Women’s Writing in the British Isles from the Beginnings to the Present
Eliza Fenwick
-
Standard Name: Fenwick, Eliza
Birth Name: Eliza Jaco
Married Name: Eliza Fenwick
Pseudonym: A Woman
Pseudonym: E. F.
Pseudonym: the Rev. David Blair
EF
, now known (after long obscurity) for her single, remarkable surviving epistolary novel of the radical school of the 1790s, also wrote characterful children's books and extremely vivid letters which extend several decades into the nineteenth century. Her second adult novel never materialised.
TH
knew most of the English radicals of the day. For years before this he had been a particularly close friend of William Godwin
, who regarded him as a mentor. The two men saw...
Friends, Associates
Mary Hays
This was her most formative and most famous friendship. She had approached Wollstonecraft after the latter published Vindication of the Rights of Woman early that same year. Wollstonecraft proved a valuable professional mentor. Another relationship...
Occupation
Mary Hays
At Tansor near Oundle she again worked as a teacher; Eliza Fenwick
had been advising her (since the cost of living as a boarder was so high) to find a live-in position looking after a...
Intertextuality and Influence
Mary Hays
MH
's preface explains her intention of examining the power of the passions in action, on the model of Godwin
's Caleb Williams. She also compliments Ann Radcliffe
. She defends the worth of...
Dedications
Mary Hays
It was published by Simpkin and Marshall
, dedicated to Eliza Fenwick
in these words: While the Atlantic rolls between us, allow me, dear friend, to gratify my feelings, by addressing to you this little...
Intertextuality and Influence
Elizabeth Ham
This publication, written in charming verses, makes the parts of speech perform appropriate functions. The articles, A and The, stand at the door. Nouns march in. The Interjection has the last word(s): Her surprise was...
Education
Elizabeth Grant
While the family resided in London, theatre-going provided another much-welcomed form of education and entertainment. EG
once attended a production of The Caravan, featuring John Kemble
, in which Carlo, the famous Newfoundland...
Occupation
William Godwin
The imprint M. J. Godwin and Company was launched the following year. The business flourished, becoming almost a literary salon like that of Joseph Johnson
: visitors included Germaine de Staël
. It remained, however...
Occupation
William Godwin
This was just after Eliza Fenwick
left their employ.
Textual Features
Mary Ann Browne
The title-poem is a lengthy, often highly effective narrative about Ignatia's experience of learning, love, marriage, motherhood, loss, and abandonment. Ignatia's mother is Palestinian, and after the death of both her parents she experiments with...
Friends, Associates
Elizabeth Ogilvy Benger
Having already praised many contemporary women writers in print, EOB
was now able to meet them. The move to London was accomplished principally through the zealous friendship of Miss Sarah Wesley
, who had already...
Friends, Associates
Elizabeth Ogilvy Benger
The guests included Joanna Baillie
, Jane Porter
(both mentioned as celebrities) and Eliza Fenwick
.
Robinson, Henry Crabb. Diary, Reminiscences, and Correspondence. Editor Sadler, Thomas, Macmillan.
199-200
Robinson, Henry Crabb. Diary.
Friends, Associates
Joanna Baillie
On 11 May 1812 Henry Crabb Robinson
recorded in his diary meeting JB
and other women writers on a visit to Miss Benjers (Elizabeth Ogilvy Benger
). In his account of this pleasant evening...
