Frances Anne Edgeworth
| Frances Anne Edgeworth | |
|---|---|
| Born |
Frances Anne Beaufort 1769 Navan, County Meath, Ireland |
| Died | 10 February 1865 (aged 96) Edgeworthstown, County Longford |
| Nationality | Irish |
| Known for | botanical painting |
| Parent(s) | Daniel Augustus Beaufort and Mary Beaufort |
| Relatives | Francis Beaufort, Harriet Henrietta Beaufort, Louisa Beaufort, Maria Edgeworth, Michael Pakenham Edgeworth, and Francis Ysidro Edgeworth |
Frances (Fanny) Anne Edgeworth (née Beaufort) (1769–1865) was an Irish botanical artist and memoirist. She was the stepmother and confidant of the author Maria Edgeworth.
Frances Anne Beaufort was born at Flower Hill in Navan, County Meath, in 1769. She was one of four children of Daniel Augustus Beaufort and Mary Beaufort (née Waller). Her brother was Admiral Francis Beaufort, and her sisters were the writers Harriet and Louisa. She was educated at Mrs Terson's School at Portarlington, learning writing, drawing, dancing and French. She studied art further under the English artist Bowring, Dublin-based Francis Robert West, and Raymond Deshouilleres of London. In 1788, she accompanied her father on a tour of Ireland, recording archaeological sites and objects. The family lived in London from 1789 to 1790.
On 31 May 1798, she married Richard Lovell Edgeworth, becoming his fourth wife and stepmother of Maria Edgeworth and her 11 siblings. Edgeworth and Maria, who was a year older than her stepmother, would become close to Maria, describing her as "her beloved friend and mother". There is evidence that Edgeworth was a writer like her sisters and stepdaughter, but her work was largely overlooked. A visitor to Edgeworthstown in 1813, James Hall, makes reference to her as a "successful" author, with a published novel, What You Choose to Call it or The Good Wife. This attribution was repeated in 1884, but is not mentioned by the family or their papers. It is known that Edgeworth wrote a memoir of Maria Edgeworth, containing selected letters. Some of Edgeworth's letters are held by the National Library of Ireland, and in the Bodleian Library.
The Edgeworths went on to have six children together: Frances Maria Edgeworth (1799 – 4 February 1848), Harriet Edgeworth (1801–1889), Sophia Edgeworth (1803–1836), Lucy Jane Edgeworth (1805–1897), Francis Beaufort Edgeworth (1809–1846), and Michael Pakenham Edgeworth (24 May 1812 – 1881). Edgeworth died on 10 February 1865 at Edgeworthstown, County Longford. Amongst her grandchildren is the philosopher and political economist, Francis Ysidro Edgeworth.
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