Frederick Tennyson (a co-heir of the Earls of Scarsdale) was born June 5, 1807. He was educated at Eton and Trinity College, Cambridge, where he distinguished himself by writing Greek verse—winning the prize for a Sapphic ode on “Egypt.” He married an Italian lady, Maria Guiliotta, now dead, by whom he had two sons—Julius and Alfred,—and three daughters—Elise, Emily, Matilda. For many years he lived at Tenby in South Wales; at present he resides in Jersey, and devotes himself to his favorite Hellenic studies and to poetry.
Charles Tennyson Turner (born July 4, 1808, died April 25, 1879) attended Louth Grammar School (1815-21), and then was fitted for college at home. At Trinity, he did admirable work in the classics—obtaining a Bell scholarship. In 1836, he became vicar of Grasby, where he passed the greater part of his life, well-known for his good works. In 1838, he acquired property left him by his great-uncle, Rev. S. Turner, and assumed the name of Turner by royal license. He married Louisa Sellwood, youngest sister of Lady Tennyson; he died at Cheltenham.
[42] “In 1872, Mr. Tennyson purchased a small estate on the top of Blackdown.”
Laureate’s Country, ch. XVI. On the other hand, Every Saturday, for Jan. 1, 1870, says:
“Mr. Tennyson has recently built himself a second residence, in a picturesque valley in Surrey.” “In 1867,” says Jennings in his Lord Tennyson (p. 190), “it was announced that Tennyson had purchased the Greenhill estate on the borders of Sussex.”
This statement is corroborated by a letter of Milnes, dated July 30, 1867:
“Our expedition to Tennyson’s was a moral success, but a physical failure.... The bard was very agreeable, and his wife and son delightful. He has built himself a very handsome and commanding home in a most inaccessible site, with every comfort he can require, and every discomfort to all who approach him. What can be more poetical?”
Reid’s Life of Lord Houghton, Vol. II, p. 176
Here the circumstances point to only one conclusion—that Tennyson was living at Aldworth in the summer of 1867. It is a satisfaction to get down to a solid substratum of truth.