Person    | Female  Born 13/6/1752  Died 6/1/1840

Frances (Fanny) Burney

Categories: Literature, Theatre

Countries: Belgium, France

Born King's Lynn, Norfolk, father was Dr Charles Burney. Diarist, novelist: Evelina (1778), Cecelia (1782), Camilla (1796) and playwright. Her first novel, Evelina, was a big success and she entered literary society becoming good friends with Samuel Johnson. She became a member of the royal court, as an attendant to Queen Charlotte, 1786 - 1791, during which she witnessed one of King George III's first major periods of mental illness. When she left she was given a life-long pension and remained friends with the royal family. In 1793 married Alexandre D'Arblay, an exile from France. They returned to Paris and while there Fanny suffered a mastectomy without anaesthetic, which she then wrote about in horrific detail in a letter to her sister. In France 1802 - 1812 but returned to England with her son to avoid him being conscripted. She met Louis XVIII while they were both in London. When Napoleon escaped from Elba in 1815 she was in Paris and only just escaped as he entered. She was in Brussels in 1815 during the Battle of Waterloo. She then returned to England and lived in Bath and London for the rest of her life, dying at 29 Lower Grosvenor Street, Mayfair. Certainly not a dull life.

This section lists the memorials where the subject on this page is commemorated:
Frances (Fanny) Burney

Commemorated ati

Fanny Burney

Erected in 1885 this is the oldest surviving "blue" plaque to a woman.

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Sir Isaac Newton's house- detailed

plaque inside building at top of stairway directly facing entrance

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Other Subjects

Flower Fairy Books

Flower Fairy Books

A series of books created by the illusrator Cicely Mary Barker. The first one was published in 1923

Fiction, Art, Literature

1 memorial
Nina Bawden

Nina Bawden

Writer of novels for adults and children, and late in life, campaigner for railway safety. Born Nina Mary Mabey in Ilford, Essex. As a child she was evacuated during the blitz, giving her memories...

Person, Literature, Transport

1 memorial
Mary Shelley

Mary Shelley

Born in London, at the Polygon building in Somers Town. Parents: William Godwin and Mary Wollstonecraft, Eleven days after her birth her mother died. Most famous for writing "Frankenstein". A freq...

Person, Literature, Seriously Famous

4 memorials
The War of the Worlds

The War of the Worlds

Novel by H. G. Wells about the invasion of Earth by Mars. One of the first novels in the science-fiction genre. It has been filmed, produced as a musical album by Jeff Wayne, and famously caused ne...

Fiction, Literature, USA

2 memorials
Leigh Hunt

Leigh Hunt

Poet. Born Southgate. Named 'James Henry Leigh Hunt' after the Duke of Chandos, James Henry Leigh, who was employing Hunt's father, a preacher, as tutor to his nephew at the time of Hunt's birth. F...

Person, Literature, Poetry

6 memorials