Alice James (1848 - 1892)

Born 7 Aug 1848 in New York City

Ancestors

Died 6 Mar 1892 at age 43 in London United Kingdom

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Biography

Born into a wealthy and intellectually active family James soon developed the psychological and physical problems that would end her life at age 43. Youngest of five children, she lived with her parents until their deaths in 1882. She taught history from 1873 to 1876 for the Society to Encourage Studies at Home, a Boston-based correspondence school for women founded by Anna Ticknor. James never married.

James began to keep a diary in 1889. Full of witty, acerbic, insightful comments on English life and manners, it included excerpts from various publications to support her opinions. The diary was not published for many years after her death due to sharp comments on various persons whom she had mentioned by name. A poorly edited version of the diary was eventually released in 1934. Leon Edel published a fuller edition in 1964. The diary has made James something of a feminist icon.

Sources

• The Wikipedia entry for Alice James
• Her Death Certificate. (She died in England.) Death Certificate data (selection):

• Registration District : - Kensington
• Registration SubDistrict : - Kensington Town in the County of London
• Year of Registration : - 1892
• Nbr. In register : - 376
• When died : - 16 March 1892
• Where died : - 41 Argyll Road
• Name : - Alice James
• Sex : - Female
• Age : - 43 years
• Occupation : - Gentlewoman of Independent Means
• Cause 1 : - Cancer of the Breast
• Cause 2 : - One Year
• Cause certified by : - ? ? Tuckey MD <barely legible>
• Informant : - Henry James, Brother. Present at the death
• Residence of Informant : - 34 De Vere Gardens
• When registered : - 7 March 1892
• Registrar : - E. W. Barnes