Mary Champion de Crespigny
BornMary Clarke
c.1749
Died(1812-07-12)12 July 1812
Richmond House, Richmond
Notable worksThe Pavilion
SpouseSir Claude Champion de Crespigny, 1st Baronet (1734–1818)
ChildrenSir William Champion de Crespigny, 2nd Baronet (1765–1829)

Mary Champion de Crespigny (née Clarke; c.1749 - 12 July 1812) was an English novelist and letter writer.

Personal life

Mary Clarke was born c.1749, an only daughter.[1]

She married Sir Claude Champion de Crespigny, 1st Baronet. They had one child, a son named William, born on 1 January 1765.[2] William was educated at Eton College and Trinity Hall, Cambridge[2] and was MP for Southampton 1818–1826.[2][3]

She died at Richmond House on 12 July 1812.[1]

Writing

Around 1780, Mary Champion de Crespigny wrote a series of letters to her son, William, then aged 15. These were published as Letters of Advice from a Mother to her Son in 1803 and were dedicated to John Moore, the Archbishop of Canterbury.[1]

In 1796, she published her only novel, The Pavilion, in four volumes.[1]

She is one of the "lost" women writers listed by Dale Spender in Mothers of the Novel: 100 Good Women Writers Before Jane Austen.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Mary, Lady Champion de Crespigny © Orlando Project". orlando.cambridge.org. Retrieved 1 March 2021.
  2. 1 2 3 "DE CRESPIGNY, Sir William Champion, 2nd Bt. (1765-1829), Kingrew, Fawley, Hants and Champion Lodge, Camberwell, Surr. | History of Parliament Online". www.historyofparliamentonline.org. Retrieved 1 March 2021.
  3. "Summary of Individual | Legacies of British Slave-ownership". www.ucl.ac.uk. Retrieved 1 March 2021.


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