Biography

Hall's health declined in the early 1940's and ironically, given her late father's profession, she contracted tuberculosis. She soon had surgery on her eyes, after which she had to give up writing. She also contracted double pneumonia and finally colon cancer, from which she died in 1943, with Troubridge at her bedside. She is buried at Highgate Cemetery in north London, next to Mabel Batten.

In 1907, she met Mabel Veronica Batten, an amateur singer, at a Homburg spa in Germany. Batten was a 51 year old grandmother, Hall was only 27, but they fell in love and moved in together. Hall soon adopted a masculine appearance and began to use the name John, a nickname given to her by Batten. She eventually acted as caregiver for Batten, very ill with hypertension and circulatory problems. Hall soon fell in love with Batten's cousin, Una Troubridge, a sculptor. After accusing Hall of infidelity, Batten died of a stroke in 1916, after which Hall and Troubridge moved in together. That relationship lasted until Hall's death, but she also had a long-term affair with Eugenia Souline, a Russian nurse who was once brought in to care for Troubridge during an illness. That affair began in 1934 and Hall had other affairs with various women throughout her life.

Poet and novelist of the early 20th-century who wrote material that sometimes dealt with lesbian themes. Hall's parents separated shortly after her birth and her mother remarried in 1889 to Alberto Visetti, a vocal teacher at the Royal College of Music in London. Her natural father died when she was 18, and though during her life she had met him on only two or three occasions, she inherited the family estate at age 21, a wealthy one from her father's success as a physician and tuberculosis specialist. She was educated by governesses and traveled throughout Europe and America, later pursuing her education at King's College London and in Dresden, Germany. She purchased a house in Malvern Wells, Worcestershire in 1906.