Mary Garman
Encyclopedia
Mary Margaret Garman Campbell (1898 – 1979) was the eldest of seven sisters known for their glamorous, bohemian
lifestyles and their many love affairs with famous artists, writers and musicians of interwar
London
. She was a member of the Bloomsbury Group
and the wife of the radical South Africa
n poet
Roy Campbell
, who attacked the group in The Georgiad (1931), a response to his wife's lesbian
affair with Vita Sackville-West
.
Mary Margaret Garman was the eldest daughter of Walter Garman, a physician. She and her younger siblings grew up at Oakeswell Hall, Wednesbury
, in the bleak surroundings of the Black Country
. Their childhood was a privileged one, with lots of space and several servants, but middling wealth. From an early age Mary rebelled against her deeply religious, conservative parents by pilfering and selling household possessions for money to buy cigarettes, racy French novels, and tickets to the picture show. Her younger sister, Kathleen
, called "Kitty," was her main accomplice. The daring duo also drank at the local miners' pub. When Mary and Kitty were 21 and 17 years old respectively, they ran away together and arrived in London penniless, where they set up house in a one room studio at 13 Regent Square in Camden
on the outskirts of Bloomsbury
. They lived in self-imposed poverty, surviving on the little money they earned as artists' models.
The dazzlingly beautiful Garman sisters became prominent in London's artistic communities, including the bohemian Bloomsbury set. They frequented West End
clubs such as the Gargoyle, the Harlequin and the Cave of the Golden Calf. Their circle of friends and acquaintances now numbered highbrows, Jews, poets, authors, painters, singers and ballerinas.
In 1924 Mary married the destitute South Africa
n poet Roy Campbell
, wearing black and a gold veil. Their scandalous marriage lasted until his death in 1957. They shared an outrageous lifestyle epitomized by his suspending her from a balcony in a failed attempt to intimidate her into wifely submission. Campbell recorded his love for Mary in poems and memoirs, describing her ironically as a combination of Sappho
and Saint Theresa
. The infidelities of both parties included Mary's affair with Vita Sackville-West
, which was commemorated in a series of sonnets by Vita and documented by Virginia Woolf
, an ousted lover, in her biography of Sackville-West. Absorbed in their wild world, Roy and Mary Campbell were negligent parents; recalls their daughter Anna: "We were never told how to sit at a table... or how important it was to change our knickers every so often."
In the 1930s, Mary and Roy Campbell moved to the south of France among Augustus John
, Aldous Huxley
, Sybille Bedford
and Nancy Cunard
, and later to Spain. She and her husband were received into the Roman Catholic Church
.
She was driving the car when her husband was killed in a road accident in 1957. She died in 1979.
Bohemianism
Bohemianism is the practice of an unconventional lifestyle, often in the company of like-minded people, with few permanent ties, involving musical, artistic or literary pursuits...
lifestyles and their many love affairs with famous artists, writers and musicians of interwar
Interwar period
Interwar period can refer to any period between two wars. The Interbellum is understood to be the period between the end of the Great War or First World War and the beginning of the Second World War in Europe....
London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. She was a member of the Bloomsbury Group
Bloomsbury Group
The Bloomsbury Group or Bloomsbury Set was a group of writers, intellectuals, philosophers and artists who held informal discussions in Bloomsbury throughout the 20th century. This English collective of friends and relatives lived, worked or studied near Bloomsbury in London during the first half...
and the wife of the radical South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
n poet
Poetry
Poetry is a form of literary art in which language is used for its aesthetic and evocative qualities in addition to, or in lieu of, its apparent meaning...
Roy Campbell
Roy Campbell (poet)
Ignatius Royston Dunnachie Campbell, better known as Roy Campbell, was an Anglo-African poet and satirist. He was considered by T. S. Eliot, Dylan Thomas and Edith Sitwell to have been one of the best poets of the period between the First and Second World Wars...
, who attacked the group in The Georgiad (1931), a response to his wife's lesbian
Lesbian
Lesbian is a term most widely used in the English language to describe sexual and romantic desire between females. The word may be used as a noun, to refer to women who identify themselves or who are characterized by others as having the primary attribute of female homosexuality, or as an...
affair with Vita Sackville-West
Vita Sackville-West
The Hon Victoria Mary Sackville-West, Lady Nicolson, CH , best known as Vita Sackville-West, was an English author, poet and gardener. She won the Hawthornden Prize in 1927 and 1933...
.
Mary Margaret Garman was the eldest daughter of Walter Garman, a physician. She and her younger siblings grew up at Oakeswell Hall, Wednesbury
Wednesbury
Wednesbury is a market town in England's Black Country, part of the Sandwell metropolitan borough in West Midlands, near the source of the River Tame. Similarly to the word Wednesday, it is pronounced .-Pre-Medieval and Medieval times:...
, in the bleak surroundings of the Black Country
Black Country
The Black Country is a loosely defined area of the English West Midlands conurbation, to the north and west of Birmingham, and to the south and east of Wolverhampton. During the industrial revolution in the 19th century this area had become one of the most intensely industrialised in the nation...
