The Honourable Edith Mary Gell (; 1860–1944) was a writer and Christian activist, also known as Edith Lyttleton Gell and Edith Brodrick Gell.
Family Born in 1860, she was the fourth daughter of William Brodrick, 8th Viscount Midleton and Augusta, daughter of the 1st Baron Cottesloe. She was the sister of William St John Fremantle Brodrick, 1st Earl of Midleton (1856–1942), a distinguished politician who was Secretary of State for War from 1900 to 1903 and Secretary of State for India from 1903 to 1905.National Archives: Papers of the Gell family of Hopton. Available at http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/4868e279-9fb1-4d58-ac44-711dd382d98e#-1 She married Philip Lyttleton Gell (1852–1926) on 25 July 1889. The marriage was without offspring. She died on 17 April 1944.Who Was Who, 1941-1960, 1st ed. 1962, London: Adam & Charles Black, 4th ed., 1967, p. 427.
Reputation Journalist Hazel Southam has compared Gell's activities with those of characters in the television series Downton Abbey. Gell was very active in the local community and supported local families through Mothers' Union. She also ran "a Sunday morning children’s service until shortly before her death in 1944".Hazel Southam, "Socks, hoodies and Bible verses at real-life Downton Abbey". Available at https://www.biblesociety.org.uk/what-we-do/england-and-wales/world-war-1/stories/socks-hoodies-and-bible-verses-at-reallife-downton-abbey/
Gell is described in the National Archive entry for Hopton Hall as follows:
Social connections Being of the aristocracy, Edith Gell was well-connected and she gives an entertaining account of the people she knew in her autobiography: Under Three Reigns. When she was married, she was presented to Queen Victoria and describes her experience at court as follows:
She and her husband were friends of the poet Alfred Tennyson and she gives the following account of him:
Publications As listed in her Who Was Who profile: 1891 – The Cloud of Witness – a collection of quotations on a Christian theme. 1892 – Squandered Girlhood 1898 – The More Excellent Way 1899 – The Vision of Righteousness 1908 – The Forces of the Spirit 1912 – The Menace of Secularism 1914 – The Happy Warrior – a book with Biblical quotes for every day of the year 1915 – Problems for Speakers 1916 – The Empire’s Honour; Influence of Women of the Early Church in Britain; Conquering and to Conquer; The Blessed Company. 1917 – Wedded Life; The Churchwoman’s Vote 1918 – The Empire’s Destiny 1919 – The New Girl; Womanhood and Fellowship; The Resurrection of a Nation; The Liberation of Spiritual Force; Womanhood at the Crossroads 1920 – The New Crusaders 1921 – Our Mother Earth 1922 – The Spirit of the Home 1924 – Look Before You Leap 1927 – Under Three Reigns: 1860-1920 - her autobiography 1929 – Heaven in Daily Life 1930 – John Franklin’s Bride; Ways and Signposts 1931 – The Ideal of Stillness 1932 – Live Gloriously 1933 – Build 1934 – Hopton Hymns 1935 – Jubilee Musical Masque
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