Catherine Grace Frances Gore (''née'' Moody; 12 February 1798 – 29 January 1861), was a prolific English novelist and dramatist. The daughter of a wine merchant from

Retford Retford (), also known as East Retford, is a market town in the Bassetlaw District in Nottinghamshire, England. It lies on the River Idle and the Chesterfield Canal. Retford is located east of Sheffield, west of Lincoln, Lincolnshire, Linco ...

Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated ''Notts.'') is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. The county is bordered by South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. Th ...

, she became among the best known of the silver fork writers, who depicted gentility and etiquette in the

high society High society, sometimes simply Society, is the behavior and lifestyle of people with the highest levels of wealth, power, fame and social status. It includes their related affiliations, social events and practices. Upscale social clubs were open ...

of the

Regency period The Regency era of British history is commonly understood as the years between and 1837, although the official regency for which it is named only spanned the years 1811 to 1820. King George III first suffered debilitating illness in the late ...

Early life and marriage

Gore was born in 1798 in London, the youngest child of Mary (''née'' Brinley) and Charles Moody, a wine merchant. Her father died soon afterwards, and her mother remarried in 1801, to the London physician Charles D. Nevinson. She is therefore referred to sometimes as "Miss Nevinson" by contemporary reviewers and in scholarly writings. Gore herself was interested in writing from an early age, gaining the nickname "the Poetess". She married Lieutenant Charles Arthur Gore of the

1st Regiment of Life Guards The 1st Regiment of Life Guards was a Cavalry regiments of the British Army, cavalry regiment in the British Army, part of the Household Cavalry. It was formed in 1788 by the union of the 1st Troop of Horse Guards and 1st Troop of Horse Grenadi ...

on 15 February 1823 at

St George's, Hanover Square St George's, Hanover Square, is an Church of England, Anglican church, the parish church of Mayfair in the City of Westminster, central London, built in the early eighteenth century as part of a project to build fifty new churches around London ...

; Gore retired later that year. They later moved to France. They had ten children, eight of whom died young. Their one surviving son, Captain Augustus Frederick Wentworth Gore, married Hon. Emily Anne Curzon, daughter of MP Robert Curzon and granddaughter of

Viscount Curzon Earl Howe is a title that has been created twice in British history, for members of the Howe and Curzon-Howe family respectively. The first creation, in the Peerage of Great Britain, was in 1788 for Richard Howe, 4th Viscount Howe, but it ...

, in 1861, and was the father of tennis champion Arthur Wentworth Gore. Their eldest child and sole surviving daughter, Cecilia Anne Mary, married

Lord Edward Thynne Lord Edward Thynne (23 January 1807 – 4 February 1884) was an English nobleman. After a short career as an army officer, he sat in the House of Commons for two periods, separated by 26 years, and opposed parliamentary reform on both occasions. ...

in 1853.

Literary career

Gore's first novel, ''Theresa Marchmont, or The Maid of Honour'', was published in 1824. Her first major success was '' Pin Money'', published in 1831, but her most popular and well-known novel was to be ''Cecil, or Adventures of a Coxcomb'', published in 1841. Gore also met with success as a playwright, writing eleven plays that made their way onto the London stage, although her plays never quite matched the fame of her witty novels. Amongst her plays are ''

The School for Coquettes ''The School for Coquettes'' is an 1831 comedy play by the British writer Catherine Gore, best known for her silver fork novels, for whom it was her theatrical debut. It premiered at the Theatre Royal, Haymarket in London on 14 July 1831. The or ...

'' (1831) and ''

Quid Pro Quo ''Quid pro quo'' (Latin: "something for something") is a Latin phrase used in English to mean an exchange of goods or services, in which one transfer is contingent upon the other; "a favor for a favor". Phrases with similar meanings include: " ...

'' (1844). The Gores resided mainly in

Continental Europe Continental Europe or mainland Europe is the contiguous mainland of Europe, excluding its surrounding islands. It can also be referred to ambiguously as the European continent, – which can conversely mean the whole of Europe – and, by som ...

, where Catherine supported her family by her voluminous writings. Between 1824 and 1862 she produced about 70 works, the most successful of which were novels of fashionable English life, such as '' Manners of the Day'' (1830), '' Cecil, or the Adventures of a Coxcomb'' and '' The Banker's Wife'' (1843). She wrote articles in ''

Bentley's Miscellany ''Bentley's Miscellany'' was an English literary magazine started by Richard Bentley. It was published between 1836 and 1868. Contributors Already a successful publisher of novels, Bentley began the journal in 1836 and invited Charles Dicken ...

'' under the pseudonym "Albany Poyntz". She also wrote for the stage, composed music, and published ''The Book of Roses, or The Rose Fancier's Manual'' (1838), a guide to the cultivation of roses. Gore's 1861 obituary in ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'' concluded that Gore was "the best novel writer of her class and the wittiest woman of her age."

Works

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gore, Catherine 1798 births 1861 deaths 19th-century English women writers 19th-century English dramatists and playwrights 19th-century English novelists Burials at Kensal Green Cemetery English women dramatists and playwrights English women novelists People from Retford Pseudonymous women writers Victorian novelists Victorian women writers Women of the Regency era 19th-century pseudonymous writers

Catherine Katherine (), also spelled Catherine and Catherina, other variations, is a feminine given name. The name and its variants are popular in countries where large Christian populations exist, because of its associations with one of the earliest Ch ...

English historical novelists Writers of historical fiction set in the early modern period Writers of historical fiction set in antiquity Victorian short story writers 19th-century English short story writers English women short story writers English rose horticulturists 19th-century English non-fiction writers English women non-fiction writers 19th-century English poets English women poets Victorian poets 19th-century English translators French–English translators

Early life and marriage

Literary career

Works

See also

References

External links