part in two séances with Tennyson. None of the participants take it entirely seriously. |
| 1890 | Mary and a group of friends form "The Settee," a group of intellectuals who meet weekly to discuss literature and read their own compositions. |
| 1891 | June. William Cory dies. Mary's relationship with him was often difficult and she has mixed feelings about his death, telling a friend: "When Mr Cory died [ . . . ] there came [ . . . ] another sense that I was free — that I should never fear anyone again in just that way." (Coleridge, 64, 1954). |
| 1893 | Mary's first novel, The Seven Sleepers of Ephesus is published. It is not a great commercial success, but is praised by Robert Louis Stevenson. |
| 1894 | November. Mary meets Robert Bridges who will assist her in the first publication of her poetry. |
| 1895 | Mary begins teaching English at the London Working Women's College. |
| 1896 | Fancy's Following, a collection of Mary's poetry, is published privately by the Daniel Press. |
| 1897 | Fancy's Guerdon, a second collection of poetry is published. Mary's second novel, The King with Two Faces earns her royalties of �900. |
| 1898 | The death of Mary's mother, Mary Anne ("Aunt Minnie"). |
| 1899 | Non Sequitur, a collection of Mary's essays is published. |
| 1900 | The publication of Mary's third novel, The Fiery Dawn. |
| 1901 | Mary begins to write reviews for The Guardian. |
| 1904 | The Shadow on the Wall, a novel begun and abandoned some years before, is revived and published. |
| 1906 | The publication of The Lady on the Drawing Room Floor, Mary's last completed novel. |
| 1907 | Mary begins Becq, a medieval romance, and also completes a short book about William Holman Hunt at the request of the artist himself. In August, Mary, Florence and their father travel to Harrogate in the north of England for their annual holiday. Mary is taken ill with appendicitis, undergoes an appendectomy, contracts blood poisoning, and dies on August 25th 1907 aged forty five. |
Last modified 31 October 2017