Anna Maria Bennett (ca. 1750 – 12 February 1808) was a Welsh

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living writing novels and other fiction, while others asp ...

who wrote in

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

. Some sources give her name as Agnes Maria Bennett. Her best-known work is the

epistolary novel An epistolary novel is a novel written as a series of letters. The term is often extended to cover novels that intersperse documents of other kinds with the letters, most commonly diary entries and newspaper clippings, and sometimes considered ...

'' Agnes de-Courci'' (1789).Available from

Chawton House Chawton House is a Grade II* listed Elizabethan manor house in Hampshire. It is run as a historic property and also houses the research library of The Centre for the Study of Early Women's Writing, 1600–1830, using the building's connectio ...

as
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She worked as the housekeeper of

Thomas Pye Sir Thomas Pye ( – 26 December 1785) was an admiral of the Royal Navy who served during the War of the Austrian Succession, the Seven Years' War, and the American War of Independence. He was briefly Member of Parliament for Rochester, and se ...

, and was also her employer's

mistress Mistress is the feminine form of the English word "master" (''master'' + ''-ess'') and may refer to: Romance and relationships * Mistress (lover), a term for a woman who is in a sexual and romantic relationship with a man who is married to a ...

. They had two illegitimate children, one of whom was the actress

Harriet Pye Esten Harriet Pye Esten or Harriet Pye Scott-Waring born Harriet Pye Bennett (1760s? – 1865) was an English actress and briefly a theatre manager. Life Esten was born in Tooting in or around the 1760s. She was the daughter of housekeeper Anna Maria ...

Family

Anna was probably born in Merthyr Tydfil Glamorgan, Wales, the daughter of a David Evans, who was described variously as a

customs officer A customs officer is a law enforcement agent who enforces customs laws, on behalf of a government. Canada Canadian customs officers are members of the Canada Border Services Agency. It was created in 2003 and preceded by the Canada Customs and ...

and a grocer. She married a Thomas Bennett, who was either a customs officer or a tanner, and moved to London with him. She soon left him and eventually found work in a chandler's shop. There she met Vice-Admiral

, who took her to his property in

Tooting Tooting is a district in South London, forming part of the London Borough of Wandsworth and partly in the London Borough of Merton. It is located south south-west of Charing Cross. History Tooting has been settled since pre- Saxon times ...

, Surrey, where she became his housekeeper and mistress. :She minc'd his meat, & made his bed :And warm'd it too, sometimes, 'tis said.' The couple had at least two illegitimate children together, Thomas Pye Bennett and Harriet Pye Bennett. The latter became a famous actress as

, with her mother tutoring her and helping to launch her career. The relationship ended with Pye's death in 1785, around the same time that Anna's first novel, ''Anna: Memoirs of a Welch Heiress'', was published and became successful. Pye died he left his Suffolk Street town house to Bennett. Her daughter, Harriet Pye Esten, initially appeared in Bath and Bristol before moving on to appear in Dublin. Whilst she was there in 1789 she and her mother negotiated a formal separation with James Esten. Bennett paid off her son-in-law's debts in exchange for his agreement. Her final work, ''Vicissitudes Abroad'', was highly controversial. She died in Brighton.

Works

*''Anna: or Memoirs of a Welch Heiress'', 1785 *''Juvenile Indiscretions'', 1786 *''Agnes de-Courci: a Domestic Tale'', 1789 *''Ellen, Countess of Castle Howel'', 1794 *''The Beggar Girl and he Benefactors'', 1797 *''De Valcourt'', 1800 *''Vicissitudes Abroad'', 1806

References

Sources

* *

External links

* *Ian Johnstone
Author Biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bennett, Anna Maria 1750s births 1808 deaths 18th-century Welsh novelists 19th-century Welsh novelists 18th-century Welsh women writers 19th-century Welsh women writers Welsh women novelists People from Merthyr Tydfil Welsh domestic workers