Theodosia Trollope

Theodosia Trollope (née Garrow; 28 November 1816 – 13 April 1865) was an English poet, translator, and writer known also for her marriage into the Trollope family. She married and bought a villa in Florence, Italy with her husband, Thomas Adolphus Trollope. Her hospitality made her home the centre of British society in the city. Her writings in support of the Italian nationalists are credited with changing public opinion.

Early life Theodosia Garrow was born in 1816 and raised in Torquay, Devon, England. Her parents were Joseph Garrow and the singer Theodosia Abrams Fisher. Her father was part Indian Her mother was Jewish. however, Barrett herself did not feel the comparison was justified. Barrett wrote that Trollope's work was "flowingly & softly written, with no trace of the thing called genius".

Trollope and her family went on a trip to Florence in 1844. Her father published his Dante translation in 1846. Whilst she was a guest of Fanny Trollope, she met and married Fanny's son Thomas Adolphus Trollope (brother of the writer Anthony Trollope).

Personal life After their marriage, they had a daughter, Beatrice, who was born in March 1853. The couple made their Italian household into a leading location; it was visited by the visiting British intelligentsia as well as leading Italian figures. "Mrs Trollope" was a celebrated hostess. She lived with her daughter, her husband and his mother at the Villino Trollope on the square that was then called the Piazza Maria Antonia and is now called the Piazza dell'Indipendenza in Florence. Their house was decorated by carved furniture, inlaid walls, majolica ceramics, marble floors and pillars, suits of armour and a 5,000-book library.

Their new villa was bought in part by Theodosia's inheritance.

The Trollopes' daughter played with Pen, the son of Robert and Elizabeth Barrett Browning, after they also took residence at Casa Guidi and became part of the Anglophone society of Florence in 1847. Comparisons of the two households concluded that the atmosphere of the Browning household was more intense whilst the Trollopes' was a more carefree environment.

Theodosia Trollope died in 1865 and was buried in the English Cemetery in Florence where four other members of the Trollope family were interred. Her husband later went on to marry the American-born Frances Eleanor Trollope.

Writing career

Theodosia was known for her poetry, her translations and her articles on household matters, although she also contributed letters to the Athenaeum advocating freedom for Italy. These articles, which pointedly disregarded the Pope, lauded the Italian nationalists. Her articles are credited with encouraging popular British support for the emergence of Italy as a nation. Most of her contributions were offered through different translations. Trollope translated an Italian nationalist play by Giovanni Battista Niccolini 1841 – Song of the Winter Spirits

Published in Keepsake

1841 – Imagine's Reward: A Legend of the Rhine 1842 – The Doom of Cheynholme 1847– The English Heart to the Roman Pontiff

Letters • 1861 – Social Aspects of the Italian Revolution, in a Series of Letters from Florence: With a Sketch of Subsequent Events up to the Present Time

Achievements

One of her greatest achievements occurred in 1861 when her twenty-seven papers, which were previously written for "Athanaeum", were reprinted and renamed as "Social Aspects of the Italian Revolution". This was an important achievement since it contributed towards the struggle for the Italian Freedom. Another one of her achievements was that she was able to inform other people about the events and problems during the Italian Revolution.