Helena Wells
Encyclopedia
Helena Wells, later Whitford (1761?-1824) was an American
-English
novelist and writer at the end of the eighteenth century.
; she "seems to have been a Loyalist
who later served as a governess in London
". Robert became a successful bookbinder, bookseller, and then a printer for The South-Carolina and American General Gazette in 1758. Robert was considered a outspoken and inflexible Loyalist, he and his family moved to London in 1777. Robert was very successful in wartime London, and he got a house in Salisbury Square. After the war, the fortunes were not so great for the family. South Carolina would seize his colonial property and didn't give him a fair compensation. He would die in 1794, insolvent.
According to the ODNB, Wells ran a school in London with her sister from 1789 to 1799, and the subject-matter of Letters on Subjects of Importance to the Happiness of Young Females suggests a switch of career to that of governess.
In 1801 she married Edward Whitford, and had four children.
, who was born in 1757, wrote that Helena was the youngest surviving Wells child, which means she was born no earlier than 1758. On the other hand, Helena's sister Louisa (born in 1755) recalled in The Journal of a Voyage from Charlestown, S.C., to London (written in 1779) that at age ten she helped take care of two sick infant sisters. If one of these infants was Helena, she might have been born around 1764. (One or both of the babies mentioned must not have survived infancy.)
In Thoughts and Remarks on Establishing an Institution, for the Support and Education of Unportioned Respectable Females (1809) Helena Wells wrote, "It was in the prime of my life (past thirty), that I attempted to place myself at the head of an establishment to board and educate Young Ladies." (If this passage refers to the project she undertook in 1789, her birth year might be 1758.)
Non-fiction
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
-English
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
novelist and writer at the end of the eighteenth century.
Biography
Helena Wells was born in South Carolina between 1758 and 1765, the daughter of the printer and bookseller Robert (1727/8-1824) and Mary Wells, who had emigrated from Scotland in 1753. The title page of The Stepmother describes her as living in Charleston, South CarolinaCharleston, South Carolina
Charleston is the second largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. It was made the county seat of Charleston County in 1901 when Charleston County was founded. The city's original name was Charles Towne in 1670, and it moved to its present location from a location on the west bank of the...
; she "seems to have been a Loyalist
Loyalist (American Revolution)
Loyalists were American colonists who remained loyal to the Kingdom of Great Britain during the American Revolutionary War. At the time they were often called Tories, Royalists, or King's Men. They were opposed by the Patriots, those who supported the revolution...
who later served as a governess in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
". Robert became a successful bookbinder, bookseller, and then a printer for The South-Carolina and American General Gazette in 1758. Robert was considered a outspoken and inflexible Loyalist, he and his family moved to London in 1777. Robert was very successful in wartime London, and he got a house in Salisbury Square. After the war, the fortunes were not so great for the family. South Carolina would seize his colonial property and didn't give him a fair compensation. He would die in 1794, insolvent.
According to the ODNB, Wells ran a school in London with her sister from 1789 to 1799, and the subject-matter of Letters on Subjects of Importance to the Happiness of Young Females suggests a switch of career to that of governess.
In 1801 she married Edward Whitford, and had four children.
Birth date controversy
Her birth is undocumented, but in "A Memoir of His Life" (1818) by her brother Dr. William Charles WellsWilliam Charles Wells
William Charles Wells MD FRS FRSEd , was a Scottish-American physician and printer. He lived a life of extraordinary variety, did some notable medical research, and made the first clear statement about natural selection. He applied the idea to the origin of different skin colours in human races,...
, who was born in 1757, wrote that Helena was the youngest surviving Wells child, which means she was born no earlier than 1758. On the other hand, Helena's sister Louisa (born in 1755) recalled in The Journal of a Voyage from Charlestown, S.C., to London (written in 1779) that at age ten she helped take care of two sick infant sisters. If one of these infants was Helena, she might have been born around 1764. (One or both of the babies mentioned must not have survived infancy.)
In Thoughts and Remarks on Establishing an Institution, for the Support and Education of Unportioned Respectable Females (1809) Helena Wells wrote, "It was in the prime of my life (past thirty), that I attempted to place myself at the head of an establishment to board and educate Young Ladies." (If this passage refers to the project she undertook in 1789, her birth year might be 1758.)
Works
Novels- The Stepmother: a domestic Tale from real life, 1798, 2 vols.
- Constantia Neville; or, The West Indian, 1800. 3 vols.
Non-fiction
- Letters on Subjects of Importance to the Happiness of Young Females, 1799; 2nd edition 1807.
- Thoughts and remarks on establishing an institution for the support and education of unportioned respectable females, 1809.