Mary Pilkington

Mary Pilkington (née Mary Susanna Hopkins) (1761–1839) was an English novelist and poet.

She was born in Cambridge, England. When her father died, she was aged fifteen, and went to live with her grandfather. The man who had taken over her father's medical practice became Mary's husband in 1786. While he was away working as a naval surgeon, she took work as a governess. Many of her novels (of which she is known to have produced over forty in the years up to 1825) were written for children.

Selected works

• Delia, a pathetic and interesting tale (1790)
• Rosina (1793)
• Miscellaneous Poems (1796)
• Edward Barnard; or, merit exalted (1797)
• The Subterranean Cavern (1798)
• The Accusing Spirit (1802)
• Marvellous Adventures; or, the Vicissitudes of a Cat (1802)
• Crimes and Characters (1805)
• Ellen (1807)
• Sinclair (1809)
• Parental Care Producing Practical Virtue (1810)
• Celebrity (1815)

External links

• S. J. Skedd, ‘Pilkington , Mary Susanna (1761–1839)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004, accessed 15 Jan 2008
• Works by or about Mary Pilkington in libraries (WorldCat catalog)