Lucy Finley, a governess in the household of General Muravyov (1796–1866) in St Petersburg, became acquainted with Thomas Atkinson in 1846, after his return from his first extensive trip to the interior of Russia. They were married in 1848, after which Lucy Atkinson accompanied her husband on his travels ‘in countries where an English lady had never been seen before’. She became an intrepid horsewoman and markswoman, skills for which she was much admired by the Russian peoples whom she met.