Anne Beale (1816 – 17 April 1900) was a popular English novelist and poet based in Wales. Her poetry, novels and stories appeared in print for over 50 years in her lifetime: "an unusually long career as an author".Jane Aaron
''Nineteenth-Century Women's Writing in Wales: Nation, Gender and Identity''
(University of Wales Press 2010), pp. 123–124, She was born and educated in

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...

and started a career as a

governess A governess is a largely obsolete term for a woman employed as a private tutor, who teaches and trains a child or children in their home. A governess often lives in the same residence as the children she is teaching. In contrast to a nanny, th ...

. In 1841, she settled in Carmarthenshire. She started writing to supplement her teaching income, but she later earned enough to write full time.

Biography

Anne Beale was born at

Langport Langport is a small town and civil parish in Somerset, England, west of Somerton in the South Somerset district. The parish, which covers only part of the town, has a population of 1,081. Langport is contiguous with Huish Episcopi, a separate ...

, Somerset. She was educated at

Bath, Somerset Bath () is a city in the Bath and North East Somerset unitary area in the county of Somerset, England, known for and named after its Roman-built baths. At the 2021 Census, the population was 101,557. Bath is in the valley of the River Avon, ...

by "Madame de Bellecour". Her older sister Elizabeth Compton Beale was a singer by training. Beale lived near Llandeilo in Carmarthenshire from 1841, at first working as a governess for the family of an Anglican clergyman. Her income from writing eventually allowed her to make it her full-time profession, instead of a supplement to her teaching income. Late in life she moved to London, where she died at 68 Belsize Road, South Hampstead, in April 1900. As well as her girls' stories and a volume of poetry, she contributed Welsh-interest articles and poems to English and Scottish magazines.

Reception

Her depictions of Wales and the Welsh were admired for their sympathy and attention to detail. An 1869 review of ''Country Courtships'' in the Welsh newspaper ''

The Welshman ''Y Cymro – The Welshman'' is a named passenger train of the Great Western Railway (train operating company), Great Western Railway running between and . ''The Welshman'' was a named passenger train of the London, Midland and Scottish Ra ...

'' reported: "She knows the country well, and her descriptions of its scenery, its institutions, its people are severely truthful but, at the same time, so skilfully done, and with so much warmth and character as to captivate every person who cares to read one of the best and ablest novels of the season." However, a review of the novel ''Simplicity and Fascination'' (1855) by the newspaper ''

San Francisco Chronicle The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and M. H. de Young, Michael H. de ...

'' in 1893 called it "old-fashioned... bulky, verbose, full of stilted dialogue and verbose explanations."

Selected works

*''Traits and Stories of the Welsh Peasantry'' (1849) *''The Baronet's Family'' (1852) *''Simplicity and Fascination'' (1855) *''Gladys the Reaper'' (1860) *''Nothing Venture, Nothing Have'' (1864) *''Rose Mervyn of Whitelake'' (1879) *''The Queen O'the May'' (1881) *''The Pennant Family'' (1885) *''Courtleroy'' (1887) *''Old Gwen'' (1888) *''Charlie is My Darling'' (1891) ''Gladys of Harlech'' (1858) and ''Country Landlords'' (1860) are both frequently attributed to Anne Beale, but the title page of the original edition gives the author's name as "L.M.S": its true author was Louisa Matilda Spooner.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Beale, Anne 1816 births 1900 deaths 19th-century English novelists 19th-century English poets 19th-century English women writers 19th-century English writers 19th-century Welsh novelists 19th-century Welsh poets 19th-century Welsh women writers People from Langport English women novelists Welsh women novelists Welsh women poets English governesses