Marian Ursula Arkwright, 1863-1922
Marian Arkwright, a descendent of Richard Arkwright, the inventor of the Spinning Jenny, was born in Norwich. She studied Music at Durham University, taking her BMus in 1895. She obtained her Doctorate in 1913 – one of the first English women to do so. She worked as an orchestral musician, composer, and conductor, and – as noted in The Ottawa Citizen for 1st June 1922 – “She was one of the old-fashioned enthusiasts for the music of the people of whom there are far too few left”. She contributed a few songs to the early numbers of the Journal of the Folk-Song Society, mostly collected by her in Berkshire and Hampshire. She also collected 2 songs in Kent, from a Mr. Barrow of Otham, and these were included in the 1918 Journal.
Her obituary was printed in the Journal of the Folk-Song Society Vol. 7, No. 26 (Dec. 1922):
The Society has now to record with deep sorrow the death of one of its earliest and most gifted supporters, Dr. Marian Arkwright, who passed away in her sleep on Thursday, the 23rd of March last, a few hours after having played in the orchestra in a performance of The Messiah given by the Newbury Choral Society. Miss Arkwright took the degree of Doctor of Music at Durham University in 1913. It is—to quote the Oxford Chronicle—impossible to name all the activities in which she distinguished herself in the course of her busy life. Besides being a composer and conductor of distinction she was a fine pianist and played the viola and double-bass, continually giving her help in performances of the best music. For many years she conducted her village orchestra and choral society at Highclere, and (since
the death of Mr. J. S. Liddle a year and a half ago) conducted the Newbury Amateur Orchestral Union. As promoter of music amongst Women’s Institutes and as a lecturer on musical subjects she was inspiring. During the War she acted as secretary to a V.A.D. hospital in Hampshire and endeared herself to the inmates by her unfailing cheerfulness, charm and delightful musical gifts. She was an artist in every sense, as her water-colour sketches show. Her sympathy with folk-music shows itself in the traditional songs contributed by her to the Journals of the Folk-Song Society and in her “Japanese Symphony ” where she has made effective use of Japanese airs noted by herself and by the present writer. Her compositions include a requiem for soloists, eight-part chorus and orchestra, a quintet for pianoforte and wind instruments, and other chamber-music ; also songs with piano accompaniment. Her wonderful energy and capacity led all who knew her to turn to her for help, which she gave so generously that those who knew her best often feared that she might one day overtax her splendid vitality. She had a rare genius for friendship, and hundreds mourn her early death, whilst rejoicing that she has been spared the pains of illness and that decline of powers inseparable from old age.
LUCY BROADWOOD.
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