Digital Victorian Periodical Poetry

Poet, novelist, and children’s author, writing especially for the working classes. Née Wright. Born in Sutton, Suffolk, but moved to Norfolk where her parents were Quaker farmers. Educated at a dame school, home, and a Quaker boarding school. Briefly worked as a school teacher in 1817, when her father fell into financial distress. Married Isaac Sewell on 15 June 1819. Left the Quakers to be baptized into the Church of England in 1835. Involved with charity work her whole life and founded and taught at the Working Men’s Evening Institute in Wick. Publications include Homely Ballads for the Working Man’s Fireside (1858), The Children of Summerbrook: Scenes of Village Life, Described in Simple Verse (1859), Mother’s Last Words: A Ballad (1860), and Stories in Verse for Street and Lane (1861). Mother of Anna Sewell, the author of Black Beauty, which Mary helped transcribe because of her daughter’s illness. Biographical information: ODNB, Orlando. (CC, AC)