The name Cunnack also seems to have undergone a far-flung transportation, being associated mainly with Cornwall and Australia. But who was the Hon. Mrs Cunnack (no forename given), and what was her connection with Somerville? No Cunnacks in the index of the college register - so I had recourse once again to Google, where I found that a search for "hon cunnack" turned up the Hon. Alice Elizabeth Millicent Erskine-Wemyss (born 1906, the daughter of Admiral Sir Rosslyn Wemyss), who married Major Francis Henry Cunnack in 1953. She looks to have been an intellectual character - she was given an honorary Doctorate of Letters by the University of Toulouse for her work on French Protestantism in the 18th and 19th centuries. She is mentioned in the online catalogue of Balliol archives for her work in classifying the Morier family papers (her mother's maiden name having been Morier), and Agatha Ramm, former Fellow of Somerville, wrote a biography of her grandfather Sir Robert Morier - but that's the closest Somerville connection I can find.
Thursday 24 May 2012
Ukraine to Canada, Cornwall to Australia (and Vlad the Baptizer)
An 1819 edition of the Traité d'économie politique by Jean-Baptiste Say was given to the Library by the Hon. Mrs Cunnack in 1955. M. Say has a long list of distinctions, the first of which is "Chevalier de Saint-Wolodimir". Who, I wondered, is the splendidly-named Saint Wolodimir? A quick trip to Google revealed a Ukrainian Orthodox saint spelt Volodymyr with a cathedral in (somewhat unexpectedly!) Toronto, Canada; he was Grand Prince of Kiev 980-1015 and known as The Baptizer, having been responsible for the conversion to Christianity of his subjects. His name is more familiarly (and therefore a little less exotically) rendered as Vladimir.
The name Cunnack also seems to have undergone a far-flung transportation, being associated mainly with Cornwall and Australia. But who was the Hon. Mrs Cunnack (no forename given), and what was her connection with Somerville? No Cunnacks in the index of the college register - so I had recourse once again to Google, where I found that a search for "hon cunnack" turned up the Hon. Alice Elizabeth Millicent Erskine-Wemyss (born 1906, the daughter of Admiral Sir Rosslyn Wemyss), who married Major Francis Henry Cunnack in 1953. She looks to have been an intellectual character - she was given an honorary Doctorate of Letters by the University of Toulouse for her work on French Protestantism in the 18th and 19th centuries. She is mentioned in the online catalogue of Balliol archives for her work in classifying the Morier family papers (her mother's maiden name having been Morier), and Agatha Ramm, former Fellow of Somerville, wrote a biography of her grandfather Sir Robert Morier - but that's the closest Somerville connection I can find.
The name Cunnack also seems to have undergone a far-flung transportation, being associated mainly with Cornwall and Australia. But who was the Hon. Mrs Cunnack (no forename given), and what was her connection with Somerville? No Cunnacks in the index of the college register - so I had recourse once again to Google, where I found that a search for "hon cunnack" turned up the Hon. Alice Elizabeth Millicent Erskine-Wemyss (born 1906, the daughter of Admiral Sir Rosslyn Wemyss), who married Major Francis Henry Cunnack in 1953. She looks to have been an intellectual character - she was given an honorary Doctorate of Letters by the University of Toulouse for her work on French Protestantism in the 18th and 19th centuries. She is mentioned in the online catalogue of Balliol archives for her work in classifying the Morier family papers (her mother's maiden name having been Morier), and Agatha Ramm, former Fellow of Somerville, wrote a biography of her grandfather Sir Robert Morier - but that's the closest Somerville connection I can find.
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