Editing Ann Radcliffe (section)

==Biography==

=== Early life ===
Radcliffe was born Ann Ward in [[Holborn]], London on 9 July 1764.{{sfn|Miles|2005}} She was the only child of William Ward (1737–1798) and Ann Oates (1726–1800).{{sfn|Rogers|1996|p=3}} At the time of her birth, her father owned a [[haberdashery]] shop in London.{{Sfn|Rogers|1996|p=3}} Her mother came from a family of [[Leadlight|leadmakers]] and [[glazier]]s.{{Sfn|Norton|1999|p=22}} Her father had a famous uncle, [[William Cheselden]], who was Surgeon to [[George II of Great Britain|King George II]]; her mother descended from the [[De Witt (family)|De Witt family]] of Holland, with well-connected cousins including [[Sir Richard Jebb, 1st Baronet|Sir Richard Jebb]], a fashionable London physician,{{sfn|Rogers|1996|p=3}} and [[Samuel Hallifax]], a bishop.{{Sfn|Norton|1999|p=14}}

[[File:Vase with cover MET DP-15679-008 (cropped).jpg|thumb|alt=Ornate neoclassical vase with shiny, mottled glaze|[[Wedgwood|Wedgwood & Bentley]] vase. Radcliffe's father sold their wares in [[Bath, Somerset]].]]

In 1772, Radcliffe's father moved to [[Bath, Somerset|Bath]] to manage a shop owned by [[Thomas Bentley (manufacturer)|Thomas Bentley]] and [[Josiah Wedgwood]], makers of [[Wedgwood|Wedgwood porcelain]].{{Sfn|Rogers|1996|p=3}} The shop was intended to sell second-rate goods to the less-discerning tourists of Bath, and her father avidly promoted the business.{{sfn|Norton|1999|pp=42-3}}{{efn|In later years, Wedgwood rarely mentioned the Bath shop, which he considered an embarrassing failure.{{sfn|Norton|1999|p=43}} Radcliffe's father promoted the store through newspaper advertisements and hand-delivered flyers, which Wedgwood considered vulgar and appalling.{{sfn|Norton|1999|pp=42-3}}}} He also supplemented his income by renting rooms to lodgers.{{Sfn|Norton|1999|p=43}} Bentley was Radcliffe's maternal uncle, and more respectable as a land-owning member of the [[gentry]]. She often paid extended visits to his home in [[Chelsea, London]] and later [[Turnham Green]].{{Sfn|Norton|1999|p=25}}{{sfn|Norton|1999|p=29}} Wedgwood's daughter [[Susannah Darwin|Susannah]], known by the nickname Sukey, also stayed in Chelsea and is Radcliffe's only known childhood companion.{{efn|Sukey later married Dr. [[Robert Darwin]] and had a son, the naturalist [[Charles Darwin]].{{sfn|Norton|1999|p=29}}}}{{sfn|Norton|1999|p=29}} Although mixing in some distinguished circles, Radcliffe seems to have made little impression in this society and was described by Wedgwood as "Bentley's shy little niece".{{sfn|Norton|1999|pp=31-33}} Bentley and Wedgwood were both [[Unitarianism|Unitarians]],{{Sfn|Norton|1999|p=27}} as was Radcliffe's grand-uncle Dr. [[John Jebb (reformer)|John Jebb]].{{Sfn|Norton|1999|p=14}} Radcliffe herself regularly attended [[Church of England|Anglican]] church services, but her biographer [[Rictor Norton]] suggests that she remained sympathetic to Unitarian and [[English Dissenters|Dissenters]].{{Sfn|Norton|1999|p=18}}

=== Marriage ===
In 1787, when Radcliffe was 23 years old, she married William Radcliffe (1763–1830).<ref name=":5">{{Cite web |last=Colbert |first=Ben |title=William Radcliffe |url=https://btw.wlv.ac.uk/authors/1171 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241223183841/https://btw.wlv.ac.uk/authors/1171 |archive-date=2024-12-23 |access-date=2025-05-07 |website=British Travel Writing |language=en}}</ref> William was, like, Radcliffe, the son of a haberdasher.<ref name=":5" /> He attended [[University of Cambridge|Cambridge]] briefly in 1780, and finished a [[Bachelor of Arts|B.A.]] at [[University of Oxford|Oxford]] in 1785.<ref name=":5" /> He spent some time as a student of law, but he did not complete his legal studies and instead turned his attention to literature and journalism.{{Sfn|McIntyre|1920}} The couple were married in Bath, but soon after moved to London.{{sfn|Rogers|1996|p=4}} William published several translations from Latin and French to support them, and in 1790 began working for the ''[[Gazetteer and New Daily Advertiser]]''.<ref name=":5" /> According to the literary historian [[Nick Groom]], this was "a fiercely radical paper that celebrated the [[French Revolution]], freedom of the press, and [[English Dissenters|Dissenters' rights]]."{{Sfn|Groom|2007|pp=xi–xii}} By many accounts, theirs was a happy marriage. Radcliffe called him her "nearest relative and friend".<ref name="Facer">{{cite web|website= Chawton House Library|url= http://www.chawtonhouse.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/Ann-Radcliffe.pdf |last= Facer |first=Ruth |title=Ann Radcliffe (1764–1823)|access-date=1 December 2012}}</ref> Ann and William Radcliffe never had children.{{sfn|Rogers|1996|p=4}}

