The Rossetti Archive : William Michael Rossetti memoirs on Elizabeth Siddal

William Michael Rossetti, Rossetti's brother, acted initially as the secretary of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood and then as the biographer for  the Pre-Raphaelite movement. During the lifetime of his brother and after his death  he carefully guarded Rossetti's reputation;  his notes and reminiscences  selected and crafted to portray Rossetti in the best possible light. His memoirs on Rossetti's relationship with Lizzie receive the same treatment, nevertheless they are a valid, informative and fascinating read available on the Rossetti archive .

 Lizzie was not viewed positively by the family either before or after the marriage, William's tone in his memoirs reflects the family's reservations and views on Lizzie. He considered her talk "chaffy" and her attitude distant, and reserved  whilst other contemporaries noted  dignity, humour and tenderness and wit. His comment that Lizzie was never so fiercely ill after the marriage just as she had been before it is open to a number of interpretations.

The memoirs do contain  some factual inaccuracies. Lizzie's birth year is given as 1834 (making her around 16 when she met Rossetti) instead of the true year 1829.  Lizzie's father  Charles Siddall  did not die before she became involved with the PRB, but in 1859 during the period of Rossetti and Lizzie's virtual two year estrangement . On the estrangement William states "during the rest of 1858 and the whole of 1859 he did not see her so constantly as in preceding years. For this, apart from anything savouring of neglectfulness on his part, there may have been various causes".

A version of William Michael Rossetti's memoirs is on the wonderful Rossetti archive .Click to view:Dante Rossetti and Elizabeth Siddal - Rossetti Archive