Helen Mary Gaskell

Helen Mary Gaskell (née Melville), CBE, known as May Gaskell (1853–1940) was a society hostess and philanthropist in London who established the British War Library.

Gaskell was a "vivacious but unhappily married society hostess who belonged to the aristocratic circle of friends known as the 'Souls'": she had platonic relationship with the artist Edward Burne-Jones, who wrote her up to six letters a day and painted a famous portrait of her daughter Amy. The letters were only discovered in 2005, when May's great-grandchild Josceline Dimbleby wrote a book about the affair, called "A Profound Secret" (ISBN 0552999814) (US title: "May and Amy: A True Story of Family, Forbidden Love, and the Secret Lives of May Gaskell, Her Daughter Amy, and Sir Edward Burne-Jones", ISBN 978-0307335890). Burne-Jones also painted May herself.

Gaskell founded the War Library in 1914 and actively ran it throughout the war.

Despite moving in similar circles, she was no relation to Elizabeth Gaskell.

Awards and honours

• CBE