Katherine Everett

Katherine Everett was born Kathleen Olive Herbert in 1872 in Cahernane House, County Kerry. Her father was Henry Herbert of the Muckross estate. Everett had a difficult and unhappy relationship with her mother, leading her to leave home as a teenager living with relatives or others as a companion. She attended the Slade Art School, where she got to know her first cousin, John Everett.[1][2] They married in 1901[3] and had two sons, Henry, born 1902 and Anthony, born 1906. Her husband would leave for long periods at a time, eventually leaving Everett in 1914 with two young sons and no income. She worked for a time as a nurse, in various hospitals including Mercer's Hospital, Dublin. Later she became a gardener and companion to the Baring banking family. From 1915 she and her sons lived in a Georgian house, Sybil Hill, which belonged to the widowed Lady Ardilaun. She was Everett's distant cousin and godmother. After Lady Ardilaun's death in 1925, Everett left Ireland and never returned.[1] She lived for a time in British Columbia,[4] and Italy, before settling in England.[1]

During her life time, Everett became renowned for the designs and renovations of houses and gardens, primarily in England.[3] She started by becoming a building contractor to support herself and her sons.[5] Everett and her young son Anthony were the subject of Henry Tonks' 1908 drawing, Summer.[6]

Everett died in England in 1954.[2]

She published her autobiography, Bricks and Flowers, in 1949 followed by the collection of stories, Walk with Me, in 1951.[4] More recent examinations of her autobiography have viewed it as a queer text, particularly in relation to the unorthodox way in which Everett lived as a woman supporting herself and her children.[7] She recounts episodes during the Irish Civil War, where she travelled across Ireland to salvage furniture from the houses of Lady Ardilaun.[1] Bricks and Flowers was reissued in 2018.[2]