According to a posthumous biography, Radcliffe started writing for amusement while her husband remained out late most evenings for work.{{Sfn|Talfourd|1826|pp=7–8}} She published her first novel, ''[[The Castles of Athlin and Dunbayne]],'' in 1789 at the age of 25, and published her next three novels in short succession to increasing acclaim.{{Sfn|McIntyre|1920}} At the height of her popularity, she was one of the highest-paid authors of the eighteenth century.<ref name=":6">{{Cite web |date=7 October 2024 |title=Ann Radcliffe - Forgotten Pioneer of Gothic Literature - Bids to Reclaim Place in the Hearts of Readers|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250318033604/https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/news/ann-radcliffe-forgotten-pioneer-gothic-literature-bids-reclaim-place-hearts-readers |url=https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/news/ann-radcliffe-forgotten-pioneer-gothic-literature-bids-reclaim-place-hearts-readers |archive-date= 18 March 2025 |url-status=live|access-date=2025-05-07 |website=The University of Sheffield |last=Barton |first=Sean}}</ref> Even as her works became famous, Radcliffe avoided the public eye, causing one eighteenth-century reviewer to comment that "nothing was known of her but her name on the title page".{{sfn|Rogers|1996|p=5}} Biographers describe her as reserved and extremely shy.{{sfn|Rogers|1996|pp=4–5}} The money she earned from her novels eventually allowed her husband to quit his job in 1793, and paid for their vacation travel.<ref name=":5" />{{Sfn|McIntyre|1920}} She also provided some financial support to her mother-in-law, Deborah Radcliffe.{{Sfn|Louca-Richards|2020}} In 1794, the Radcliffes made their only trip abroad, visiting Holland and Germany.{{Sfn|McIntyre|1920}} In 1795, William returned as editor of the ''Gazetteer'', and a year later, he purchased the [[English Chronicle|''English Chronicle'' ''or'' ''Universal Evening Post'']], a [[Whigs (British political party)|Whig]] newspaper. Ann Radcliffe published ''[[The Italian (Radcliffe novel)|The Italian]]'' in 1797, the last of her works which was published in her lifetime.{{Sfn|Groom|2017|pp=ix&ndash;xli}}

=== Later life and death ===
After ''The Italian'' in 1797, Radcliffe ceased publishing and lived privately for the next 26 years.{{sfn|Norton|1999|p=3}} Her father died in 1798, leaving her some property near [[Leicester]].{{sfn|Rogers|1996|p=11}} Her mother died in 1800, leaving her the rest of the family's accumulated property; the rental income from her inheritance removed any financial need for Radcliffe to continue publishing.{{sfn|Rogers|1996|pp=11–12}} Radcliffe and her husband lived comfortably, travelling domestically almost once a year from 1797 to 1811.{{Sfn|McIntyre|1920}} Some evidence suggests that the Radcliffes lived separately from 1812 to 1815, though the reason is unknown.<ref name=":5" /> As they aged in later years, the Radcliffes hired a carriage during the summer months to make trips to places near London.{{Sfn|McIntyre|1920}} Although she did not publish, Radcliffe continued to write.{{Sfn|McIntyre|1920}} She wrote poetry and another novel, ''[[Gaston de Blondeville]]'', which was published after her death. She suffered from [[asthma]], for which she received regular treatment.<ref name="Facer" />

Radcliffe's lack of interest in public life led to frequent rumours that she had gone insane as a result of her writing,<ref>{{Cite web |last= Norton |first=Rictor |url=http://rictornorton.co.uk/gothic/radcliff.htm |title=The Life of Ann Radcliffe |website=rictornorton.co.uk |access-date=13 December 2019}}</ref> lived in dramatic seclusion in [[Derbyshire]],<ref name=":3">{{cite magazine|url = https://archive.org/details/dli.bengal.10689.14225/page/n125/mode/2up |title= Mrs. Radcliffe|work=The New Monthly Magazine |date=1826 |volume= 16 |p= 115}}</ref> or died.{{Sfn|Norton|1999|p=204}} For example, a travel narrative published by [[Elizabeth Isabella Spence]] in 1809 claimed that Radcliffe lived in [[Haddon Hall]] "under the most direful influence of ... incurable melancholy."{{Sfn|Bobbitt|2020|pp=179-180}} These rumours were so popular that her posthumous biography included a statement from her physician that spoke about her mental condition in her later years.{{Sfn|McIntyre|1920}} ''[[The New Monthly Magazine]]'' also published a posthumous rebuttal from her husband, insisting that "she was to be seen, every Sunday, at [[St James's Church, Clerkenwell|St James's Church]]; almost every fine day in [[Hyde Park, London|Hyde Park]]; sometimes at the theatres, and very frequently at the Opera" and describing Radcliffe as "the rare union of the literary gentlewoman and the active housewife".<ref name=":3" />

In early 1823, Radcliffe went to [[Ramsgate]], where she caught a fatal chest infection. She died on 7 February 1823 at the age of 58 and was buried in a vault in the Chapel of Ease at St George's, [[Hanover Square, Westminster|Hanover Square]], London.{{Sfn|McIntyre|1920}} Although she had suffered from asthma for twelve years previously,<ref name="Facer" /> her modern biographer, [[Rictor Norton]], argues that she probably died of [[pneumonia]] caused by a bronchial infection, citing the description given by her physician, Dr. Scudamore, of how "a new inflammation seized the membranes of the brain".{{sfn|Norton|1999|p=243}} Her husband remarried in 1826 to their housekeeper Elizabeth, and died in 1830 in [[Versailles, Yvelines|Versailles]].<ref name=":5" />