Britain Unlimited covers 250 Great British people and what made them famous

Who was Mary Wollstonecraft? Philosopher and Women's Right's Campaigner. Date and Place of Birth: 27th April 1759, London, England. Family Background: From family of six children, three girls and three boys. Granddaughter of a wealthy Irish manufacturer who worked in Spitalfields, London. Her father, John Edward Wollstonecraft, originally a handkerchief weaver, spent the fortune in an unsuccessful farm business and through drink and was prone to beat his wife Elizabeth Dixon. Education: Local day schools in Beverley, Yorkshire. Chronology: 1763: Moves to Epping with her family. 1765: At the death of her grandfather her father inherits some of his estate and the family again move on this time to Barking. 1768: Family moves on to Beverley in Yorkshire. 1774: Family moves to Hoxton in North London. 1776: Family moves to Laugharne in Wales. 1777: Family moves to Walworth in London. 1778: Mary gets her first employment as a lady's companion to Mrs Dawson in Bath. Her family moves on again to Enfield in London. 1781: Mary moves back home to nurse her sick mother. 1782: (19th April) Death of her mother.(October) Mary moves in with the Blood family as a ladies companion. 1784: Mary moves in with her sister Eliza who is suffering from a bout of post natal depression. Mary and Eliza set up a school together in Newington Green. She made friends with Richard Price a Minister at the local Dissenting Chapel who along with his friend Joseph Priestley was the leader of a group of people called the Rational Dissenters. 1785: Mary goes to Portugal to help Fanny Blood with her childbirth. Fanny dies later in the year of consumption. 1786: The school at Newington Green Closes. Mary goes to work as a governess to Lord and Lady Kingsborough in County Cork, Ireland. 1786: Accompanies the Kingsborough family to Bristol where she is dismissed. She then moves to London where she takes up work as a translator. 1788: Goes to live at 49 George Street Blackfriars, London. Mary begins work as a reviewer for Joseph Johnson's "Analytical Review". She had met Johnson as a radical friend of Richard Price. 1790: Mary's translation of Salzmann's "Elements of Morality" is published by Johnson. (November) She publishes "A Vindication of the Rights of Man" anonymously at first and then under her own name as she was upset by the attacks on her friend Price by Edmund Burke. 1791: Moves to Store Street. First met William Godwin at a dinner held by Johnson. 1792: (August) Mary, Johnson and the Fuseli's set out for France but only get as far as Dover. (December) Mary goes to France alone this time. 1793: (April) Mary Meets the American timber merchant Gilbert Imlay in Paris and registers as his wife at the American Embassy for protection against imprisonment during the Terror. She moves to Neuilly-sur-Seine but returns to Paris when she realises she is pregnant. 1794: (January) Moves to Le Havre. (May) Mary gives birth to Imlay's daughter Frances. 1795: (April) Returns to England and lives in Charlotte Street, London where she makes an unsuccessful attempt at suicide by jumping off Putney Bridge realising that Imlay already has a mistress and does not want her. (June) She goes to Scandinavia with her maid and Fanny to recuperate. (August) Returns again to London. (October) Makes a second attempt at suicide. 1796: (April) Meets Godwin again.(July) Begins a relationship with Godwin. 1797: (March) Moves into 29 The Polygon, Somers Town, London with Godwin after their marriage. (30th August) Gives birth to a daughter Mary (later to become Mary Shelley). Written Works: 1786: “Thoughts on the Education of Daughters”. 1788: "Mary", "Original Stories from Real Life Conversations Calculated to regulate the Affections and Form the Mind of Truth and Goodness" 1789: “The Female Reader”. “Miscellaneous Pieces for the Improvement of Young Women”. 1792: “A Vindication of the Rights of Women”. 1794: "An Historical and Moral View of the Origin and Progress of the French Revolution. 1796: “Letters Written during a Short Residence in Sweden, Norway, and Denmark”. 1797: "On Poetry", "Our Relish for the Beauties of Nature". (1798): "Memoirs of the Author of a Vindication of the Rights of Woman" and "Posthumous Works" both published by Godwin. Marriage: March 1797 to William Godwin at St. Pancras Church, London. Places of Interest: LONDON: The British Library. The Women's Library, Old Castle Street, E1 7NT. Date and Place of Death: 10th September 1797, London, England of puerperal fever after the birth of her daughter Mary. Age at Death: 38. Site of Grave: Re-interred in St. Peter's Churchyard, Bournemouth, Dorset, England with Husband William Godwin next to Daughter Mary Shelley.