Hon. Maria Georgiana Fetherstonhaugh (née Carleton) (1847–3 August 1918) was an English novelist, known also as Minna Carleton. A modern critic concludes that her novels, "when not marred by over-wrought sentiment... have vitality.... Her women characters are often more resolute, noble and practical than the men."Virginia Blain, Patricia Clements and Isobel Grundy: ''The Feminist Companion to Literature in English. Women Writers from the Middle Ages to the Present'' (

Batsford Batsford is a village and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Cotswold (district), Cotswold district of Gloucestershire, England. The village is about north-west of Moreton-in-Marsh. There is a falconry centre close to the village ...

: London, 1990), pp. 360–361.

Personal life

Maria was born at

Greywell Greywell is a small village and civil parish in Hampshire, England – a past winner of the Best Kept Village in Hampshire competition and a recent winner of Best Small Village in Hampshire. It lies on the west bank of the River Whitewater, 6 m ...

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Berkshire to the north, Surrey and West Sussex to the east, the Isle of Wight across the Solent to the south, ...

, the younger daughter of Guy Carleton, 3rd

Baron Dorchester Baron Dorchester was a title that was created twice in British history, once in the Peerage of Great Britain and once in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. The first creation came in the Peerage of Great Britain on 21 August 1786 when the sold ...

(1811–1875), and his wife Anna (née Wauchope). She made an early marriage on 4 July 1863 to Timothy Fetherstonhaugh (1840–1908) of Kirkoswald,

Cumberland Cumberland ( ) is an area of North West England which was historically a county. The county was bordered by Northumberland to the north-east, County Durham to the east, Westmorland to the south-east, Lancashire to the south, and the Scottish ...

, a former captain of the

13th Hussars The 13th Hussars (previously the 13th Light Dragoons) was a cavalry regiment of the British Army established in 1715. It saw service for three centuries including the Napoleonic Wars, the Crimean War and the First World War but then amalgamated ...

,Victorian Research. Retrieved 4 November 2018.
/ref> son of Timothy Fetherstonhaugh (1811–1856) and Eliza Were, née Clarke (1816–1895). Their daughter Mabel was born in 1871. Some years after, she and her sister Henrietta Anne Pigott, later Baroness Dorchester, are known to have been working as readers for the London publishing firm of

Bentley Bentley Motors Limited is a British designer, manufacturer and marketer of Luxury vehicle, luxury cars and Sport utility vehicle, SUVs. Headquartered in Crewe, England, the company was founded by W. O. Bentley (1888–1971) in 1919 in Crickle ...

, which also issued Maria's novels.

Baden-Powell

Little is known of her private life, but the Fetherstonhaughs were admirers of

Robert Baden-Powell Lieutenant-General Robert Stephenson Smyth Baden-Powell, 1st Baron Baden-Powell, ( ; 22 February 1857 – 8 January 1941) was a British Army officer, writer, founder of The Boy Scouts Association and its first Chief Scout, and founder, with ...

(1857–41), founder of the

Boy Scout A Scout, Boy Scout, Girl Scout or, in some countries, a Pathfinder is a participant in the Scout Movement, usually aged 10–18 years, who engage in learning scoutcraft and outdoor and other special interest activities. Some Scout organizatio ...

movement, whom they had met on holiday in

Malta Malta, officially the Republic of Malta, is an island country in Southern Europe located in the Mediterranean Sea, between Sicily and North Africa. It consists of an archipelago south of Italy, east of Tunisia, and north of Libya. The two ...

. According to a newspaper article about Powell's ''

Scouting for Boys ''Scouting for Boys: A handbook for instruction in good citizenship'' is a book on Boy Scout training, published in various editions since 1908. Early editions were written and illustrated by Robert Baden-Powell with later editions being exten ...

'', "In 1905

aria In music, an aria (, ; : , ; ''arias'' in common usage; diminutive form: arietta, ; : ariette; in English simply air (music), air) is a self-contained piece for one voice, with or without instrument (music), instrumental or orchestral accompan ...

had bought the Mill House, behind

Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * W ...

Windmill... as a retreat where she could keep her unusual menagerie including monkeys and penguins." This became for Baden-Powell "a quiet getaway where he could write his new book," which appeared in its final form in 1908. The article also states that "the Fetherstonhaughs had a somewhat troubled marriage."

Death

Maria Fetherstonhaugh died on 3 August 1918.Geni. Retrieved 4 November 2018.
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Novels

Fetherstonhaugh's novels include ''Kilcorran'' (1877), ''Kingsdene'' (1878), ''Robin Adair'' (1879), ''Alan Dering'' (1880), ''For Old Sake's Sake'' (1882), ''Dream Faces'' (1884) and ''Laying Down the Cards'' (1890). They can be faulted for sentimentality and "effusive verse quotation", but have vitality and feature "lively, outspoken, unusual heroines". However, self-sacrifice is denoted as part of a woman's role. These are generally available print-on-demand.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fetherstonhaugh, Maria 1847 births 1918 deaths 19th-century English women writers 19th-century English novelists English women novelists People from Hart District Writers from Hampshire Writers from Wimbledon, London People from Kirkoswald, Cumbria