Author: Mary Anne James
Author: Mary Anne James (1814–1874)
Alternate Name(s): Edge (maiden name); Hilliand (first married name); Mrs. Edwin James (familiar name)
Biography: Mary Anne James was born about 1814 possibly in London, the daughter of James Edge. In 1837, she married army officer Edward David Crosier Hilliard and the couple had three children. The family lived for a time in Dublin. When her husband died in 1853, she moved to Paris where, according to reports, she "caused much sensation on account of her eccentric conduct" including performing on stage and throwing lavish parties. In 1861, she married barrister Edwin James who had fled debt and scandal in England by being the first ever Queen's Counsel to be disbarred. Shunned by English society, they fled to America. She obtained a divorce in New York in 1863. James then turned to writing beginning with Wanderings of a Beauty (1863). Over the next decade she spent time in both America and England. In the latter place, she joined several anti-animal cruelty organizations. She died on 20 December 1874 while visiting Llandudno.
References: Cork Constitution (5 October 1861); DNB (Edwin James); Morning Post (27 May 1837); Probate
Fiction Titles:
- Wanderings of a Beauty: or, The Real and the Ideal. 1 vol. London: Routledge, 1863.
- Muriel: or, Social Fetters. A Novel. 1 vol. London: C. J. Skeet, 1867.
- Lights and Shadows in a Canine Life, with Sketches of Travel. 1 vol. London: Simpkin, 1871.