Gertrude Fenton (1841 – April 11,1884), was an English novelist and magazine editor. She specialised in writing popular romantic fiction and published four novels between 1869 and 1871. Her most popular novel was her first ''Cora; or,The Romance of Three Years: A Novel.''

Life

Annie Maria Gertrude Thomas, professionally known as Gertrude Fenton was born at

Hampton Wick Hampton Wick, formerly a village, is a Thames-side area of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, and is contiguous with Teddington and Kingston upon Thames. It is buffered by Bushy Park, one of the Royal Parks of London from Hampton and ...

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, historic county in South East England, southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the Ceremonial counties of ...

in 1841.It is likely that her father William Lewis Thomas did not register her birth, registration not being a requirement at the time of her birth so her exact birthdate is not presently known.She was the daughter of a London based barrister William Lewis Thomas and his wife Ann Hellier. Her formative years were spent in Chelsea and in 1865 she married Arthur Fenton, the son of John Fenton, former MP for Rochdaleand brother of the pioneer war photographer

Roger Fenton Roger Fenton (28 March 1819 – 8 August 1869) was a British photographer, noted as one of the first war photographers. Fenton was born into a Lancashire merchant family. After graduating from London with an Arts degree, he became interested i ...

(1819-1869).They were married at

Holy Trinity Brompton church Holy Trinity Brompton with St Paul's, Onslow Square and St Augustine's, South Kensington, often referred to simply as HTB, is an Anglican church in London, England. The church consists of six sites: HTB Brompton Road, HTB Onslow Square (formerl ...

on 18 April 1864. The banns records and marriage certificate state her name as Annette Marie Gertrude Thomas.The young couple are recorded in 1871 census as living at All Saints Thwaite near

Aylsham Aylsham ( or ) is a historic market town and civil parish on the River Bure in north Norfolk, England, nearly north of Norwich. The river rises near Melton Constable, upstream from Aylsham and continues to Great Yarmouth and the North Sea, ...

in Norfolkand in the 1881 census in

Freshwater Fresh water or freshwater is any naturally occurring liquid or frozen water containing low concentrations of dissolved salts and other total dissolved solids. Although the term specifically excludes seawater and brackish water, it does include ...

on the Isle of Wight, Hampshire. Whilst living on the Isle of Wight she and her husband published a literary periodical ''The Carisbrooke Magazine''.The Carisbrooke Magazine vol 1 issue 4 edited and published by Gertrude Fenton, Newport IW (June 1880)Contributors included a mixture of less well known and established writers such as Theo Gift complemented by articles on famous personalities that included

Henry Irving Sir Henry Irving (6 February 1838 – 13 October 1905), christened John Henry Brodribb, sometimes known as J. H. Irving, was an English stage actor in the Victorian era, known as an actor-manager because he took complete responsibility ( ...

, the stage actor.The magazine ran from 1880 into 1881 by when Fenton was in poor health. Gertrude Fenton died on April 11 1884 of

cerebrovascular Cerebrovascular disease includes a variety of medical Medicine is the science and practice of caring for a patient, managing the diagnosis, prognosis, prevention, treatment, palliation of their injury or disease, and promoting their heal ...

and

hepatic disease Liver disease, or hepatic disease, is any of many diseases of the liver. If long-lasting it is termed chronic liver disease. Although the diseases differ in detail, liver diseases often have features in common. Signs and symptoms Some of the sig ...

and was interred at

Carisbrooke Carisbrooke is a village on the south western outskirts of Newport, Isle of Wight and is best known as the site of Carisbrooke Castle. It also has a medieval parish church. St Mary's Church (overlooking Carisbrooke High Street with views to the ...

Cemetery.

Literary works

Gertrude Fenton Cora or The Romance of Three Years 1869

Gertrude Fenton wrote four romantic novels published between 1869 and 1871 and a novelette in 1873 beginning with ''Cora; or, The Romance of Three Years'', her most successful novel and ending with ''Is Lady Clara Dead?'' They are examples of

sensation fiction The sensation novel, also sensation fiction, was a literary genre of fiction that achieved peak popularity in Great Britain in the 1860s and 1870s.I. Ousby ed., ''The Cambridge Guide to Literature in English'' (1995) p. 844 Its literary forebears i ...

that flourished during the mid-Victorian era. Published by F.Enos Arnold of LondonEnos Arnold 's career as a publisher was short and confined to the period of a few years around 1870. He was born in Dorchester, Dorset in 1838. On the 1871 Census return he was living in Lewisham, Kent with his family and describes himself as a 'general publisher' By 1881 he appears to have left publishing and is listed in the Census as a journalist. He died in Westminster on 15 April 1917 as a single volume

yellow-back A yellow-back or yellowback is a cheap novel which was published in Britain in the second half of the 19th century. They were occasionally called "mustard-plaster" novels. Developed in the 1840s to compete with the "penny dreadful", yellow-backs ...

''Cora'' was marketed as entertaining reading and often sold at railway stations. It included a brightly coloured cover, printed by

chromoxylography Chromoxylography () was a colour woodblock printing process, popular from the mid-19th to the early-20th century, commonly used to produce illustrations in children's books, serial pulp magazines, and cover art for yellow-back and penny dreadful ...

and was aimed at a predominately young female class of readers. It was reviewed by the ''St. James' Magazine and United Empire Review'' who thought the story far-fetched but entertaining. ''Cora'' was successful enough for the publisher F. E. Arnold to publish three further novels in 1871. ''The Wicked Lady'' which is partly set in a mental institution was adapted for the stage by the playwright and actor, Brandon Ellis who toured with it in 1874 appearing at Theatre Royal in Huddersfield.''Revenge'' another romance was printed with a maroon cover embossed with the motif, ''St.James Series'' and was, at least in presentation, an attempt to distance Gertrude Fenton from the garish yellow-backs.The Spectator Literary Review provided a favourable review calling ''Revenge'' a 'thrilling romance'.

Bibliography

*''Cora; or, The Romance of Three Years: A Novel.'' 1 vol. F.Enos Arnold, London (1869) *''A Wicked Woman: A Novel''. 1 vol. F. Enos Arnold, London (1871) *''Revenge''. 1 vol. F. Enos Arnold , London (1871) *''Is Lady Clara Dead?: A Novel''. 3 vols. F.Enos Arnold, London (1871) *''Ruth’s Sacrifice: a Novelette in Six Chapters''. St.James’ Magazine and United Empire Review, Holiday Annual (1873)

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fenton, Gertrude 1841 births 1884 deaths People from Hampshire 19th-century English novelists Victorian novelists Victorian women writers English women novelists 19th-century English women writers