26 July: Boreham on Edward Poynter

A Domestic Triumph
The anniversary of the death, in 1919, of Sir Edward Poynter, the famous president of the Royal Academy, may serve to remind us of one of the greatest domestic triumphs of which we have any record. It stands as one of the nation's real romances. George Browne Macdonald, a Methodist minister, inherited from his remote ancestors the traditions of the Scottish highlands, and from his immediate progenitors the traditions of the Methodist parsonage. Hannah, his wife, was a Welsh girl, the daughter of a native of the Vale of Clwyd. To this pair were born seven children and those seven children form as remarkable a group as ever graced a single household.

The first crepuscular gleam of coming magnificence appeared when Alice, the eldest daughter, married a young art master from India, Jack Kipling by name, and, a year or two later, at Bombay, gave birth to a son whom she named Rudyard, after the beautiful English lake on the banks of which she and her husband first met. To have become the grandparents of the most popular poet of the period would have satisfied the vanity of any ordinary mortals; but this was merely a drop in the ocean of the glory of the Macdonalds. For, a little later, Alice's sister Georgina married a young painter, Edward Burne-Jones. "At the time of our marriage," says Lady Burne-Jones in her "Memorials," "neither my father nor my brother had any idea of Edward's genius; the only thing they troubled about was character." Yet Sir Edward Burne-Jones, largely inspired by his beautiful and brilliant wife, rose to the highest possible pinnacle of fame in his profession. The triumphs of his skill adorn the classical salons of the old world, whilst our Australian galleries proudly boast several valuable specimens of his exquisite handicraft.

One Family Enjoys A Feast Of Fame
As a boy, nothing excited Rudyard Kipling more than the prospect of a visit to Aunt Georgie (Lady Burne-Jones) at The Grange. He derived an extraordinary thrill from having to stand at the iron gate and from having to await, after ringing the open-work iron bell-pull, the arrival of the liveried servant who admitted him into the realm of so much felicity. Later on, when the author of "Kim," "The Jungle Book," and the "Recessional" set up house for himself, he craved and obtained the bell-pull from The Grange in order that other boys visiting him might know the ecstasy that he once enjoyed.

In 1866 the Macdonalds tasted the excitement of three weddings within three days. These included a double wedding, each, from a historical point of view, a wedding deluxe. Agnes, far-famed for her beauty, became the bride of Edward Poynter, destined, as Sir Edward Poynter, to become President of the Royal Academy, and one of the most eminent painters of all time. On the same day, Louise, the fourth daughter, allowed herself to be led to the altar by Mr. Alfred Baldwin, and lived to see the child of their union, Lord Baldwin of Bewdley, twice become Prime Minister of Great Britain.

Nor is this all. Strangely enough, most of Lord Baldwin's biographers—Mr. Wickham Steed, Mr. John Smith, Mr. A. G. Whyte, and the rest—aver that the Macdonald family consisted of four girls and two boys. Such a misstatement does the greatest injustice to one of the most vivacious, one of the most radiant and one of the most lovable ladies of her time. There were, to be sure, two brothers—Harry, who, after a distinguished career at Oxford, went to America, and Frederick, who, following the footsteps of his sires, entered the Methodist ministry. But, unlike his sires, he became world famous in the ministry, was President of the British Conference in 1899 and visited Australia in 1908.

The Glory Of A Maiden Aunt
But, Lord Baldwin's biographers notwithstanding, there were five girls. Little Aunt Edith was, in many respects, the most scintillating of them all. As a child, her sprightly movements and sparkling witticisms kept the entire household smiling. Devoting herself to the care of her aging parents, Edith never married. On the death of the old minister and his wife, she made her home with the Baldwins. Here, from time to time, came the Burne-Jones', the Kiplings and the Poynters, attracted in no small measure by the singular fascination of Aunt Edie. A lady of rare culture, infinite sweetness, and sterling strength of character, Edith filled every circle that she adorned with light and laughter. Like her sisters, she inherited from her mother a passion for music and poetry. Of literature, too, thanks to the mistress of the manse, all the girls were enamoured. Louise, the mother of Lord Baldwin, wrote a number of popular novels—"Where Town and Country Meet," "Richard Dare," "The Shadow on the Blind," "The Story of a Marriage," and several others.

Little Aunt Edith, the unmarried sister, also published a dainty brochure entitled "Thoughts on Many Themes." And in the pretty church near her home, in which every window was designed by Sir Edward Burne-Jones, there is an exquisite grape-vine altar frontal, perfectly worked in untarnishable gold thread, and looking for all the world like a sheet of beaten gold, to the weaving of which Edith Macdonald devoted ten happy years of her long and lonely life. She lived to be 88.

In its obituary notice on the death of Frederick Macdonald, the brother, "The Times" remarked that the parsonage from which the greatly gifted president and his five remarkable sisters sprang was a home in which there was very little money but any amount of goodness. As we survey the historic homes that were afterwards graced by the children of that modest Methodist minister and his gentle lady—the homes of the Poynters, the Kiplings, the Burne-Jones, the Baldwins, and the Macdonalds—it is pleasant to reflect that the fragrance of that simple goodness proved so penetrating and was blown so far.

F W Boreham

Image: Edward Poynter