Mary Jane (Jean) Middlemass (

pen name A pen name or nom-de-plume is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name. A pen name may be used to make the author's na ...

, Mignionette; 14 July 1833 – 4 November 1919) was an English novelist. Middlemass was the daughter of Robert Hume Middlemass (of the Westbarns of Haddington), and Mary Porter in

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 metropo ...

, London, England. Her father taught her Greek and Latin and encouraged her to write for a privately circulated magazine. Her first works were published under the pseudonym "Mignionette", by her father in 1851. She published prolifically from the 1870s through to when her last book was published in 1910, and was one of the authors of the collaborative work ''

The Fate of Fenella ''The Fate of Fenella'' was an experiment in consecutive novel writing inspired by J. S. Wood and published in his magazine ''The Gentlewoman'' in twenty-four parts between 1891 and 1892. When first published in book form its title was ''The Fat ...

''. She died in 1919. In 2023 the

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from History of the British Isles, British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') ...

included her,

Mrs. Disney Leith Mary Charlotte Julia Leith, née Gordon (1840–1926), best known as Mrs Disney Leith, was a British novelist and traveller, as well as a childhood friend and cousin of the poet Swinburne. After her husband's death she visited Iceland numerous time ...

, Florence L. Barclay,

Gabrielle Wodnil Ella Lindow aka Gabrielle Wodnil and Ella Wodnil (12 February 1880 – 27 April 1933) was a British novelist and songwriter. Life Lindow was born in 1880 in Islington. She was the only child of Angelina (born Levy in London) and her Russian born h ...

and

Bessie Marchant Bessie Marchant (1862–1941) was a prolific English writer of adventure novels featuring young female heroines. She published most of her work under the name Bessie Marchant, but occasionally published as Bessie Marchant Comfort or Mrs J.A. Comfo ...

in new biographies of eleven Victorian writers who have caught the attention of academics.

Works

* ''Lil'' (London, 1872) * ''Wild Georgie'' (London, 1873) * ''Baiting the Trap: a novel'' (London, 1875) * ''Mr Dorillion: a novel'' (London, 1876) * ''Touch and Go'' (London, 1877) * ''Innocence at Play: a novel'' (London, 1880) * ''Sealed by a Kiss: a novel'' (London, 1880) * ''Sackcloth and Broadcloth: a novel'' (London, 1881) * ''Four in Hand: a novel'' (London, 1881) * ''Poisoned Arrows: a novel'' (London, 1884) * ''A Girl in a Thousand: a novel'' (London, 1885) * ''The Loadstone of Love: a novel'' (London, 1886) * ''Nelly Jocelyn, Widow: a novel'' (London, 1887) * ''Vaia's Lord: a novel'' (London, 1889) * ''Two False Moves: a novel'' (London, 1890) * ''Hush Money'' (London, 1895) * ''She's Fooling Thee!'' (London, 1895) * ''Vengeance is Mine: a novel'' (London, 1895) * ''Blanche Coningham's Surrender: a tale'' (London, 1898) * ''In Storm and Strife: a novel'' (London, 1899). * ''The Yellow Badge'' (London, 1899) * ''His Lawful Wife'' (London, 1901) * ''A Wheel of Fire'' (London, 1901) * ''Fallen from Favour'' (London, 1902) * ''A Woman's Calvary'' (London, 1903) * ''Count Reminy'' (London, 1905) * ''A Felon's Daughter'' (London, 1906) * ''A Veneered Scamp'' (London, 1906) * ''An Evil Angel'' (London, 1908) * ''Mignon's Peril'' (London, 1909) * ''Loves Old and New'' (London, 1909) * ''At the Altar Steps'' (London, 1910)

References

External links

* * * 1833 births 1919 deaths 19th-century English novelists 20th-century English novelists 20th-century English women writers Victorian women writers Victorian novelists Pseudonymous women writers 19th-century pseudonymous writers Writers from Westminster English women novelists People from Marylebone 19th-century English women writers Novelists from London {{England-bio-stub