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
Sir Isaac Newton's house- detailed
plaque inside building at top of stairway directly facing entrance
Other Subjects
John Forster
Writer and literary adviser. Born Newcastle upon Tyne. Came to London in 1828 to attend University College and to enter Inner Temple. A good friend of Charles Dickens he published his biography in...
Kit-Cat Club
18th century London club with political (Whig) and literary interests. Tending to the clandestine it met, at different periods, at the Trumpet Tavern, the Fountain Tavern and at Barn Elms. In sum...
Group, Community / Clubs, Literature, Politics & Administration
Dr Samuel Johnson
Essayist, biographer, lexicographer and speaker of quotes. Born Lichfield, Staffordshire. Left home and travelled to London with David Garrick. "When a man is tired of London he is tired of life; f...
Elizabeth Bowen
Writer. Born Elizabeth Dorothea Cole at 15 Herbert Place, Dublin. Educated in England, she published her first collection of stories, 'Encounters' in 1923. Her best known novels include 'The Death ...
Justin H. McCarthy
Born Dunmanway, near Cork, Ireland. Politician and writer. He wrote or co-wrote more than 50 novels including ‘Miss Misanthrope’ and ‘Donna Quixote’. Member of parliament from 1886 to 1900. Died Lo...