Mary Theresa Vidal (née Johnson) (23 June 1815 – 19 November 1873) was a
British–Australian writer described as Australia's first female novelist.
Life
Mary was born in
Devon
Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devo ...
, England, the daughter of Britton William Johnson and his wife, Mary Theresa, daughter of P. W. Furse. The poet
William Johnson, who took the name of Cory in 1872, was a younger brother. In 1840 she married the Rev. Francis Vidal and came with him to Australia. Her husband had an extensive parish to the south-west of Sydney, at
Penrith.
In 1845, Vidal's first book, ''Tales for the Bush'', was published in Sydney, apparently intended as an instructive work for her servants.
Soon afterwards she returned with her husband to England. Ten other volumes of tales and novels were published between 1846 and 1866. She sometimes made use of her experiences in Australia, especially in ''Bengala, or Some Time Ago'' (1860). Some of these books ran into more than one
edition
Edition may refer to:
* Edition (book), a bibliographical term for a substantially similar set of copies
* Edition (printmaking), a publishing term for a set print run
* Edition (textual criticism), a particular version of a text
* Edition Recor ...
. She died in 1873 and was survived by her husband, six sons (including
George William Vidal
George William Vidal (23 September 1845 – 13 October 1907) was a British lawyer who worked in the Indian Civil Services in the Bombay Presidency and contributed to natural history studies from the Konkan region, and was involved in popularizing t ...
) and a daughter.
Works
* ''
Tales for the Bush''. Sydney: D. L. Welch, 1845
* ''Winterton: A Tale''. London: Rivington, 1846.
* ''Esther Merle and Other Tales''. London: J. Hughes, 1847
* ''Cabramatta and Woodleigh Farm''. London: Rivington, 1850.
* ''Home Trials''. London: Masters, 1858.
* ''Ellen Raymond''. London: Smith, Elder, 1859.
Volume I Volume II Volume III
* ''
Bengala, or Some Time Ago''. London: Parker, 1860.
* ''Florence Temple''. London: Smith, Elder, 1862.
* ''Lucy Helmore''. London: J. Morgan, 1863.
* ''Trials of Rachel Charlcote''. London: J. Morgan, 1864.
* ''
Deb Clinton, The Smugglers Daughter''. London: MacIntosh, 1866.
References
J.C. Horner 'Mary Theresa Vidal' ''Australian Dictionary of Biography'' onlineSusan McKernan 'Introduction' to Mary Theresa Vidal ''Bengala, or Some Time Ago'' *
External links
Mary Theresa Vidal ''Bengala, or Some Time Ago'' with introduction by Susan McKernanMary Theresa Vidal ''Tales for the Bush''Mary Theresa Vidal ''The Convict Laundress''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vidal, Mary Theresa
1815 births
1873 deaths
Australian women novelists
English emigrants to colonial Australia
19th-century Australian women writers
19th-century British women writers
19th-century Australian novelists