Laura Theresa Epps. "Battledore and Shuttlecock".
Laura Theresa Epps. "A Carol".
Laura Theresa Epps. "The Bible Lesson".
Laura Theresa Epps. "The Tea Party".
On 16th April 1852 Laura Theresa Epps was born.
Life of Lawrence Alma-Tadema by Helen Zimmern. Four years after joining her son [[her future husband] Lawrence Alma-Tadema [aged 28]], Madame Tadema died. It is sad to think that this good parent did not live to witness her son's world-wide fame, but pleasant to know that she still heard the praise aroused by some of his first exhibited pictures, and to see him the recipient of his first gold medal, that accorded to him at Amsterdam in 1862. In 1865 Tadema married a French lady, and removed to Brussels, where he remained until his wife's death. This occurred in 1869, when he was left alone with his sister and two little girls, the eldest, Laurence, who has developed into a gifted writer, and the second, Anna, the delicate, dainty artist who has inherited so much of her father's power for reproducing detail.
It was during the lifetime of his first wife that Alma Tadema paid his first visit to Italy and saw with his own eyes the homes of those Romans who were destined to become his most familiar friends.
Lawrence Alma-Tadema and Marie-Pauline Gressin-Dumoulin were married at the City Hall in Antwerp.
Letters of Christina Rossetti. 56 Euston Square, N.W.
Friday afternoon, 14th. [May 1869]1
My dear Miss Boyd [aged 44]
Thank you warmly for so exceedingly kind an invitation, concerning which I will only put forward one regret, that Mrs Epps [Note. Not clear who Mrs Epps is since Laura Theresa Epps [aged 17] didn't marry [her future husband] Lawrence Alma-Tadema [aged 33] until 1871] should lose what might so have refreshed her both in mind and in body. And indeed, if I may, I will say that should it after all turn out that she could visit lovely Penkill you will without hesitation let me know your altered plans to which I shall most readily conform mine. On the other hand if I go, it will be a special indulgence to travel with the Scotts [Note. William Bell Scott [aged 58] and Letitia Margery Norquoy] and as you give me so generous a latitude I will even feel housed at the Castle until a companion offers with whom to start south again;-the journey being somewhat formidably lengthy. But this, of course, only in case it brings my visit within not altogether unreasonable dimensions. How very kind you are to me, and how much I should like to make my gratitude obvious to you. Knowing what a Dear Mrs Scott is, I think she will kindly let me know her plans in due course: meanwhile I expect to run down to Gloucester next week on a little visit to my Uncle if he will have me, but to be up again in time for Penkill.
My love, please, to Mrs Scott, and a kindred sentiment to Mr Scott. We saw Gabriel [aged 41] last night, but I know nothing at all about his summer plans.2
My Mother [aged 69] desires her most cordial remembrances to you, and adds her thanks to mine on my behalf.
Always and affectionately yours
Christina G. Rossetti [aged 38].
I expect you will find me quite a different order of being this year as regards walking, and I mean to trim up my old hat for possible croquet.
Note 1. Endorsed: "1867." CGR returned to Penkill in 1869, from 9 June to 22 July, not in 1867.
Note 2. DGR was at Penkill from mid-August to 20 September.
Life of Lawrence Alma-Tadema by Helen Zimmern. An accident brought Tadema to London in 1870, and here he at once took root. A year later he remarried1, his wife this time being Miss Laura Theresa Epps [aged 19], a woman of rare beauty, and herself a painter of distinction.
Note 1. In July 1871 Lawrence Alma-Tadema [aged 35] and Laura Theresa Epps were married.
After July 1871. Catherine Emily Brown [aged 20]. Portrait of Laura Theresa Epps [aged 19].
1876. Laura Theresa Epps [aged 23]. "World of Dreams".
Abbot John Whethamstede’s Chronicle of the Abbey of St Albans
Abbot John Whethamstede's Register aka Chronicle of his second term at the Abbey of St Albans, 1451-1461, is a remarkable text that describes his first-hand experience of the beginning of the Wars of the Roses including the First and Second Battles of St Albans, 1455 and 1461, respectively, their cause, and their consequences, not least on the Abbey itself. His text also includes Loveday, Blore Heath, Northampton, the Act of Accord, Wakefield, and Towton, and ends with the Coronation of King Edward IV. In addition to the events of the Wars of the Roses, Abbot John, or his scribes who wrote the Chronicle, include details in the life of the Abbey such as charters, letters, land exchanges, visits by legates, and disputes, which provide a rich insight into the day-to-day life of the Abbey, and the challenges faced by its Abbot.
Available at Amazon in eBook and Paperback format.
1876. [her husband] Lawrence Alma-Tadema [aged 39]. Portrait of Laura Theresa Epps [aged 23].
Before 1878. Laura Theresa Epps [aged 25]. "The Persistent Reader".
1879 to 1880. Laura Theresa Epps [aged 26]. "With a Babe in the Woods".
1881. Laura Theresa Epps [aged 28]. "A Looking out o'Window, Sunshine".
1887. Laura Theresa Epps [aged 34]. "Always Welcome".
1887. [her husband] Lawrence Alma-Tadema [aged 50]. "The Women of Amphissa". The artist's wife Laura Theresa Epps [aged 34] centre beneath the shield.
Around 1891. [her husband] Lawrence Alma-Tadema [aged 54]. "Interrupted". Portrait of Laura Theresa Epps [aged 38].
1896. Laura Theresa Epps [aged 43]. "Love's Beginning".
1897. Laura Theresa Epps [aged 44]. "A Knock at the Door".
1898. Laura Theresa Epps [aged 45]. "At the Doorway".
William of Worcester's Chronicle of England
William of Worcester, born around 1415, and died around 1482 was secretary to John Fastolf, the renowned soldier of the Hundred Years War, during which time he collected documents, letters, and wrote a record of events. Following their return to England in 1440 William was witness to major events. Twice in his chronicle he uses the first person: 1. when writing about the murder of Thomas, 7th Baron Scales, in 1460, he writes '… and I saw him lying naked in the cemetery near the porch of the church of St. Mary Overie in Southwark …' and 2. describing King Edward IV's entry into London in 1461 he writes '… proclaimed that all the people themselves were to recognize and acknowledge Edward as king. I was present and heard this, and immediately went down with them into the city'. William’s Chronicle is rich in detail. It is the source of much information about the Wars of the Roses, including the term 'Diabolical Marriage' to describe the marriage of Queen Elizabeth Woodville’s brother John’s marriage to Katherine, Dowager Duchess of Norfolk, he aged twenty, she sixty-five or more, and the story about a paper crown being placed in mockery on the severed head of Richard, 3rd Duke of York.
Available at Amazon in eBook and Paperback format.
1904. Laura Theresa Epps [aged 51]. "The Pledge".
On 15th August 1909 Laura Theresa Epps [aged 57] died.
On 25th June 1912 [her former husband] Lawrence Alma-Tadema [aged 76] died at Kaiserhof Spa, Wiesbaden, Germany where he had travelled with his daughter [her former step-daughter] Anne [aged 45] for treatment of his stomach ulcers. He was buried in the crypt of St Paul's Cathedral [Map].
