In 1831 Louisa Ruth Herbert was born.
Between 1855 and 1859. Dante Gabriel Rossetti [aged 26]. Louisa Ruth Herbert [aged 24].
Diary of Ford Madox Brown. 19th February 1856. All day after the tickets for the Princess' Theatre. In the evening went there to the Dress Circle with Emma & the 2 children & William Rossetti. Gabriel who had chiefly made up the party having decided that he could not go because he must go again that night to the strand Theatre to see a certain stunner.10 Katty after the play told William who was allud- ing to the Angels in Henry VIII "that she once saw some real angels up in the sky".
Note 10. The Princess's Theatre was giving Shakespeare's Henry VIII with Mr and Mrs Charles Kean in the roles of Cardinal Wolsey and Queen Katherine. Meanwhile Rossetti had gone to admire his "Stunner No 1" Louisa Ruth Herbert [aged 25], who was playing that evening in a "Favourite Commedietta", Time Tries all, and a farce, Never Despair.
1858. Dante Gabriel Rossetti [aged 29]. Louisa Ruth Herbert [aged 27].
1858. Dante Gabriel Rossetti [aged 29]. "The Chapel before the Lists". Model Miss Herbert [aged 27].
1858. Dante Gabriel Rossetti [aged 29]. "Mary Magdalene at the door of Simon the Pharisee". Model Louisa Ruth Herbert [aged 27].
Letters of Dante Gabriel Rossetti 1858. On 1st June 1858 Dante Gabriel Rossetti [aged 30] wrote to William Bell Scott [aged 47]:
I am in the stunning position this morning of expecting the actual visit, at ½ past 11, of a model whom I have been longing to paint for years - Miss Herbert [aged 27] of the Olympic Theatre - who has the most varied and highest expression I ever saw in a woman's face, besides abundant beauty, golden hair, etc. Did you ever see her? O my eye! she has sat to me now and will sit to me for Mary Magdalene in the picture I am beginning. Such luck!'.
20th September 1858. Dante Gabriel Rossetti [aged 30]. Drawing of Louisa Ruth Herbert [aged 27].
The Diary of George Price Boyce 1858. 15th December 1858. To Rossetti [aged 30]. The new things I noticed were an intensely impressive water colour of the Virgin in the house of John, the latter seated at the window and striking a light and looking out upon Jerusalem at twilight. The Virgin is spinning. A Knight girded for combat embracing his Lady Love [The Chapel before the Lists]. Several studies of Miss Herbert [aged 27] (Mrs. Crabbe). A most beautiful pen and ink study of Topsy's (Morris's) "Stunner" at Oxford. He showed me some fine medieval drapery and some gorgeous Eastern pieces lent him from the India House. We went off at dusk and dined at the Cock, and afterwards adjourned to 24 Dean St., Soho, to see "Fanny [aged 23]." Interesting face and jolly hair and engaging disposition.
1859. Dante Gabriel Rossetti [aged 30]. "Mary in the House of St John". Model Miss Herbert [aged 28].
Chronicle of a Bourgeois of Valenciennes
Récits d’un bourgeois de Valenciennes aka The Chronicle of a Bourgeois of Valenciennes is a vivid 14th-century vernacular chronicle written by an anonymous urban chronicler from Valenciennes in the County of Hainaut. It survives in a manuscript that describes local and regional history from about 1253 to 1366, blending chronology, narrative episodes, and eyewitness-style accounts of political, military, and social events in medieval France, Flanders, and the Low Countries. The work begins with a chronological framework of events affecting Valenciennes and its region under rulers such as King Philip VI of France and the shifting allegiances of local nobility. It includes accounts of conflicts, sieges, diplomatic manoeuvres, and the impact of broader struggles like the Hundred Years’ War on urban life in Hainaut. Written from the perspective of a burgher (bourgeois) rather than a monastery or royal court, the chronicle offers a rare lay viewpoint on high politics and warfare, reflecting how merchants, townspeople, and civic institutions experienced the turbulence of the 13th and 14th centuries. Its narrative style combines straightforward reporting of events with moral and civic observations, making it a valuable source for readers interested in medieval urban society, regional politics, and the lived experience of war and governance in pre-modern Europe.
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1876. Dante Gabriel Rossetti [aged 47]. Drawing of Louisa Ruth Herbert [aged 45].
1877. Dante Gabriel Rossetti [aged 48]. Drawing of Louisa Ruth Herbert [aged 46].
In 1887 [her son-in-law] Brigadier-General Herbert Conyers Surtees [aged 28] and [her daughter] Madeline Augusta Crabbe were married.
In 1921 Louisa Ruth Herbert [aged 90] died.
[her daughter] Madeline Augusta Crabbe was born to Edward Crabbe and Louisa Ruth Herbert. She married 1887 Brigadier-General Herbert Conyers Surtees.