Annie Hall Cudlip | |
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Born | Annie Hall Thomas 25 October 1838 Aldeburgh, Suffolk, UK |
Died | 24 November 1918 United Kingdom |
(aged 80)
Pen name | Mrs. Pender Cudlip, Annie Thomas |
Occupation | Writer, novelist, editor |
Nationality | British |
Genre | Fiction, romance fiction, non-fiction, essay, social commentary |
Notable works | Theo Leigh, A Passion in Tatters, He Cometh Not, She Said, Allerton Towers |
Spouse | Rev. Pender Hodge Cudlip (1867–1911) |
Children | Daisy, Ethel and Eric |
Annie Hall Cudlip (née Thomas; born 25 October 1838 – 24 November 1918), known by her pen name Mrs. Pender Cudlip, was a British writer, novelist and short story writer. She was the editor of Ours: A Holiday Quarterly and a regular contributor to All the Year Round, Frank Leslie's Popular Monthly, and other magazines in both Great Britain and the United States between 1876 and 1884.
The wife of theology author Rev. Pender Hodge Cudlip, she was considered one of the most prolific writers of romantic fiction during the Victorian era and published well over 100 novels and short stories from 1862 until the start of the 20th century. Among her best known works include Theo Leigh (1865), A Passion in Tatters (1872), He Cometh Not, She Said (1873) and Allerton Towers (1882).
Annie Hall Cudlip was born Annie Hall Thomas, the only daughter of George Thomas, in Aldeburgh, Suffolk, on 25 October 1838. Her father, a well-known and respected gentleman officer from County Cork, was a lieutenant in the British Royal Navy and commanded the local Coastguard station; he was also the nephew and protégé of Sir Jerry Coghlan. Her mother was the daughter of Captain Alexander Mackey, a Royal Navy cadet of the house of Lord Reay, of Reay Forest.
Her family then moved to Morston in Norfolk, where her father served until the year before his death in Greenwich Hospital. Primarily educated at home, Cudlip took up writing around this time and successfully submitted an article, "A Stroll in the Park", for the first issue of London Society. She published her first novel, The Cross of Honor, in 1863 at age 24. She followed this with her first 3-volume novel Sir Victor's Choice and Barry O'Byrne three months later. Following up on these successful novels, publisher William Tinsley published Denis Donne and Theo Leigh while Chapman & Hall released a series of her 3-volume novels including On Guard, Played Out, Walter Goring, Called to Account, The Dower House, A Passion in Tatters, Blotted Out, A Narrow Escape and Mrs. Cardigan. Many of her earliest novels were considered highly controversial and dealt with subjects such as the sexuality of young girls and illegitimate pregnancy. Her writing was often compared to that of Florence Marryat; the two were close childhood friends as their fathers were old colleagues and neighbours.