Biography of Adeline Virginia Stephen aka Virginia Woolf 1882-1941

On 1st May 1867 Herbert Duckworth [age 54] and [her mother] Julia Prinsep Jackson [age 21] were married at Tichurst, East Sussex, presumably at St Mary's Church, Ticehurst [Map]. The difference in their ages was 33 years.

On 26th March 1878 [her father] Leslie Stephen [age 45] and [her mother] Julia Prinsep Jackson [age 32] were married. They had four children.

On 25th January 1882 Adeline Virginia Stephen aka Virginia Woolf was born to [her father] Leslie Stephen [age 49] and [her mother] Julia Prinsep Jackson [age 35].

On 5th May 1895 [her mother] Julia Prinsep Jackson [age 49] died.

1902. George Charles Beresford [age 37]. Photograph of Adeline Virginia Stephen aka Virginia Woolf [age 19].

On 22nd February 1904 [her father] Leslie Stephen [age 71] died.

In 1912 Leonard Woolf [age 31] and Adeline Virginia Stephen aka Virginia Woolf [age 29] were married.

On 28th March 1941 Adeline Virginia Stephen aka Virginia Woolf [age 59] committed suicide. She walked into the fast-flowing River Ouse near her home having placed a large stone in her pocket. Her body was not found until 18 April. In her suicide note, addressed to her husband Leonard Woolf [age 60], she wrote: "Dearest, I feel certain that I am going mad again. I feel we can't go through another of those terrible times. And I shan't recover this time. I begin to hear voices, and I can't concentrate. So I am doing what seems the best thing to do. You have given me the greatest possible happiness. You have been in every way all that anyone could be. I don't think two people could have been happier till this terrible disease came. I can't fight it any longer. I know that I am spoiling your life, that without me you could work. And you will I know. You see I can't even write this properly. I can't read. What I want to say is I owe all the happiness of my life to you. You have been entirely patient with me and incredibly good. I want to say that—everybody knows it. If anybody could have saved me, it would have been you. Everything has gone from me but the certainty of your goodness. I can't go on spoiling your life any longer. I don't think two people could have been happier than we have been. V."

After the suicide of his wife Virginia Woolf [deceased] on 28th March 1941 Leonard Woolf [age 60] began a relationship with Trekkie Parsons [age 38] that lasted until his death in 1969. She often spent the week with Leonard and the weekend with her husband. She had holidays and acted as hostess for them both separately. She was Leonard's companion on trips to France, Greece, Israel, and Ceylon. She wrote many letters to Leonard when they were apart, published in 1974 as Love Letters: Leonard Woolf and Trekkie Ritchie Parsons. Despite their declared love and companionship, Trekkie insisted that the two had not been lovers.

On 14th August 1969 [her former husband] Leonard Woolf [age 88] died.