Henrietta Mosse or Henrietta Rouviere (17?? – 1834) was a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

romantic novelist who was born in Ireland.

Life

Mosse was born in

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

but the actual location and date is unknown. She was the daughter of Joseph Rouviere, Esquire, of Dublin. She moved to London with her mother in about 1802 or 1803. Her first novel, ''Lussington Abbey'', was published anonymously in 1804. The following year she married Isaac Mosse, who was about 40 years old, in London. The wedding was on 4 December 1806 in

St Marylebone Marylebone (usually , also ) is an area in London, England, and is located in the City of Westminster. It is in Central London and part of the West End. Oxford Street forms its southern boundary. An ancient parish and latterly a metropoli ...

. Her mother died the following year. Her 1807 novel, ''A Peep at our Ancestors'', is one of her best known. It was a romantic novel set in the 12th century including explanatory footnotes. Mosse complained that this book should have appeared in 1805 and blamed the difficulties of dealing with the publishers from Ireland and the death of her supporter the

Duke of Leinster Duke of Leinster (; ) is a title and the premier dukedom in the Peerage of Ireland. The subsidiary titles of the Duke of Leinster are: Marquess of Kildare (1761), Earl of Kildare (1316), Earl of Offaly (1761), Viscount Leinster, of Taplow in th ...

. The novel was said to be based on documents but there seems little evidence of research. Her book ''Heirs of Villeroy'' the year before had good reviews and in 1808 ''The Old Irish Baronet, or, The Manners of my Country'' followed. The latter was based on a 1788 gothic story, ''The Old English Baron'', by

Clara Reeve Clara Reeve (23 January 1729 – 3 December 1807) was an English novelist best known for the Gothic novel '' The Old English Baron'' (1777). She also wrote an innovative history of prose fiction, ''The Progress of Romance'' (1785). Her first wor ...

. In 1814 her husband had his book ''Enclytica, Being the Outlines of a Course of Instruction on the Principles of Universal Grammar'' published. In 1822 her husband suffered paralysing strokes. He had lost his money in a swindle a few years before and they now relied on the novels that Mosse published and the patronage of Louisa Gordon, Marchioness Cornwallis. During the 1820s she published four novels. ''A Father's Love and a Woman's Friendship'' in 1825, ''Gratitude and other Tales'' in 1826, ''Woman's Wit and Man's Wisdom, or, Intrigue'' the following year and in 1829 ''The Blandfords, or, Fate and Fortune''. Her novels were a poor income and she seemed unable to find other writing work. Her husband's single publication enabled her to make appeals to 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 they were of assistance to them but the last successful appeal was from the "side of his coffin". She told the fund that she had written plays but she suspected that although she had some encouragement she felt it would need a man to persuade a company to perform them. Her work The distress of women'' was also mentioned in her 1830 appeal to the fund. She published most of her novels at the

Minerva Press Minerva Press was a publishing house, notable for creating a lucrative market in sentimental and Gothic fiction, active in the late 18th and early 19th centuries (1790–1820). It was established by William Lane (c. 1745–1814) at No 33 Lead ...

. Mosse died in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

in poverty in 1834. An appeal on her behalf for funds for her funeral was turned down by the Royal Literary Fund who noted that she was living in "great destitution in a miserable attic".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mosse, Henrietta Year of birth unknown 1700s births 1834 deaths Irish romantic fiction writers 19th-century Irish novelists Irish women novelists 19th-century Irish women writers Women romantic fiction writers Irish emigrants to the United Kingdom