Mary Stockdale
Encyclopedia
Mary Ridgway Stockdale was an English
writer
on the themes of Christian spirituality. She was the daughter of John Stockdale
and sister of John Joseph Stockdale
.
Mary was born in London
and was a sickly child, educated at the home of her father, a publisher. As she grew older, her health recovered and she pursued her own education, reading widely and enthusiastically. She soon devoted herself to nursing her mother and family and a young maid servant Elizabeth Haws. When Elizabeth died, Mary wrote her first poem, The Effusions of the Heart which her father offered to publish. However, Mary modestly refused and only allowed publication when she herself again fell ill and believed herself near to death. In The Mirror of the Mind, she wrote of "the emptiness of sublunary things" and that she held "the most perfect indifference for everything around me."
She wrote:
— besides translations from Arnaud Berquin
and others, and some minor pieces.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
writer
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
on the themes of Christian spirituality. She was the daughter of John Stockdale
John Stockdale
John Stockdale was an English publisher whose London shop became a salon for the political classes and who had to face two actions for defamation...
and sister of John Joseph Stockdale
John Joseph Stockdale
John Joseph Stockdale was an English publisher and editor with something of a reputation as a pornographer...
.
Mary was born in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
and was a sickly child, educated at the home of her father, a publisher. As she grew older, her health recovered and she pursued her own education, reading widely and enthusiastically. She soon devoted herself to nursing her mother and family and a young maid servant Elizabeth Haws. When Elizabeth died, Mary wrote her first poem, The Effusions of the Heart which her father offered to publish. However, Mary modestly refused and only allowed publication when she herself again fell ill and believed herself near to death. In The Mirror of the Mind, she wrote of "the emptiness of sublunary things" and that she held "the most perfect indifference for everything around me."
She wrote:
- The Effusions of the Heart: Poems (1798);
- The Mirror of the Mind: Poems (with an autobiography) (1810), 2 vols;
- The Life of a Boy (1821), 2 vols.;
— besides translations from Arnaud Berquin
Arnaud Berquin
Arnaud Berquin was a French children's author.His most famous work was L'Ami des Enfans which was first translated into English, albeit bowdlerised, by Mary Stockdale and published in London in 1783-4 by Mary's father John Stockdale.The work remained popular until the middle of the nineteenth...
and others, and some minor pieces.