Daughter of the Rev. William Sidgwick of Skipton, Yorkshire. The youngest of her family, she married her distant cousin, Edward White Benson, Archbishop of Canterbury. He had selected her as his future wife when she was only eleven, and they married when she was eighteen on June 23, 1859, by her family's wish. However, she was primarily attracted to women, and would have many same-sex relationships both during and after her marriage.
They had six children, none of whom married or had children themselves, but who were all highly accomplished. They included Arthur Christopher Benson, who wrote the lyrics to "Land of Hope and Glory"; novelist Edward Frederic ("E.F.") Benson; social worker Mary Eleanor "Nellie" Benson; artist and Egyptologist Margaret Benson; and cleric/novelist Robert Hugh Benson. Their eldest son, Martin, a precociously talented young scholar, died at age seventeen of meningitis while a student at Winchester College.
After the archbishop's death, Minnie spent the rest of her life with her longtime love Lucy Tait, daughter of the previous Archbishop of Canterbury, Archibald Campbell Tait.
She was described by Gladstone, the British Prime Minister, as the "cleverest woman in Europe".
They had six children, none of whom married or had children themselves, but who were all highly accomplished. They included Arthur Christopher Benson, who wrote the lyrics to "Land of Hope and Glory"; novelist Edward Frederic ("E.F.") Benson; social worker Mary Eleanor "Nellie" Benson; artist and Egyptologist Margaret Benson; and cleric/novelist Robert Hugh Benson. Their eldest son, Martin, a precociously talented young scholar, died at age seventeen of meningitis while a student at Winchester College.
After the archbishop's death, Minnie spent the rest of her life with her longtime love Lucy Tait, daughter of the previous Archbishop of Canterbury, Archibald Campbell Tait.
She was described by Gladstone, the British Prime Minister, as the "cleverest woman in Europe".
Daughter of the Rev. William Sidgwick of Skipton, Yorkshire. The youngest of her family, she married her distant cousin, Edward White Benson, Archbishop of Canterbury. He had selected her as his future wife when she was only eleven, and they married when she was eighteen on June 23, 1859, by her family's wish. However, she was primarily attracted to women, and would have many same-sex relationships both during and after her marriage.
They had six children, none of whom married or had children themselves, but who were all highly accomplished. They included Arthur Christopher Benson, who wrote the lyrics to "Land of Hope and Glory"; novelist Edward Frederic ("E.F.") Benson; social worker Mary Eleanor "Nellie" Benson; artist and Egyptologist Margaret Benson; and cleric/novelist Robert Hugh Benson. Their eldest son, Martin, a precociously talented young scholar, died at age seventeen of meningitis while a student at Winchester College.
After the archbishop's death, Minnie spent the rest of her life with her longtime love Lucy Tait, daughter of the previous Archbishop of Canterbury, Archibald Campbell Tait.
She was described by Gladstone, the British Prime Minister, as the "cleverest woman in Europe".
They had six children, none of whom married or had children themselves, but who were all highly accomplished. They included Arthur Christopher Benson, who wrote the lyrics to "Land of Hope and Glory"; novelist Edward Frederic ("E.F.") Benson; social worker Mary Eleanor "Nellie" Benson; artist and Egyptologist Margaret Benson; and cleric/novelist Robert Hugh Benson. Their eldest son, Martin, a precociously talented young scholar, died at age seventeen of meningitis while a student at Winchester College.
After the archbishop's death, Minnie spent the rest of her life with her longtime love Lucy Tait, daughter of the previous Archbishop of Canterbury, Archibald Campbell Tait.
She was described by Gladstone, the British Prime Minister, as the "cleverest woman in Europe".
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