Dorothy Shakespear - Early Years

Early Years

Dorothy's mother, Olivia Shakespear, came from a British Indian Army family on her father and mother's side. Olivia was born on the Isle of Wight, lived in Sussex as a child before moving to London in 1877 where she and her sister, Florence, were raised to enjoy a life of leisure. Dorothy's father, Henry Hope Shakespear (1849-1923), traced his family to 17th-century East London rope makers and, like his wife, came from a military family. Educated at Harrow, he went on to study law, became a barrister and in 1875 joined a law practice. He and Olivia were married in 1885; Dorothy, the couple's only child, was born nine months later. By the late 1880s, Dorothy's mother was active in London literary circles, started writing and by 1894 had published two novels.

From her father, Dorothy learned to paint, accompanying him on regularly scheduled painting excursions in the country. Pound biographer Wilhelm writes as "bright, pert, pretty English girl with a winning smile although some people found her cold". She was educated at Hampshire Boarding School and at a finishing school in Geneva, after which she lived at home, spending her time in activities such as water-colour painting, reading, letter writing, and accompanying her mother on social visits. Pound biographer Humphrey Carpenter writes she had little romance in her life until she met Ezra Pound.