Eliza Parsons (née Phelp) (1739 – 5 February 1811) was an English

Gothic novel Gothic fiction, sometimes referred to as Gothic horror (primarily in the 20th century), is a literary aesthetic of fear and haunting. The name of the genre is derived from the Renaissance era use of the word "gothic", as a pejorative to mean ...

ist, best known for '' The Castle of Wolfenbach'' (1793) and '' The Mysterious Warning'' (1796). These are two of the seven Gothic titles recommended as reading by a character in

Jane Austen Jane Austen ( ; 16 December 1775 – 18 July 1817) was an English novelist known primarily for #List of works, her six novels, which implicitly interpret, critique, and comment on the English landed gentry at the end of the 18th century ...

's novel ''

Northanger Abbey ''Northanger Abbey'' ( ) is a coming-of-age novel and a satire of Gothic fiction, Gothic novels written by the English author Jane Austen. Although the title page is dated 1818 and the novel was published posthumously in 1817 with ''Persuasio ...

''.

Life

The life of Eliza Parsons has been subject to much speculation, but most researchers agree she was born in 1739. Parsons's baptismal certificate is dated 4 April 1739. Eliza was born in

Plymouth Plymouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Devon, South West England. It is located on Devon's south coast between the rivers River Plym, Plym and River Tamar, Tamar, about southwest of Exeter and ...

Devon Devon ( ; historically also known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel to the north, Somerset and Dorset to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Cornwall to the west ...

, as the only daughter of John Phelp, a wine merchant, and his wife Roberta Phelp. She spent her childhood in a prosperous household and became well educated for a young woman in the 18th century. At about 21 years old, Eliza married a

turpentine Turpentine (which is also called spirit of turpentine, oil of turpentine, terebenthine, terebenthene, terebinthine and, colloquially, turps) is a fluid obtainable by the distillation of resin harvested from living trees, mainly pines. Principall ...

distiller, James Parsons, from the nearby town of Stonehouse, on 24 March 1760. Together they had three sons and five daughters. About 1778–1779, the family moved to a suburb in London, when Parsons's turpentine business saw a decline as an indirect result of the

American War of Independence The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...

. Mr Parsons invested his remaining money in his dwindling turpentine trade, and for about three years, the family's standard of living returned to the pre-American Revolution level. In 1782, however, a devastating fire broke out in one of the warehouses, spread quickly, and destroyed everything Mr Parsons owned. He then took a position in the

Lord Chamberlain The Lord Chamberlain of the Household is the most senior officer of the Royal Households of the United Kingdom, Royal Household of the United Kingdom, supervising the departments which support and provide advice to the Monarchy of the United Ki ...

's office. Several months before the warehouse fire, the Parsons's eldest son had died in

Jamaica Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...

, immediately after his promotion to captain of the

Royal Marines The Royal Marines provide the United Kingdom's amphibious warfare, amphibious special operations capable commando force, one of the :Fighting Arms of the Royal Navy, five fighting arms of the Royal Navy, a Company (military unit), company str ...

. Domestic bereavement coupled with the reverses in his business fortunes compounded with deteriorating health, and he suffered a paralysing stroke.Varma, ''Introduction''. He lived for three more years until he suffered a second, fatal stroke in 1797. Eliza's second oldest son also died in the military. In 1803, one of her daughters died, and in 1804 so did her youngest son.E. Parsons (2007): ''The Castle of Wolfenbach''. D. L. Hoeveler, ed., Kansas City, MO: Valancourt. Left alone with a family to provide for, Eliza began to write novels to support them. Over a career spanning 1790 and 1807, she wrote 19 novels and one play, contained in a total of 60 volumes. Nonetheless, she was perpetually short of money. Between 1793 and 1803 she received 45 guineas from the

Royal Literary Fund The Royal Literary Fund (RLF) is a benevolent fund that gives assistance to published British writers in financial difficulties. Founded in 1790, and granted a royal charter in 1818, the Fund has helped an extensive roll of authors through its lon ...

and also worked at the

Royal Wardrobe The Royal Wardrobe (also known as the King's Wardrobe) was a building located between Carter Lane and St Andrew's Church, just to the north of what is now Queen Victoria Street in the City of London, near Blackfriars. It was used as a storeho ...

.Virginia Blain and Patricia Clements and Isobel Grundy, ed. ''The Feminist Companion to Literature in English: Women Writers from the Middle Ages to the Present''. Yale University Press, 1990 p. 835. She died on 5 February 1811 at the age of 72 in

Leytonstone Leytonstone ( ) is an area in East London, England, within the London Borough of Waltham Forest. It adjoins Wanstead to the north-east, Forest Gate to the south-east, Stratford to the south-west, Leyton to the west, and Walthamstow to the nor ...

in Essex, survived by four married daughters.

Female Gothic writing

Parsons turned to Gothic writing as a genre that was highly popular at the time. Critics often claimed her works were ill-written and disorganised. Parsons was a deeply religious Protestant, who believed in the good being rewarded and the wicked punished, which shows through in her works. Her first novel, ''The History of Miss Meredith'', appeared in 1790, the year of her husband's death. The better-known '' The Castle of Wolfenbach'' followed in 1793, in a period when opinion in England and France was starting to turn away from arranged marriages. ''The Castle of Wolfenbach'' portrays this idea, along with belief in a strong patriarchal family and respect for the middle class rather than aristocracy. Other novels of hers include ''Women as They Are'' (1797) and ''The Valley of Saint Gotthard'' (1799). Parsons shows female Gothic-writing characteristics by having a heroine trick her way into an inheritance while pretending to be vulnerable and innocent. Two of Parsons's novels, ''The Castle of Wolfenbach'' and '' The Mysterious Warning'' (1796), feature among the seven ''horrid romances'' that Catherine Morland recommends to Isabella Thorpe in Chapter 6 of Jane Austen's ''

''. These titles were thought to be fictitious until December 1912. Critics have said it is no accident that

Ann Radcliffe Ann Radcliffe (née Ward; 9 July 1764 – 7 February 1823) was an English novelist who pioneered the Gothic fiction, Gothic novel, and a minor poet. Her fourth and most popular novel, ''The Mysteries of Udolpho'', was published in 1794. She i ...

's works were not named and two of Parsons's were. Many of Parsons's novels had prefaces that would seem to invite sympathy from the readers towards her unfortunate situation and to excuse her lack of talent. ''The Castle of Wolfenbach'' and ''The Mysterious Warning'' had happy endings that were too clumsy and convenient for critics.F. S. Frank, D. H. Thomson and J. G. Voller, eds (2002): ''Gothic Writers: A Critical and Bibliographical Guide''. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press.

Works

References

External links

*
List of titlesCorvey CW3 - Author Page - Eliza Parsons, 1740 - 1811
at

Sheffield Hallam University Sheffield Hallam University (SHU) is a public research university in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The university is based on two sites; the City Campus is located in the city centre near Sheffield station, Sheffield railway station, whil ...

(based on

Corvey The Princely Abbey of Corvey ( or ) is a former Benedictine abbey and ecclesiastical principality now in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It was one of the half-dozen self-ruling '' princely abbeys'' of the Holy Roman Empire from the Late Middl ...

collection) {{DEFAULTSORT:Parsons, Eliza 1739 births 1811 deaths English horror writers Writers from Plymouth, Devon 18th-century English novelists 19th-century English novelists 18th-century English women writers 19th-century English women writers British women horror writers English women novelists Writers of Gothic fiction