Catherine Emily Blanche (Bamford-Hesketh) Randolph (bef. 1839 - 1884)

Born before 1 May 1839 in Abergele, Denbighshire, Wales

Ancestors

Died 28 Jun 1884 after age 45 in London, Middlesex, England

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Biography

Catherine (Bamford-Hesketh) Randolph was born in Denbighshire, Wales.

Catherine Emily Blanche Randolph was born at Gwrych Castle, Denbighshire, Wales, the daughter of Lloyd H. Bamford-Hesketh and Lady Emily Esther Anne Lygon. Her maternal grandfather was William Lygon, M.P. and 1st Earl Beauchamp (died 1816). In 1862, she married Lieutenant-Colonel Charles Wilson Randolph of the Grenadier Guards (he would eventually rise to the rank of lieutenant-general and retire on half-pay in 1872). They had no children. At the age of 35, Catherine began writing novels, beginning with Gentianella (1874), and she turned out thirteen more in the next ten years. Interestingly, she titled almost all of her novels after the names of flowers. In 1884 she died in London, and her last novel, Cyclamen, was published posthumously.

Sources

• Birth: [Catherine Emily Blanche Hesketh, 1839, Qtr 2]
• Marriage: [Catherine Emily Hesketh and Charles Wilson Randolph, 10 Jul 1862]
• [A Database of Victorian Fiction]
• Death: [Catherine Emily Blanche Randolph died 28 Jun 1884. Probate granted to Charles Wilson Randolp, Esq., a retired Lieutenant General in Her Majesty's arm. The sole executor]