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Lilian, Lady Richmond Brown

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Lilian, Lady Richmond Brown
FZS FLS FRGS FRAI
Born
Lilian Alice Mabel Roussel

1885
Guernsey, Channel Islands
Died4 October 1946(1946-10-04) (aged 60–61)
Rye, Sussex, England
Occupation(s)Explorer, author
Spouse
​
​
(m. 1906; div. 1930)​

Lilian Alice Mabel, Lady Richmond Brown (née Lilian Alice Mabel Roussel) FZS FLS FRGS FRAI (1885 – October 4, 1946) was an English explorer and author.

Early life

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Lilian, who was known as "Mabs", was born in 1885.[1] She was a daughter of Robert Roussel who lived at Rohais at Guernsey in the Channel Islands, where she was born.[2]

Explorer

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Reportedly after being told she only had a few months to live in the early 1920s, she took up exploring.[3][4][5] In spring 1925, Lilian, F. A. Mitchell-Hedges and amateur archaeologist Thomas Gann travelled to the Mayan ruins at Lubaantun in British Honduras (today known as Belize). They obtained relics for the British Museum.[6]

She was appointed a Fellow of the Zoological Society of London, Fellow of the Linnean Society, Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, and a Fellow of the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland.[7]

Published works

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Lady Richmond Brown wrote several articles for magazines and newspapers and, in 1924, published one book, In Unknown Tribes: Uncharted Seas detailing her adventures in the Caribbean and Panama.[8][9]

Personal life

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On 27 February 1906, twenty-one year old Lilian married Melville Richmond Brown (1866–1944), three months before he succeeded his father, Sir William Richmond Brown, 2nd Baronet, as the third baronet.[10] The wedding took place at the register office at Christchurch, Hampshire and they lived for a time at White Rock, in Brockenhurst. In May 1910, her husband's affairs were place under the control of a guardian, Sir Melville's younger brother Frederick, due to his "lunacy."[11] She filed for judicial separation in 1909, but they were not divorced until November 1930, with her husband's guardian naming Mitchell-Hedges as co-respondent.[12][11]

Sir Melville, who did not remarry, died on 20 February 1944.[7] Lady Richmond Brown died on October 4, 1946, after several months' illness, at Lodge Playdon, near Rye, Sussex.[3]

References

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  1. ^ "Lilian Mabel Alice ('Mabs') (née Roussel), Lady Richmond Brown - National Portrait Gallery". www.npg.org.uk. National Portrait Gallery, London. Retrieved 18 January 2022.
  2. ^ Burke's Genealogical and Heraldic History of Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage. Burke's Peerage Limited. 1914. p. 311. Retrieved 18 January 2022.
  3. ^ a b Times, Special to THE NEW YORK TIMES The New York (5 October 1946). "LADY BROWN, NOTED AS AN EXPLORER, 63; Leader of Several Expeditions to Central America Dies-- Made Indian Discoveries". The New York Times. Retrieved 18 January 2022.
  4. ^ "Woman's blouse". americanindian.si.edu. National Museum of the American Indian. Retrieved 18 January 2022.
  5. ^ "A Woman in the World's Far Places; Lady Richmond Brown's Adventures Among Unknown and Savage Tribes UNKNOWN TRIBES: UNCHARTED SEAS. By Lady Richmond Brown, F.L.S., F.R.G.S., F.R.S., F.R.A.I. 268 pp., with 52 illustrations. New York: D. Appleton & Co". The New York Times. 25 January 1925. Retrieved 18 January 2022.
  6. ^ "Collections Online | Lady Richmond-Brown". www.britishmuseum.org. British Museum. Retrieved 18 January 2022.
  7. ^ a b Mosley, Charles, editor. Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage, 107th edition, 3 volumes. Wilmington, Delaware, U.S.A.: Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd, 2003, volume 1, page 540.
  8. ^ Lyons, Imogen (25 January 2016). "Lady Richmond Brown: Adventurer, Archaeologist and Angler". intriguing-people.com. Intriguing People. Retrieved 18 January 2022.
  9. ^ Kanner, Barbara; Decker, Jane (1997). Women in Context: Two Hundred Years of British Women Autobiographers, a Reference Guide and Reader. G.K. Hall. p. 146. ISBN 978-0-8161-7346-4. Retrieved 18 January 2022.
  10. ^ Fox-Davies, Arthur Charles (1910). Armorial Families: A Directory of Gentlemen of Coat-armour. T.C. & E.C. Jack. p. 202. Retrieved 18 January 2022.
  11. ^ a b "BARONET'S WIFE. EXPLORER AS CO-RESPONDENT DIVORCE DECREE FOR SIR M. RICHMOND BROWN. MR. F. MITCHELL HEDGES STEWARDESS IN LINER GIVES EVIDENCE". Evening Standard. 11 November 1930. p. 17. Retrieved 18 January 2022.
  12. ^ TIMES, Special Cable to THE NEW YORK (11 June 1930). "EXPLORER IS CORESPONDENT; Sir M. Richmond-Brown Sues, Naming F.A. Mitchell-Hedges". The New York Times. Retrieved 18 January 2022.
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