Marriage: 1870-1872

Abstract HUMPHRY WARD has a walk-on part in literary history as owner of the name that his wife, rather quaintly, took as her own. Even during his life gleeful jokes about his nonentity were current. (The best known goes roughly thus: an old friend meets Humphry in the street after many years in darkest Africa: ‘ You must come and dine with me—and do bring Mrs HW, if there is a Mrs HW.’) Humphry is never given credit as the formative influence on his wife’s intellect, which in fact he was, particularly during the early years of their marriage when she was still a girl-wife. Had Mary Arnold married one of the other eligible young dons in her circle—say Mandell Creighton or John Wordsworth—her later development would have been quite other, in tune with their very different ideals and ambitions.