Married Life
The Herings' house in St John's Wood was in the midst of a thriving artistic community and it was no surprise that on 10 August 1875 Jeanie married an artist, John Adams-Acton, one of England's top sculptors.
Shortly after their marriage the couple took a tour across Europe to India where they spent several months in Bombay. When they returned they settled in a house in Marylebone. When both of her adopted parents died Marian inherited Ormidale, which she always visited for some time in the summer.
Around 1880 the couple moved to 14 Langford Place, St John’s Wood; at that time the house was named "Sunnyside" and included the present numbers 12 and 16. During their time at Langford Place, Jeanie became a mother to seven children. The couple held numerous soirées and afternoon bazaars for friends and neighbours, and Sunnyside became a leading social centre for politicians and artists, including Sarah Bernhardt. John Adams-Acton was a close friend of William Ewart Gladstone, and Jeanie in 1884 organised a large charity event with Mrs Gladstone called "The Bee". By the 1890s Jeanie was socializing in the highest circles with kings, queens and prime ministers, and although she wrote plays, one of which was performed at the Strand Theatre, she wrote no more fiction.
She was looking for a new challenge in her life when her husband came home one day and announced that some friends had just walked from London to Dorset. Enamoured with this idea, she decided that the summer trip to Arran should be made that year on foot. Her husband quite reasonably objected on the grounds that his friends were just a couple, whereas she had six children, the youngest not even a year old; and of course Arran was considerably further than Dorset. Unperturbed, she undertook the journey of 500 miles in about 7 weeks, with the poor nurse Ellen having to push the young child in a perambulator. The story of the journey became her last book, being published in 1894 as Adventures of a Perambulator.
In 1908 Adams-Acton incurred serious injuries when he was knocked over by a car; a lingering illness resulted in his death at Ormidale in 1910. He is commemorated by a memorial plaque at 14 Langford Place, unveiled on 19 July 1994.
Read more about this topic: Marion Adams-Acton
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