Emily Frederick Clark (

fl. ''Floruit'' (; abbreviated fl. or occasionally flor.; from Latin for "they flourished") denotes a date or period during which a person was known to have been alive or active. In English, the unabbreviated word may also be used as a noun indicatin ...

1798–1833) was an English novelist and poet. Several of her novels are set in Wales.

Family

She was the daughter of a customs official named Clark (died 1824) and his wife Elizabeth (died 1825), who was the daughter of Felice Frederick (c. 1725–1797). On the title pages of her novels she made unsubstantiated claims to be the great-granddaughter of Theodore, King of

Corsica Corsica ( , Upper , Southern ; it, Corsica; ; french: Corse ; lij, Còrsega; sc, Còssiga) is an island in the Mediterranean Sea and one of the 18 regions of France. It is the fourth-largest island in the Mediterranean and lies southeast of ...

.M. Clare Loughlin-Chow
"Clark, Emily Frederick (fl. 1798–1833)"
''

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') was published on 23 September ...

'', Oxford University Press, 2004, retrieved 4 March 2007.

Finances

Several of Clark's novels are set in the Welsh countryside. Press attention to her work dwindled, leaving her to wage a lifelong battle against penury. Twenty-four of her 42 applications to the

Royal Literary Fund The Royal Literary Fund (RLF) is a benevolent fund that gives assistance to published British writers in financial difficulties. Founded in 1790, and granted a royal charter in 1818, the Fund has helped an extensive roll of authors through its long ...

were successful. Nothing further is known of her after the last application was sent in 1833. She is one of the "lost" women writers listed by

Dale Spender Dale Spender (born 22 September 1943)''The Bibliography of Australian Literature: P–Z'' edited by John Arnold, John Hay (page 409). is an Australian feminist scholar, teacher, writer and consultant. In 1983, Dale Spender was co-founder of an ...

in '' Mothers of the Novel: 100 Good Women Writers Before Jane Austen''.

Works

*''Ianthé, or the Flower of Caernarvon'' (1798) *''Ermina Montrose or The Cottage of the Vale'' (1800) *''The Banks of the Douro, or, The Maid of Portugal'' (1805) *''Poems'' (1810) *''Tales at the Fireside'' (1817) *''The Esquimaux'' (1819)British Librar
Retrieved 3 August 2020.
/ref>

References

English women novelists Year of birth missing Year of death missing 18th-century births 18th-century English writers 18th-century British women writers 18th-century English women 18th-century English people {{UK-novelist-stub