Blunt, Wilfrid Scawen ___ 1840-1922 ___ British ___ diplomat, writer

BIOGRAPHICAL SUMMARY
Blunt was born into an old Sussex family at Crabbet Park, but his father died when he was only two. Thereafter, he was educated at Stonyhurst and Oscott, before entering the diplomatic service when only 18. He served in several European capitals and in Buenos Aires, taking full advantage of his single status in privileged society, and publishing love sonnets. In 1869, he left his government office, married Lady Anne Noel, Byron's granddaughter, and soon inherited Crabbet Park after the death of his brother. Thereafter, Blunt and his wife travelled and lived much in the Middle East, often travelling on horseback together. In 1873, after many miscarriages and the deaths of infant babies, Anne gave birth to Judith, her only surviving child. Blunt became increasingly outspoken on international issues, opposing British rule in Egypt, and British policy in the Sudan and sympathising with Muslim aspirations. His ideas were propagated in books such as 'The Future of Islam' and 'Ideas about India'. In 1888, he served a term in prison because of his championing of Irish home rule. Apart from poetry and controversial ideas on foreign policy, Blunt is also remembered for having an affair with Jane Morris, William Morris's wife, for breeding Arab horses, and for his spicy diaries.
A biography link
Wikipedia bio

DIARY DATES, CONTENT DESCRIPTORS
1888-1914 ___ political social travel people love/sex nature horses Egypt India

WEB TEXT LINKS
substantial extracts on Richard Burton
quotes and citations
googlebooks

ORIGINAL MANUSCRIPT LINKS
Cambridge University: Fitzwilliam Museum

SOME PUBLISHED TITLES
My Diaries: Being a Personal Narrative of Events 1888-1914
India under Ripon: A Private Diary
 

May 2005, September 2008
Please email if you have any corrections, additions or comments, or if you've found the site useful. Thank you.

IMPORTANT NOTES AND CAUTIONS: 1) The first line of basic information may be incomplete in several ways: some historical figures have different names (titles, pen-names); their birth and death dates may be unknown or uncertain (g - guess, c - circa); similarly, their occupations may be unknown, or they may have had other jobs; and, for early diarists, I've used 'British' a bit too freely. 2) The biographical summary may not be accurate. It was compiled quickly from various sources, mostly on the internet, and the facts were not checked anywhere near as rigorously as they would have been if they'd been intended for publication in a printed form. 3) The journal dates and descriptors (which are in no particular order) must be treated with caution: since I have not examined the diaries myself, the descriptors are only guesses based on bibliographies, anthologies and internet biographies. 4) For the biography and etext links, I have ignored any sites with charges, and I have avoided, wherever possible, those with pop-ups or too much advertising. I have limited myself to providing three etext links where there is some variety between them. 5) For the original manuscript links, I have limited myself to providing a maximum of two (although, for a few diarists, their original diaries are held in more than two places). 6) I have provided the titles - chosen randomly - for up to three printed editions of the diaries.