Mr Horniman's Walrus: Legacies of a Remarkable Victorian Family

Mr. Hornimans Walrus by Sue Perkins is a novel that explores the rise and fall of three generations of a remarkable and dysfunctional Victorian family, the Hornimans. It tells the story of their lives and loves, including their contributions to trade, collecting, the stage, sex, and politics in Victorian Britain.

Format: Hardback
Length: 272 pages
Publication date: 29 September 2022
Publisher: Michael O'Mara Books Ltd

The Hornimans were a remarkable and dysfunctional Victorian family, whose story is told in Mr. Horniman's Walrus. The book explores the lives and loves behind their extraordinary and varied legacies, spanning three generations. Family patriarch John Horniman founded the tea company that bore his name in 1826, which became one of the best-known brands of nineteenth-century Britain. His son Frederick created the eclectic and wonderful Horniman Museum in London, and his granddaughter Annie was a theatrical impresario responsible for founding Ireland's national theater, the Abbey.

Over a century, the family embodied changing middle-class attitudes from patriarchy to the new spirit of modernity, and their progress mirrored the high point of Victorian entrepreneurialism and the changes ushered in by the Edwardian age. Clare Paterson, drawing on her years of research and unfettered access to the family archive, has written a riveting tale of trade, collecting, the stage, sex, and politics in Victorian Britain. For the first time, Mr. Horniman's Walrus unpicks the lives of this fascinating family, including their slips from grace as well as their astounding achievements.

The book is a story of capital and culture, philanthropy and empire, but also bankruptcy, betrayal, intrigue, lunacy, and deep involvement in the esoterica of the occult. The Hornimans were a family of remarkable individuals who left a lasting legacy in the world of business, art, and culture. Their story is a testament to the complexities and contradictions of the Victorian era, and their descendants continue to be celebrated and studied today.

Weight: 492g
Dimension: 162 x 242 x 27 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781789294002