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Emilie Barrington

English biographer and novelist (1841–1933)

Correspondence, annotated notebooks and portrait silhouettes prepared for research
People and ideasInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionSep 10, 2026
Entity authorityQ18576148 ↗
Source-derived summary

Emilie Isabel Barrington (18 October 1841 – 9 March 1933), was a British biographer, artist, and novelist. She became associated with the Holland Park Circle, was instrumental in establishing Leighton House Museum, and co-founded the Kyrle Society.

Early life

Emilie Isabel Wilson was born on 18 October 1841 in Mayfair, London, the youngest of six daughters born to James and Elizabeth Preston Wilson. James Wilson was a merchant, an active participant in the Anti-Corn Law League, and the founder of The Economist. Emilie spent her early years on the Continent and was educated, like her sisters, by governesses. She attended school in Cologne 1855–56, and in 1858 went to a finishing school in Paris.

In 1859, James Wilson became the financial member of the supreme council of India. He died the following year.

On 1 July 1868, Wilson married Russell Barrington, with whom she had two sons. Their second child, Ivo, died in 1871 aged four months.

Editorial summary

Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Emilie Barrington” is english biographer and novelist (1841–1933). The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Emilie, Barrington and English, not as a finished interpretation.

Editorial reviewA productive starting point for separating a subject’s documented career from later reputation and commemoration. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1841, 1933, 1855, 1858—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1841-10-18. For this dossier, Emilie, Barrington and English is the immediate research focus.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The phrase “english biographer and novelist (1841–1933)” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.

Evidence profile

Biographical claims are most persuasive when dates, appointments and relationships can be traced to records created close to the events described. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 10, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q18576148. VIAF identifies the subject as 48381326. The Library of Congress control number is n90607707. 2 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1841, 1933, 1855 and 1858.

Critical limits

A concise life account rarely captures disputed attribution, private networks or the changing language used to describe a career. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Read biographical claims against dates, named institutions and the cited references. Distinguish a subject’s later reputation from evidence produced during their lifetime.

Best used for
  • Establishing names and roles
  • Building a first chronology
  • Locating cited institutions
Verify next

Personal papers, civil or court records, institutional files and the scholarship cited by the source.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Emilie Barrington”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Emilie Barrington primary sources, Emilie Barrington archive and Emilie research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Emilie Barrington”?
  2. How has the subject’s reputation changed across later accounts?
  3. Which primary records establish identity, chronology and institutional ties?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Emilie Barrington” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.