Coltman, Laura Isabella 'Ella', 1863-1948
Biography
Laura Isabella Coltman was born on 2 October 1863. She was a second cousin of Margaret Edina Duckworth (b. 1867/8)* who married the poet and writer Henry John Newbolt (1862-1938) in 1889. Both the courtship and marriage of Margaret Duckworth and Henry Newbolt were unconventional, as Margaret originally refused him on the basis of her close relationship with her cousin Ella; her consent was obtained only by Newbolt's assurances that Ella would not be deserted. Ella became in effect a third member of the household, and about two years after the wedding Newbolt and she became lovers, with Margaret aware of the arrangement, and Ella moving into the house.
Ella Coltman died on 30 June 1948.
* Ella's paternal grandmother Anna Duckworth (1792–1873) was the sister of Margaret's grandfather William Duckworth (1795–1876).
Found in 2 Collections and/or Records:
COLTMAN, Laura Isabella 'Ella', 1898-1910
Four letters from Ella Coltman to Ida Darwin. One of the letters was sent in April 1898 expressing sympathy for the death of Ida's sister-in-law Evelyn Mary Farrer née Spring-Rice (1862-1898). The remaining three were sent in August and December 1910 commenting first on news of the engagement of Ida's daughter Nora to Alan Noel Barlow, and in December on the inadvisability of Ida's son Erasmus meeting Celia Newbolt following his 'rejection' by her.
Nora Barlow Letters: 1915, 1915
Contains 49 letters from Nora to Ida Darwin sent between 1 January and 29 December 1915. Amongst news of family and social engagements, the letters make reference to Zeppelin raids on London in September and October 1915 and of work undertaken by Nora in the Chemical Department at Bedford College.
Includes letters from Isobel Addison, Alan Barlow, Erasmus Darwin and Gwen Raverat to Nora, and letters from Ella Coltman and Ruth Darwin to Ida.