Mr Horniman's Walrus : Legacies of a Remarkable Victorian Family

Mr Horniman’s Walrus tells the story of the rise and fall of three generations of a remarkable and dysfunctional Victorian family – the Hornimans – exploring the lives and loves behind their extraordinary and varied legacies.

<p><b>‘This has everything I love in a book; drama, intrigue and a giant, stuffed mammal.’ Sue Perkins</b><br><b><i><br>Mr Horniman’s Walrus</i> tells the story of the rise and fall of three generations of a remarkable and dysfunctional Victorian family – the Hornimans – exploring the lives and loves behind their extraordinary and varied legacies.</b><br><br>Family patriarch <b>John Horniman established the tea company that bore his name</b> in 1826, which went on to become one of the best-known brands of nineteenth-century Britain. His son <b>Frederick created the eclectic and wonderful Horniman Museum</b> in London, and his granddaughter <b>Annie was a theatrical impresario</b> responsible for founding Ireland’s national theatre, the Abbey. Across more than a century, the family embodied changing middle-class attitudes <b>from patriarchy to the new spirit of modernity</b>; and their progress mirrored the high point of Victorian entrepreneurialism and the changes ushered in by the Edwardian age. <br><br>Drawing on her years of research and unfettered access to the family archive, Clare Paterson has written<b> a riveting tale</b> of trade, collecting, the stage, sex and politics in Victorian Britain. For the first time, <i>Mr Horniman’s Walrus</i> unpicks the lives of this fascinating family, <b>including their slips from grace as well as their astounding achievements</b>. It’s a story of capital and culture, philanthropy and empire, but also bankruptcy, betrayal, intrigue, lunacy and deep involvement in the esoterica of the occult.</p>