Laetitia Matilda Hawkins (baptized 8 August 1759 – 22 November 1835) was an English novelist, associated with

Twickenham Twickenham ( ) is a suburban district of London, England, on the River Thames southwest of Charing Cross. Historic counties of England, Historically in Middlesex, since 1965 it has formed part of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, who ...

. She was the daughter of

Sir John Hawkins Admiral Sir John Hawkins (also spelled Hawkyns) (1532 – 12 November 1595) was an English naval commander, naval administrator, privateer and slave trader. Hawkins pioneered, and was an early promoter of, English involvement in the Atlantic s ...

, an acquaintance of

Samuel Johnson Samuel Johnson ( – 13 December 1784), often called Dr Johnson, was an English writer who made lasting contributions as a poet, playwright, essayist, moralist, literary critic, sermonist, biographer, editor, and lexicographer. The ''Oxford ...

. Hawkins was an outspoken yet highly conservative British woman author. In 1793, she published the inflammatory ''Letters on the Female Mind, Its Powers and Pursuits. Addressed to Miss H.M. Williams, with particular reference to Her Letters from France'', a two-volume attack on

Helen Maria Williams Helen Maria Williams (17 June 1759 – 15 December 1827) was a British novelist, poet, and translator of French-language works. A religious dissenter, she was a supporter of abolitionism and of the ideals of the French Revolution; she was imp ...

's Continental political writings in her '' Letters Written in France''. Hawkins asserted that 'every ''female'' politician is a ''hearsay'' politician'. The ''

Analytical Review The ''Analytical Review'' was an English periodical that was published from 1788 to 1798, having been established in London by the publisher Joseph Johnson and the writer Thomas Christie. Part of the Republic of Letters, it was a gadfly publi ...

'', a liberal paper, described Hawkins' ''Letters'' as a 'rant ..written with much ill temper'.''Analytical Review, or History of Literature, Domestic and Foreign'', 15 ondon: J. Johnson, 1793 p. 527. She wrote at least four novels, including ''The Countess and Gertrude'' (1811), and she also acted as an

amanuensis An amanuensis ( ) ( ) or scribe is a person employed to write or type what another dictates or to copy what has been written by another. It may also be a person who signs a document on behalf of another under the latter's authority. In some aca ...

for her father. Her work was published anonymously until after Sir John died in 1789.

Beryl Bainbridge Dame Beryl Margaret Bainbridge (21 November 1932 – 2 July 2010) was an English writer. She was primarily known for her works of psychological fiction, often macabre tales set among the English working class. She won the Whitbread Awards priz ...

based a character in her novel '' According to Queeney'' on Hawkins. Hawkins is one of the "lost" women writers listed by

Dale Spender Dale Spender (22 September 1943 – 21 November 2023) was an Australian feminist scholar, teacher, writer and consultant. In 1983, Dale Spender was co-founder of and editorial advisor to Pandora Press, the first of the feminist imprints devo ...

in '' Mothers of the Novel: 100 Good Women Writers Before Jane Austen''.

Works

*''Letters on the Female Mind, Its Powers and Pursuits. Addressed to Miss H.M. Williams, with particular reference to Her Letters from France'' (1793) *''Rosanne; or A father’s labour lost'' (1814) *''Thoughts on our national calamity: in a letter to a friend in Ireland'' (1817) *''Heraline; or, Opposite proceedings'' (1821) *''Annaline; or, Motive-hunting'' (1824) *''Memoirs, anecdotes, facts and opinions'' (1824)

Notes

External links

* WorldCat
Laetitia Matilda Hawkins
* ''Memoirs, anecdotes, facts and opinions'' (1824
Volume One
an
Volume Two
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hawkins, Laetitia 1759 births 1835 deaths English women novelists 19th-century English writers 19th-century English women writers Amanuenses