GODWIN, Mils. Mary Wollstonecraft, English writer, wife of William Godwin (Qv.) : b. (place uncertain) 27 April 1759; d. London, 10 Sept. 1797. Her father was Edward John Wollstonecraft, son of a wealthy manufacturer of Spitalfields, London. Her mother was Eliza beth Dixon, an Irish woman. The brutality of her father made Miss Wollstonecraft's home life almost unbearable; and when their mother died in 1780 she and her two sisters left their father's house. One of these sisters married a Mr. Bishop. He proved not less brutal than her father, drove her into hiding and forced her in 1783 to obtain a legal separation. The misfor tunes of Mrs. Bishop, however, provided Miss Wollstonecraft with material for her posthu mous unfinished novel (The Wrongs of Wo men.) From 1783 to 1785 Miss Wollstonecraft conducted with this sister a school at Newington Green. From this work she went to Lisbon to nurse a friend, Fanny Blood, with whom she had lived from 1780 to 1783 and who had since married a merchant, Hugh Skeys. The death of this friend, from childbirth, 29 Nov. 1785, suggested to Miss Wollstonecraft a pamphlet entitled on the Education of Daughters.' This pamphlet was accepted by Johnson the publisher, and so opened the way for a remunerative business connection. In 1788, after an unpleasant year as governess in the family of Lord Kingsborough, Miss Wollstonecraft removed to London and found employment with Johnson. In the five years that followed, she worked for him as reader and translator, published the first and only volume of her (Vindication of the Rights of Women' (1792), and made the acquaintance of many literary people, among whom was the man she afterward married, William Godwin. Her interest in the principles of the French Revolution led her in 1792 to Paris. There she
met Gilbert Imlay, a former captain in the American Revolution. Without the formality of a marriage, which both professed to disapprove, they lived as man and wife, and to them, at Havre, 14 May 1794, was born a daughter. Next year Miss Wollstonecraft followed Imlay to England. He sent her to Norway on busi ness connected with his commercial specula tions and took the opportunity to carry on an intrigue with another woman. Returning, she first attempted suicide by drowning; then, rec onciliation with Imlay. Finally, in March 1796, she agreed to a separation. Her resumption of literary work brought her again in contact with William Godwin. Despite her experience with Imlay, she, like Godwin, still objected to a legal marriage. At length, however, both set aside their scruples and on 29 March 1797, they were married. Mary, the future Mrs. Shelley, was born 30 August. The mother, however, died of a fever a few days after —10 Sept. 1797. In her memory her husband published the fol lowing year 'Memoirs of the Author of a Vin dication of the Rights of Women.' Her works include (Thoughts on the Education of Daugh ters' (1787) ; of the Rights of Men) (1790) ; of the Rights of Women' (1792) ; (Historical and Moral View of the French Revolution) (1794) ; (Letters Written in Norway, Sweden and Denmark) (1796) ; Works) (1798).
Godwin, William, (Mem oirs' (1798) ; Defense of the Character and Conduct of the Late Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin,) anon. (1803) • Paul, C. Kegan, 'Wil liam Godwin, His Friends and Contemporaries' (1876) • and (Mary Wollstonecraft, with Pref atory Memoir' (1879) •, Taylor, R. G. S., (1911).