Maria Abdy, née Smith, also known as Mrs Adby, (25 February 1797 – 19 July 1867) was an
English
English usually refers to:
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* English people
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Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
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poet.
[Susan Brown, Patricia Clements & Isobel Grundy]
Maria Abdy
''Orlando: Women's Writing in the British Isles from the Beginnings to the Present'', 2006-2011. Accessed 13 February 2011.
Life
Maria Abdy was born in London. She was an only child.
[ She was the daughter of Richard Smith, a solicitor, and Maria Smith, sister to ]James
James is a common English language surname and given name:
*James (name), the typically masculine first name James
* James (surname), various people with the last name James
James or James City may also refer to:
People
* King James (disambiguati ...
and Horace Smith, authors of the book of parodies '' Rejected Addresses'' (1812).
Although her mother was from a dissenting family, in 1821 she married John Channing Abdy, a clergyman who succeeded his father as rector of St John's, Southwark. John Channing Abdy and Maria Abdy had at least one boy, Albert Channing Abdy (born 1829), who attended Oxford and became a clergyman. Maria Abdy was widowed in 1845. She died on 19 July 1867 in Margate
Margate is a seaside town on the north coast of Kent in south-east England. The town is estimated to be 1.5 miles long, north-east of Canterbury and includes Cliftonville, Garlinge, Palm Bay and Westbrook.
The town has been a significan ...
, and was buried at St Peter's, Kent.[Virginia H. Blain]
‘Abdy , Maria (c.1800–1867)’
''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, Sept 2004; online edn, Oct 2007, accessed 5 Feb 2008
Poems
Abdy's husband appears to have encouraged her to publish poetry. One poem in her first collection was written to celebrate the centenary of his church, and several of her religious poems were intended to be sung as hymns. Yet she also published poetry in periodicals, such as (under the signature M.A.) the ''New Monthly Magazine
''The New Monthly Magazine'' was a British monthly magazine published from 1814 to 1884. It was founded by Henry Colburn and published by him through to 1845.
History
Colburn and Frederic Shoberl established ''The New Monthly Magazine and Univ ...
'' and '' The Metropolitan Magazine'', and annuals such as ''The Keepsake
''The Keepsake'' was an English literary annual which ran from 1828 to 1857, published each Christmas from 1827 to 1856, for perusal during the year of the title. Like other literary annuals, ''The Keepsake'' was an anthology of short fiction, po ...
'', ''Forget-Me-Not'', ''Friendship's Offering'' and the '' Book of Beauty''. Her poems occasionally offered serious social comment, and sometimes addressed social themes with a lighter satirical touch.[
]
Works
* (as Mrs Abdy) ''Poetry'', privately printed, 1834
* ''Poetry'', 2nd series, privately printed, 1838
* ''Poetry'', 3rd series, privately printed, 1842
* ''Poetry'', 4th series, privately printed, 1846
* ''Poetry'', 5th series, privately printed, 1850
* ''Poetry'', 6th series, privately printed, 1854
* ''Poetry'', 7th series, privately printed, 1858
* ''Poetry'', 8th series, privately printed, 1862
References
Further reading
* Feldman, Paula R. ''British Women Poets of the Romantic Era: An Anthology.'' JHU Press, 1997,pp. 1–5.
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External links
Index of Maria Abdy's Contributions to British Literary Annuals
{{DEFAULTSORT:Abdy, Maria
1797 births
1867 deaths
English women poets
Christian poets
19th-century English poets
19th-century English women writers
19th-century English writers
Writers from London