Patricia Cockburn

Patricia Evangeline Anne Cockburn ( Arbuthnot, later Byron; 17 March 1914 – 6 October 1989) was an Irish writer, traveler, conchologist and artist. She was best known for her journalism and her later artistic career, creating shell pictures.

Early life Patricia Cockburn was born Patricia Evangeline Anne Arbuthnot on 17 March 1914 at Derry House, Rosscarbery, County Cork. She was the youngest of the six children of Major John Bernard Arbuthnot and Olive Blake, daughter of Lady Edith Blake and Sir Henry Arthur Blake. Her father served in the Scots Guards during World War I. The family inherited the Blake fortune through Olive once her brothers were cut out of her parents' will. In 1916, the family moved in with Lady Blake at Myrtle Grove, Youghal. The Arbuthnots moved to London in 1918, leaving Cockburn to live with her grandmother. Whilsein Myrtle Grove received no formal education, spending her time horseback riding. She joined her parents in London in 1922 to start school. When she was in London, she was a witness to the murder of Sir Henry Wilson, 1st Baronet.

Career and family Cockburn accepted a brief from the Royal Geographical Society to compile an etymological report on the dialects of central Africa. The couple left their son with her parents and travelled to the Ituri Rainforest. She constructed a language map by meeting different tribes. She was not a linguist, but instead used observation and pragmatism. Her photographs were exhibited in London. Having returned to London, Cockburn was preparing to rejoin her son in Cork when Darrell had an accident that resulted in blood poisoning. She suffered a period of depression from the grief and guilt over her son's death.

While her husband travelled, Cockburn edited his newspaper, The Week in 1945. Cockburn grew tired of London, and in 1947, the family returned to Cork, where her brother and parents were living. Having initially lived in Myrtle Grove, the Cockburns moved into Brook Lodge, a Georgian house nearby. As the house was practically derelict, they rented it for a nominal fee. Cockburn installed a cesspit and created a garden, as well as schooling ponies she purchased from Travellers and sold on to buyers in England. She published her first book in 1968, The Years of the Week, about her husband's paper. All three of the Cockburns' sons became journalists: Alexander, Andrew, and Patrick. Through Andrew, she was the paternal grandmother of actress Olivia Wilde.