| Description | Kathleen Machell Smith (7 Oct 1868-15 Jun 1960), daughter of Frederick Machell Smith and Emily Smythies Greene, married Francis Bradshaw-Isherwood 12 Mar 1903. They had two children, Christopher William and Richard Bradshaw-Isherwood. Frederick died fighting during World War I in Belgium in 1915, and Kathleen never remarried.
The diaries in this collection may have been used for the research of Christopher Bradshaw-Isherwood's 1971 book 'Kathleen and Frank', a family memoir about his parents' marriage, as well as Kathleen's later diaries, which are held by several archives in the USA.
Kathleen was related to the Greene family of Bury St Edmunds in Suffolk, renowned brewers. Her mother Emily was the daughter of Edward Greene, who inherited the brewing business from his father Benjamin. On the 1881 census Kathleen (as Catherine M Smith) was staying with the Greene family at Westgate House, 13 Westgate Street, Bury St Edmunds. |