Collection Guide
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Thirkell (Angela) Collection
mssThirkell
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Table of contents
Contributing Institution:
The Huntington Library
Title: Angela Thirkell collection
Creator:
Angela Thirkell Society
Identifier/Call Number: mssThirkell
Physical Description:
0.42 Linear Feet
(1 box)
Date (inclusive): 1890-1949
Abstract: Diaries and photographs related to
English and Australian novelist Angela Thirkell.
Language of Material: Materials are in
English.
Open for use by qualified researchers and by appointment. Please contact Reader Services at
the Huntington Library for more information.
The Huntington Library does not require that researchers request permission to quote from
or publish images of this material, nor does it charge fees for such activities. The
responsibility for identifying the copyright holder, if there is one, and obtaining
necessary permissions rests with the researcher.
[Identification of item]. Angela Thirkell collection, The Huntington Library, San Marino,
California.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Gift of Angela Thirkell Society, October 2023.
Angela Margaret Mackail was born on January 30, 1890 in London. She was the eldest daughter
of Margaret Burne-Jones and John Mackail, a Scottish classical scholar and Oxford Professor
of Poetry. Her maternal grandparents were Georgiana Macdonald and Sir Edward Burne-Jones, a
pre-Raphaelite painter and partner in the design firm of Morris and Company. Angela attended
school in London and Paris, then met and married professional singer James Campbell McInnes
in 1911. The couple had three children before divorcing in 1917. In 1918 Angela met and
married engineer George Thirkell, traveling with him to Melbourne, Australia in 1920. The
couple's son Lancelot George Thirkell was born in 1921, and Angela left with him in 1929 to
return permanently to London. She had begun writing in Melbourne, publishing a few articles,
and in London published her first books in 1931. She continued her writing career with a
series of novels based on Anthony Trollope's fictional English county of Barsetshire, which
portray English life and society in the years before, during, and after World War II. Angela
Thirkell died in Bramley, Surrey, in January 1961.
Two diaries, one authored by Angela Thirkell and another by her mother Margaret Mackail; a
photograph album compiled by Margaret Mackail; and loose photographs. Both diaries consist
of brief, datebook-type entries, though Margaret Mackail's is more detailed. Photographs are
primarily of Angela Thirkell throughout her life.
Processed at the time of accessioning by Kelly Kress in November 2023.
Arranged by type of material.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Authors, English --
20th century
Diaries
Photograph albums
Photographs
Angela Thirkell Society
Mackail, Margaret (Burne-Jones)
Thirkell,
Angela, 1890-1961