Ellin Devis (December 1746 - February 1820), also known as Eilen Devis or Ellin Davis, was a schoolmistress and author of ''The Accidence'' (1775), a popular eighteenth-century grammar.
Biography
Ellin Devis was the daughter of
Arthur Devis
Arthur Devis (19 February 1712 – 25 July 1787) was an English artist, half-brother of the painter Anthony Devis (1729–1816), and father of painters Thomas Anthony Devis (1757–1810) and Arthur William Devis (1762–1822). His place in ...
(1712-1787) and Elizabeth Faulkner (1723-1788), who had a total of twenty-two children, sixteen of whom did not survive their infancy. The surviving six children included Ellin and her siblings Frances Devis (1751-17?), Thomas Anthony Devis (1756-1810), Arthur William Devis (1762-1822), Elizabeth Devis (1764-1825), and Ann Devis (1766-1822). She came from an artistic family: her father Arthur was known for his
conversation piece
A conversation piece refers to a group portrait in a domestic or landscape setting depicting persons chatting or otherwise socializing with each other.
Career
Devis's ''The Accidence'' (1775) may have been the first English grammar written specifically for female students. Devis's grammar was recommended by her peers as a general introduction to
Robert Lowth
Robert Lowth ( ; 27 November 1710 – 3 November 1787) was a Bishop of the Church of England, Oxford Professor of Poetry and the author of one of the most influential
textbooks of English grammar.
Life
Lowth was born in Hampshire, England, G ...
Maria Edgeworth
Maria Edgeworth (1 January 1768 – 22 May 1849) was a prolific Anglo-Irish novelist of adults' and children's literature. She was one of the first realist writers in children's literature and was a significant figure in the evolution of the n ...
,
Frances Burney
Frances Burney (13 June 1752 – 6 January 1840), also known as Fanny Burney and later Madame d'Arblay, was an English satirical novelist, diarist and playwright. In 1786–1790 she held the post as "Keeper of the Robes" to Charlotte of Mecklen ...
and her sister Susannah,
Hester Thrale
Hester Lynch Thrale Piozzi (née Salusbury; later Piozzi; 27 January 1741 or 16 January 1740 – 2 May 1821),Contemporary records, which used the Julian calendar and the Annunciation Style of enumerating years, recorded her birth as 16 January ...
and later her daughter Cecilia Piozzi. While Devis was mistress of the Queen’s Square school in Bloomsbury, England, it was known as “the Young Ladies Eton.” Devis's unique teaching style was successful, and at the time of her death in 1820, she had earned enough to own the school.
Works
* ''The Accidence'' or ''First Rudiments of English Grammar Designed for the use of Young Ladies'' (1775)
* ''Miscellaneous lessons: designed for the use of young ladies'' (1782)
* ''The Infant's Miscellany'' (1778)