Laetitia Matilda Hawkins (baptized 8 August 1759 – 22 November 1835) was an English novelist, associated with

Twickenham Twickenham is a suburban district in London, England. It is situated on the River Thames southwest of Charing Cross. Historically part of Middlesex, it has formed part of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames since 1965, and the boroug ...

. She was the daughter of

Sir John Hawkins Sir John Hawkins (also spelled Hawkyns) (1532 – 12 November 1595) was a pioneering English naval commander, naval administrator and privateer. He pioneered, and was an early promoter of, English involvement in the Atlantic slave trade. Hawki ...

, an acquaintance of

Samuel Johnson Samuel Johnson (18 September 1709 – 13 December 1784), often called Dr Johnson, was an English writer who made lasting contributions as a poet, playwright, essayist, moralist, critic, biographer, editor and lexicographer. The ''Oxford ...

. Hawkins was an outspoken yet highly conservative British woman author. In 1793, she published the inflammatory ''Letters on the Female Mind, Its Powers and Pursuits. Addressed to Miss H.M. Williams, with particular reference to Her Letters from France'', a two-volume attack on

Helen Maria Williams Helen Maria Williams (17 June 1759 – 15 December 1827) was a British novelist, poet, and translator of French-language works. A religious dissenter, she was a supporter of abolitionism and of the ideals of the French Revolution; she was impri ...

's Continental political writings in her '' Letters Written in France''. Hawkins asserted that 'every ''female'' politician is a ''hearsay'' politician'. The ''

Analytical Review The ''Analytical Review'' was an English periodical that was published from 1788 to 1798, having been established in London by the publisher Joseph Johnson and the writer Thomas Christie. Part of the Republic of Letters, it was a gadfly publicat ...

'', a liberal paper, described Hawkins' ''Letters'' as a 'rant ..written with much ill temper'.''Analytical Review, or History of Literature, Domestic and Foreign'', 15 ondon: J. Johnson, 1793 p. 527. She wrote at least four novels, including ''The Countess and Gertrude'' (1811), and she also acted as an

amanuensis An amanuensis () is a person employed to write or type what another dictates or to copy what has been written by another, and also refers to a person who signs a document on behalf of another under the latter's authority. In one example Eric Fenby ...

for her father. Her work was published anonymously until after Sir John's death in 1789.

Beryl Bainbridge Dame Beryl Margaret Bainbridge (21 November 1932 – 2 July 2010) was an English writer from Liverpool. She was primarily known for her works of psychological fiction, often macabre tales set among the English working class. Bainbridge won the ...

based a character in her novel ''

According to Queeney ''According to Queeney'' is a 2001 Booker-longlisted biographical novel by English writer Beryl Bainbridge. It concerns the last years of Samuel Johnson and his relationship between Hester Thrale and her daughter ' Queeney'. The bulk of the nov ...

'' on Hawkins. Hawkins 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

*''Letters on the Female Mind, Its Powers and Pursuits. Addressed to Miss H.M. Williams, with particular reference to Her Letters from France'' (1793) *''Rosanne; or A father’s labour lost'' (1814) *''Thoughts on our national calamity: in a letter to a friend in Ireland'' (1817) *''Heraline; or, Opposite proceedings'' (1821) *''Annaline; or, Motive-hunting'' (1824) *''Memoirs, anecdotes, facts and opinions'' (1824)

Notes

External links

* WorldCat
Laetitia Matilda Hawkins
* ''Memoirs, anecdotes, facts and opinions'' (1824
Volume One
an
Volume Two
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hawkins, Laetitia 1759 births 1835 deaths English women novelists 19th-century English writers 19th-century English women writers Amanuenses