Ada Ellen Bayly (25 March 1857 – 8 February 1903), also known as Edna Lyall, was an English
novelist
A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living wage, living writing novels and other fiction, while othe ...
, who "supported the women's suffrage movement from an early age."
[''XIX Century Fiction, Part II: L–Z'', London: Jarndyce, 2020, Item 34.]
Biography
Bayly was born in Brighton, the youngest of four children of a barrister. Early in life she lost both her parents, so that she spent her youth with an uncle in
Surrey and in a
Brighton private school. Bayly never married. She seems to have spent her adult life living with her two married sisters and her brother, a clergyman in
Bosbury
Bosbury is a village and civil parish in Herefordshire, England, approximately north of Ledbury. The small River Leadon flows through the parish, passing along the west side of the village.Ordnance Survey mapping Bosbury shares a parish co ...
,
Herefordshire
Herefordshire () is a county in the West Midlands of England, governed by Herefordshire Council. It is bordered by Shropshire to the north, Worcestershire to the east, Gloucestershire to the south-east, and the Welsh counties of Monmouthshire ...
.
In 1879, she published her first novel, ''Won by Waiting'', under the pseudonym "Edna Lyall" (apparently derived from transposing letters from Ada Ellen Bayly). The book was not a success. Success came with ''We Two'', based on the life of
Charles Bradlaugh
Charles Bradlaugh (; 26 September 1833 – 30 January 1891) was an English political activist and atheist. He founded the National Secular Society in 1866, 15 years after George Holyoake had coined the term "secularism" in 1851.
In 1880, Br ...
, a social reformer and advocate of free thought. Her historical novel ''In the Golden Days'' was the last book read to
John Ruskin
John Ruskin (8 February 1819 20 January 1900) was an English writer, philosopher, art critic and polymath of the Victorian era. He wrote on subjects as varied as geology, architecture, myth, ornithology, literature, education, botany and po ...
on his deathbed; while ''Hope the Hermit'' was a bestseller set in the
Lake District and later an inspiration for
Hugh Walpole
Sir Hugh Seymour Walpole, CBE (13 March 18841 June 1941) was an English novelist. He was the son of an Anglican clergyman, intended for a career in the church but drawn instead to writing. Among those who encouraged him were the authors Hen ...
's ''Rogue Herries''. ''To Right the Wrong'' (2nd ed. 1894) is a historical novel about
John Hampden
John Hampden (24 June 1643) was an English landowner and politician whose opposition to arbitrary taxes imposed by Charles I made him a national figure. An ally of Parliamentarian leader John Pym, and cousin to Oliver Cromwell, he was one of t ...
and the
English Civil War
The English Civil War (1642–1651) was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Parliamentarians ("Roundheads") and Royalists led by Charles I ("Cavaliers"), mainly over the manner of Kingdom of England, England's governanc ...
.
Bayly wrote in all eighteen novels, many of them offering interesting explorations of the writer's creative process. Part of her success was due to her practice of using characters from one novel in a different capacity in her next.
[S. Mitchell, ''Victorian Britain'' (2012) p. 468]
Selected works
*''Won by Waiting'', 1879.
*''Donovan'', 1882.
*''We Two'', sequel of the former, 1884.
*''In the Golden Days'', 1885.
*''Autobiography of a Slander'', 1887.
*''To Right the Wrong'', 3 vols., 1894.
*
Doreen: The Story of a Singer 1894
*''The Autobiography of a Truth'', 1896.
*''Wayfaring Men: A Novel'', 1896.
*''Hope the Hermit'', 1898.
*''The Burgess Letters'', 1902.
See also
Citations
References
*
Further reading
*G. A. Payne, ''Edna Lyell: An Appreciation'' (1903)
External links
*
*
*
*
*
''Won by Waiting'' (1892) Appleton, New York (Google ebook)Golden Gale(all eighteen of her works of fiction)
Jesse Maria Escreet (1904) ''The life of Edna Lyall (Ada Ellen Bayly)'', Longmans, Green, and Co., London (Google ebook)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bayly, Ada Ellen
1857 births
1903 deaths
19th-century English novelists
19th-century English women writers
English women novelists
People from Brighton
English feminists