Audrey, Lady Tennyson, was the daughter of Charles John Boyle and his wife Zacyntha She had six brothers and a sister who died young. She married Hallam Baron Tennyson, son of the poet Alfred Tennyson in 1844, and she and her husband went to live with the poet and his wife at their home, Farringford, at Freshwater on the Isle of Wight.
Audrey was a great admirer of Alfred Lord Tennyson, and often acted as his amanuensis when he was in pain with gout and rheumatism. It was at this time that she began to write an occasional diary, and recorded among other things the last weeks of the poet's life, describing his illness and death.
She was married five years before her first son was born. They were later to have two more sons. Following her husband's appointment as Governor of SA they came to Australia in 1899, living at Government House in Adelaide, and Marble Hill, the Governor's summer residence. She kept in touch with her mother Zacyntha by writing 262 letters to her during the five years she was away, some of them sixty or more foolscap pages in length, providing a valuable picture of her time. Audrey was very concerned about the social conditions in the colony. One of her significant contributions was the establishment of a maternity home for women, the Queen's Home.
Federation was in the air, and on the 1st January 1901 the Commonwealth of Australia was proclaimed. When the first Governor-General, Lord Hopetoun, resigned from the position after less than 18 months, Hallam Tennyson was appointed acting Governor-General, and the family moved to Sydney. His position was confirmed in January 1903, at his own request for a period of one year only. Audrey and the boys sailed for England in December 1903, followed by Hallam who left when his replacement arrived. Audrey died in 1916. Two of their sons died in the First World War.
