Small image of a man handing a book to a women across a counter.

At the Circulating Library

A Database of Victorian Fiction, 1837–1901

A Database of Victorian Fiction, 1837–1901

Author: Lady Caroline Blanche Elizabeth Lindsay

Author: Lady Caroline Blanche Elizabeth Lindsay (1845–1912)

Alternate Name(s): Fitzroy (maiden name)

Biography: Caroline Blanche Elizabeth, Lady Lindsay, was born in 1845 in London, the daughter of Hon. Henry Fitzroy (the son of Lord Southhampton) and Hannah Mayer de Rothschild. In 1864 she married Sir Coutts Lindsay, who was twenty years her senior, and they had two daughters. Sir Coutts Lindsay (1824–1913) was the eldest son of Lieutenant-General James Lindsay, and he initially followed his father's career until he resigned and turned to painting. In 1877, he founded the Grosvenor Gallery as a rival to the Royal Academy, exhibiting painting by Watts and Burne-Jones. Shortly afterwards, Sir Coutts Lindsay and Lady Lindsay separated and lived the remainder of their lives apart. Lady Lindsay turned to literature, and her homes in London and in the country often hosted the painters Watts, Millais, Leighton, and Burne-Jones as well as authors Browning and Bret Harte. She was mostly a prolific poet and composer of songs, but she did write a few novels: Caroline (1888), about English travelers in France and Italy; Bertha's Earl (1891), a novel the reviewers found well-padded out to three volumes; and A Tangled Web (1892), about a Scottish girl entangled in London society. After some months of weakness and failing health, Lady Lindsay died in 1912.

References: Times (15 August 1912; 9 May 1913)

Fiction Titles:

  1. Caroline.  1 vol.  London: Bentley, 1888.
  2. Bertha's Earl.  3 vol.  London: Bentley, 1891.
  3. A Tangled Web.  2 vol.  London: A. and C. Black, 1892.