I lived from 1764-1823.
I was from England, and am in the English category.
On July the 9th, 1764 Ann Oates and William Ward brought their only child into the world. She was named Ann for her mother. Young Ann had many prestigious relatives on either side of her family, although her father and mother were noted as being “nearly the only persons of their two families not living in handsome, or at least easy independence." This is partially related to her father’s occupation, a haberdasher, or salesman. He sold various fineries and accessories for twenty-one years in a shop on Holborn Street. Her mother sprang from quite an esteemed background and it is still unknown why she married a man of such poor social standing.
Read full description by requiem of night - oldpoetry research team...
In 1771 at the age of 7 Radcliffe went to stay with her uncle Thomas Bentley in Turnham Green, during which time her parents prepared their transference to Bath, where her father had acquired a new job as manager of the Wedgwood showroom. She spent two years there, and memories of the time are said to underlie some of her work. By the age of ten Radcliffe had begun to develop tastes in literature. There is some evidence that Radcliffe attended the school of Harriet and Sophia Lee at Bath, but evidence indicating that from that point she stayed in Turnham Green exists as well. Her books suggest that she was self-educated.
In 1787 Ann Ward married William Radcliffe, a graduate of Oriel College. He spent much time at Parliamentary debates. Since William Radcliffe had a fair amount of money his wife had the luxury of doing little to nothing during this time. She attended many operas, including ones by Handel and Paesiello, whose influence would later resurface in her novels. Radcliffe, however, never fit very well into society and so spent much time reading, and eventually writing. Before long she and her husband were reviewing her earliest novels, The Castles of Athlin and Dunbayne and A Sicilian Romance both in 1790. The two were both published anonymously. The next year she published The Romance of the Forest in her own name and it came to be her most popular. She followed it with The Mysteries of Udolpho in 1794, which she is generally known for today.
Using the profits of her latest book Radcliffe and her husband traveled Europe in the summer of 1794, the only time Radcliffe ventures outside of England. She returned home that year and worked on A Journey Made in the Summer of 1794, which was published the next year. In 1796 she published The Italian. From there Radcliffe spent much time traveling England exploring the various gothic architectures and castles, these trips were made primarily from 1797 to 1801. She spent time after that, until 1807 visiting various art galleries across the country, such visits in 1802 are believed to have inspired Gaston de Blondeville and St Alban's Abbey, which were published posthumously.
Radcliffe suffered a nervous breakdown in 1812, and at the time claimed to have written novels and stories by other authors of the time. She spent two and a half years in Windsor before returning to live with her husband in London in 1815. Radcliffe lived only twelve more years, all of which were marred by declining physical and mental health. She was noted to have severe asthma, and so traveled in 1823 to Ramsgate, where the air was supposedly better for her than the air of London. Ironically it was there that she caught the chest infection that caused her death.
Thanks to Richard Norton, Mistress of Udolpho for bio info
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