Mary Louisa Molesworth
Encyclopedia
Mary Louisa Molesworth was an English writer of children's stories who wrote for children under the name of Mrs Molesworth. She was born in Rotterdam, a daughter of Charles Augustus Stewart (1809–1873) who later became a rich merchant in Manchester and his wife Agnes Janet Wilson (1810–1883). Mary had three brothers and two sisters. She was educated in Great Britain and Switzerland: much of her girlhood was spent in Manchester. In 1861 she married Major R. Molesworth, nephew of Viscount Molesworth
; they separated legally in 1879. Her first novels, for adult readers, Lover and Husband (1869) to Cicely (1874), appeared under the pseudonym of "Ennis Graham." Her name occasionally appears in print as "M. L. S. Molesworth" (see William Abbatt, The Colloquial Who's Who, p.28, http://books.google.com/books?id=yI4WAQAAMAAJ.)
"Mary Louisa Molesworth typified late Victorian writing for girls. Aimed at girls too old for fairies and princesses but too young for Austen
and the Brontës
, books by Molesworth had their share of amusement, but they also had a good deal of moral instruction. The girls reading Molesworth would grow up to be mothers; thus, the books emphasized Victorian notions of duty and self-sacrifice."
Typical of the time, her young child characters often use a lisping style, and words may be mis-spelt to represent children's speech—"jography" for geography, for instance.
Mrs Molesworth is best known as a writer of books for the young, such as Tell Me a Story (1875), Carrots (1876), The Cuckoo Clock (1877), The Tapestry Room (1879), and A Christmas Child (1880). She has been called "the Jane Austen
of the nursery," while The Carved Lions
(1895) "is probably her masterpiece."
She took an interest in supernatural fiction. In 1888, she published a collection of supernatural tales under the title Four Ghost Stories, and in 1896 a similar collection of six tales under the title Uncanny Stories. In addition to those, her volume Studies and Stories includes a ghost story entitled "Old Gervais" and her Summer Stories for Boys and Girls includes "Not exactly a ghost story." http://www.archive.org/details/studiesstories00mole http://www.archive.org/details/summerstoriesfor00mole
A new edition of The Cuckoo Clock was published in 1914.
She died in 1921 and is buried in Brompton Cemetery
, London.
Viscount Molesworth
Viscount Molesworth, of Swords in the County of Dublin, is a title in the Peerage of Ireland. It was created in 1716 for Robert Molesworth. He was made Baron Philipstown, of Swords in the County of Dublin, at the same time, also in the Peerage of Ireland...
; they separated legally in 1879. Her first novels, for adult readers, Lover and Husband (1869) to Cicely (1874), appeared under the pseudonym of "Ennis Graham." Her name occasionally appears in print as "M. L. S. Molesworth" (see William Abbatt, The Colloquial Who's Who, p.28, http://books.google.com/books?id=yI4WAQAAMAAJ.)
"Mary Louisa Molesworth typified late Victorian writing for girls. Aimed at girls too old for fairies and princesses but too young for Austen
Jane Austen
Jane Austen was an English novelist whose works of romantic fiction, set among the landed gentry, earned her a place as one of the most widely read writers in English literature, her realism and biting social commentary cementing her historical importance among scholars and critics.Austen lived...
and the Brontës
Charlotte Brontë
Charlotte Brontë was an English novelist and poet, the eldest of the three Brontë sisters who survived into adulthood, whose novels are English literature standards...
, books by Molesworth had their share of amusement, but they also had a good deal of moral instruction. The girls reading Molesworth would grow up to be mothers; thus, the books emphasized Victorian notions of duty and self-sacrifice."
Typical of the time, her young child characters often use a lisping style, and words may be mis-spelt to represent children's speech—"jography" for geography, for instance.
Mrs Molesworth is best known as a writer of books for the young, such as Tell Me a Story (1875), Carrots (1876), The Cuckoo Clock (1877), The Tapestry Room (1879), and A Christmas Child (1880). She has been called "the Jane Austen
Jane Austen
Jane Austen was an English novelist whose works of romantic fiction, set among the landed gentry, earned her a place as one of the most widely read writers in English literature, her realism and biting social commentary cementing her historical importance among scholars and critics.Austen lived...
of the nursery," while The Carved Lions
The Carved Lions
The Carved Lions is a book by British author Mary Louisa Molesworth . The book was first published by Macmillan and Company, London.-Plot:...
(1895) "is probably her masterpiece."
She took an interest in supernatural fiction. In 1888, she published a collection of supernatural tales under the title Four Ghost Stories, and in 1896 a similar collection of six tales under the title Uncanny Stories. In addition to those, her volume Studies and Stories includes a ghost story entitled "Old Gervais" and her Summer Stories for Boys and Girls includes "Not exactly a ghost story." http://www.archive.org/details/studiesstories00mole http://www.archive.org/details/summerstoriesfor00mole
A new edition of The Cuckoo Clock was published in 1914.
She died in 1921 and is buried in Brompton Cemetery
Brompton Cemetery
Brompton Cemetery is located near Earl's Court in South West London, England . It is managed by The Royal Parks and is one of the Magnificent Seven...
, London.
Further reading
- Cooper, Jane (2002) Mrs. Molesworth: a biography. Crowborough: Pratts Folly Press ISBN 0954285409