Mary Benson

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Mary Benson (née Sidgwick, 1841-1918) was the wife of Edward White Benson, Archbishop of Canterbury.

She was born in Skipton, Yorkshire, the sister of the philosopher Henry Sidgwick. She was proposed to, aged 12, by her second cousin Henry White Benson. They were married in 1859, by which time she had already had the first of her lesbian affairs, which she referred to as "swarmings". She and Edward had five (or possibly six) children, including the writers