Patricia Cockburn

Patricia Cockburn (17 March 1914–6 October 1989) was an Irish writer, traveler, conchologist and artist. She was best known for her journalism and her later artistic career, creating shell pictures. Early life Patricia Cockburn was born Patricia Evangeline Anne Arbuthnot on March 17, 1914, at Derry House, Rosscarbery, County Cork. She was the youngest of the six children of Major John Bernard Arbuthnot and Olive Blake, daughter of Lady Edith Blake and Sir Henry Arthur Blake. Her father served in the Scots Guards during World War I. The family inherited the Blake fortune through Olive once her brothers were cut out of her parents' will. In 1916, the family moved in with Lady Blake at Myrtle Grove, Youghal. The Arbuthnots moved to London in 1918, leaving Cockburn to live with her grandmother. Whilsein Myrtle Grove received no formal education, spending her time horseback riding. She joined her parents in London in 1922 to start school. When she was in London, she was a witness to the murder of Sir Henry Wilson, 1st Baronet. Cockburn was unhappy at school and missed her life in the countryside. She stopped eating, inspired by Terence MacSwiney, and was returned to Cork with a governess. After the death of Lady Blake in 1926, her parents returned to Myrtle Grove but did not live there continuously. Cockburn remained there, ceasing her school lessons at 14 to concentrate on her horse riding. On her 16th birthday, however, she was thrown from a horse and broke her back. During her recovery, she moved to Algiers, living with Clare Sheridan. Upon returning to London in 1931, Cockburn made her debut as a debutante and started her studies at the Westminster School of Art. Later in life, she reflected that she "was no Michelangelo", which led to her switching her course to study design. It was while studying that Cockburn met Lloyd's underwriter, Arthur Byron. The couple married on October 10, 1993, which led to Cockburn leaving her artistic studies. The couple lived briefly in Clarendon Place, Bayswater before taking a world tour. When the couple returned to London in 1936, Cockburn gave birth to a son, Darrell.