A Victorian Marriage: Mandell and Louise Creighton.(Book Review)

by James Covert; pp. xv + 412. London and New York: Hambledon and London, 2000, 19.95 [pounds sterling], $40.00.

Mandell Creighton (1843-1901) and Louise von Glehn Creighton (1850-1936) are familiar to diverse Victorianists, as they circulate through many texts. Mandell, born in Carlisle, educated at Durham Grammar School and Merton College, Oxford, became an Oxford don (1867-74), a northern vicar (1874-84), Dixie Professor of Ecclesiastical History at Cambridge (1884-91), Bishop of Peterborough (1891-96), and finally Bishop of London (1897-1901); he was the first editor of the English Historical Review (1885-91) and author of, among many other books, an important six-volume History of the Papacy. (1894). Louise, born in Sydenham of German and Scottish descent, held fewer august public positions, of course, but was a prolific author of popular history; she was an active figure in women's philanthropic and reform organizations, including the Girls' Friendly Society, the National Union of Women Workers, various social purity organizations, and forums discussing the role of women in the Church of England. She may …