Emma Roberts (author)

Emma Roberts (1794–1840), often referred to as "Miss Emma Roberts", was an English travel writer and poet known for her memoirs about India. In her own time, she was well regarded, and William Jerdan considered her "a very successful cultivator of the belles lettres."

Roberts' precise date of birth is no longer known. Her family was said to be from Wales, though she is known to have been born in the village of Methley. Her father is said to have been Captain William Roberts of the Russian service, and later a paymaster in an English regiment. After her father died, her mother took Roberts and her older sister to Bath. Her mother is said to have some kind of literary pretentions.

Little is known of Roberts' early life and education, except that she was a roommate of Letitia Elizabeth (Landon) Maclean. Emma Roberts should not be confused with her near-contemporary Jane Roberts, with whom she corresponded.

Roberts' literary career began with the publication of Memoirs of the rival houses of York and Lancaster ... in 1827. She reportedly thoroughly researched her subject, but it was not unreservedly received. Then her mother died and her sister married an officer stationed in Bengal. When her sister and brother-in-law left for India, Roberts accompanied them. Her sister died in 1831 and Roberts moved to Calcutta, where she edited a periodical named the Oriental Observer. However her health reportedly failed and she returned to England by 1833. While in India Roberts published a small volume of “descriptive” poetry, and stories or essays about things she had seen in India. These were later collected and published as books. Both the poetry and the travel book were well received. Although many works of this era are notably dated, a current assessment is that "[h]er compassion for the people of India, her prodigious memory, and her straightforward style make Roberts rather accessible to the twenty-first century reader".

Back in England Roberts turned to editing for a while. She edited a new edition (the 64th) of the famous cookbook, Mrs Rundell's A New System of Domestic Cookery, and also a book of poetry by her friend Letitia Landon. But by 1839 she decided to return to India, not simply by sailing directly, but by crossing overland from France, through Egypt to Suez, and then by ship to Bombay. She went with only a female friend and took only two months to complete her journey, arriving at the end of October. This was a similar journey to that made by Mrs Elwood using a takhtouan. Elwood thought Roberts journey too quick. Roberts wrote a book about her journey. In India she returned to editing, the Bombay Gazette being one title, but died suddenly in September 1840 and was buried in India, near the grave of Maria Jane Jewsbury.

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