Hon. Maria Georgiana Fetherstonhaugh (née Carleton) (1847–3 August 1918) was an English novelist, known also as Minna Carleton. A modern critic concludes that her novels, "when not marred by over-wrought sentiment... have vitality.... Her women characters are often more resolute, noble and practical than the men."Virginia Blain, Patricia Clements and Isobel Grundy: ''The Feminist Companion to Literature in English. Women Writers from the Middle Ages to the Present'' ( Batsford: London, 1990), pp. 360–361.

Personal life

Maria was born at

Greywell Greywell is a small village and civil parish in Hampshire, England – a past winner of the Best Kept Village in Hampshire competition and a recent winner of Best Small Village in Hampshire. It lies on the west bank of the River Whitewater, 6 mil ...

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...

, the younger daughter of Guy Carleton, 3rd

Baron Dorchester Baron Dorchester was a title that was created twice in British history, once in the Peerage of Great Britain and once in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. The first creation came in the Peerage of Great Britain on 21 August 1786 when the sold ...

(1811–1875), and his wife Anna (née Wauchope). She made an early marriage on 4 July 1863 to Timothy Fetherstonhaugh (died 1908) of Kirkoswald,

Cumberland Cumberland ( ) is a historic county in the far North West England. It covers part of the Lake District as well as the north Pennines and Solway Firth coast. Cumberland had an administrative function from the 12th century until 1974. From 19 ...

, a former captain of the 13th Hussars.Victorian Research. Retrieved 4 November 2018.
/ref> Their daughter Mabel was born in 1871. Some years after, she and her sister Henrietta Anne Pigott, later Baroness Dorchester, are known to have been working as readers for the London publishing firm of

Bentley Bentley Motors Limited is a British designer, manufacturer and marketer of luxury cars and SUVs. Headquartered in Crewe, England, the company was founded as Bentley Motors Limited by W. O. Bentley (1888–1971) in 1919 in Cricklewood, North ...

, which also issued Maria's novels.

Baden-Powell

Little is known of her private life, but the Fetherstonhaughs were admirers of

Robert Baden-Powell Lieutenant-General Robert Stephenson Smyth Baden-Powell, 1st Baron Baden-Powell, ( ; (Commonly pronounced by others as ) 22 February 1857 – 8 January 1941) was a British Army officer, writer, founder and first Chief Scout of the worl ...

(1857–41), founder of the

Boy Scout A Scout (in some countries a Boy Scout, Girl Scout, or Pathfinder) is a child, usually 10–18 years of age, participating in the worldwide Scouting movement. Because of the large age and development span, many Scouting associations have split ...

movement, whom they had met on holiday in

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

. According to a newspaper article about Powell's ''

Scouting for Boys ''Scouting for Boys: A handbook for instruction in good citizenship'' is a book on Boy Scout training, published in various editions since 1908. Early editions were written and illustrated by Robert Baden-Powell with later editions being extensi ...

'', "In 1905

aria In music, an aria (Italian: ; plural: ''arie'' , or ''arias'' in common usage, diminutive form arietta , plural ariette, or in English simply air) is a self-contained piece for one voice, with or without instrumental or orchestral accompanime ...

had bought the Mill House, behind

Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * ...

Windmill... as a retreat where she could keep her unusual menagerie including monkeys and penguins." This became for Baden-Powell "a quiet getaway where he could write his new book," which appeared in its final form in 1908. The article also states that "the Fetherstonhaughs had a somewhat troubled marriage."

Death

Maria Fetherstonhaugh died on 3 August 1918.Geni. Retrieved 4 November 2018.
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Novels

Fetherstonhaugh's novels include ''Kilcorran'' (1877), ''Kingsdene'' (1878), ''Robin Adair'' (1879), ''Alan Dering'' (1880), ''For Old Sake's Sake'' (1882), ''Dream Faces'' (1884) and ''Laying Down the Cards'' (1890). They can be faulted for sentimentality and "effusive verse quotation", but have vitality and feature "lively, outspoken, unusual heroines". However, self-sacrifice is denoted as part of a woman's role. These are generally available print-on-demand.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fetherstonhaugh, Maria 1847 births 1918 deaths 19th-century English women writers 19th-century English novelists English women novelists People from Hart District People from Wimbledon, London People from Kirkoswald, Cumbria