. Their childhood was a privileged one, with lots of space and several servants, but middling wealth. From an early age Mary rebelled against her deeply religious, conservative parents by pilfering and selling household possessions for money to buy cigarettes, racy French novels, and tickets to the picture show. Her younger sister, Kathleen
Kathleen Garman
Kathleen Garman, Lady Epstein was the third of the seven notorious Garman sisters, who were high profile members of artistic circles in mid-twentieth century London, renowned for their beauty and scandalousness. She was the muse and longtime mistress of Jacob Epstein, the famous British/American...
, called "Kitty," was her main accomplice. The daring duo also drank at the local miners' pub. When Mary and Kitty were 21 and 17 years old respectively, they ran away together and arrived in London penniless, where they set up house in a one room studio at 13 Regent Square in Camden
London Borough of Camden
In 1801, the civil parishes that form the modern borough were already developed and had a total population of 96,795. This continued to rise swiftly throughout the 19th century, as the district became built up; reaching 270,197 in the middle of the century...
on the outskirts of Bloomsbury
Bloomsbury
-Places:* Bloomsbury is an area in central London.* Bloomsbury , related local government unit* Bloomsbury, New Jersey, New Jersey, USA* Bloomsbury , listed on the NRHP in Maryland...
. They lived in self-imposed poverty, surviving on the little money they earned as artists' models.
The dazzlingly beautiful Garman sisters became prominent in London's artistic communities, including the bohemian Bloomsbury set. They frequented West End
West End of London
The West End of London is an area of central London, containing many of the city's major tourist attractions, shops, businesses, government buildings, and entertainment . Use of the term began in the early 19th century to describe fashionable areas to the west of Charing Cross...
clubs such as the Gargoyle, the Harlequin and the Cave of the Golden Calf. Their circle of friends and acquaintances now numbered highbrows, Jews, poets, authors, painters, singers and ballerinas.
In 1924 Mary married the destitute South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
n poet Roy Campbell
Roy Campbell (poet)
Ignatius Royston Dunnachie Campbell, better known as Roy Campbell, was an Anglo-African poet and satirist. He was considered by T. S. Eliot, Dylan Thomas and Edith Sitwell to have been one of the best poets of the period between the First and Second World Wars...
, wearing black and a gold veil. Their scandalous marriage lasted until his death in 1957. They shared an outrageous lifestyle epitomized by his suspending her from a balcony in a failed attempt to intimidate her into wifely submission. Campbell recorded his love for Mary in poems and memoirs, describing her ironically as a combination of Sappho
Sappho
Sappho was an Ancient Greek poet, born on the island of Lesbos. Later Greeks included her in the list of nine lyric poets. Her birth was sometime between 630 and 612 BC, and it is said that she died around 570 BC, but little is known for certain about her life...
and Saint Theresa
Teresa of Ávila
Saint Teresa of Ávila, also called Saint Teresa of Jesus, baptized as Teresa Sánchez de Cepeda y Ahumada, was a prominent Spanish mystic, Roman Catholic saint, Carmelite nun, and writer of the Counter Reformation, and theologian of contemplative life through mental prayer...
. The infidelities of both parties included Mary's affair with Vita Sackville-West
Vita Sackville-West
The Hon Victoria Mary Sackville-West, Lady Nicolson, CH , best known as Vita Sackville-West, was an English author, poet and gardener. She won the Hawthornden Prize in 1927 and 1933...
, which was commemorated in a series of sonnets by Vita and documented by Virginia Woolf
Virginia Woolf
Adeline Virginia Woolf was an English author, essayist, publisher, and writer of short stories, regarded as one of the foremost modernist literary figures of the twentieth century....
, an ousted lover, in her biography of Sackville-West. Absorbed in their wild world, Roy and Mary Campbell were negligent parents; recalls their daughter Anna: "We were never told how to sit at a table... or how important it was to change our knickers every so often."
In the 1930s, Mary and Roy Campbell moved to the south of France among Augustus John
Augustus John
Augustus Edwin John OM, RA, was a Welsh painter, draughtsman, and etcher. For a short time around 1910, he was an important exponent of Post-Impressionism in the United Kingdom....
, Aldous Huxley
Aldous Huxley
Aldous Leonard Huxley was an English writer and one of the most prominent members of the famous Huxley family. Best known for his novels including Brave New World and a wide-ranging output of essays, Huxley also edited the magazine Oxford Poetry, and published short stories, poetry, travel...
, Sybille Bedford
Sybille Bedford
Sybille Bedford, OBE was a German-born English writer. Many of her works are partly autobiographical. Julia Neuberger proclaimed her "the finest woman writer of the 20th century" while Bruce Chatwin saw her as "one of the most dazzling practitioners of modern English prose".-Early life:She was...
and Nancy Cunard
Nancy Cunard
Nancy Clara Cunard was a writer, heiress and political activist. She was born into the British upper class but strongly rejected her family's values, devoting much of her life to fighting racism and fascism...
, and later to Spain. She and her husband were received into the Roman Catholic Church
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
.
She was driving the car when her husband was killed in a road accident in 1957. She died in 1979.