Frances Anne Edgeworth facts for kids

Frances Anne Edgeworth (born Beaufort) was an Irish artist and writer. People often called her Fanny. She lived from 1769 to 1865. She was also the stepmother and close friend of the famous writer Maria Edgeworth. Fanny was especially known for her beautiful botanical paintings.

Fanny's Early Life

Frances Anne Beaufort was born in 1769. Her family lived at a place called Flower Hill in Navan, Ireland. She was one of four children. Her father was Daniel Augustus Beaufort. Her brother, Francis Beaufort, became a famous admiral. Her sisters, Harriet and Louisa, were also writers.

Fanny went to Mrs Terson's School. It was in Portarlington. There she learned writing, drawing, dancing, and French. She loved art and kept studying it. She learned from artists like Bowring, Francis Robert West, and Raymond Deshouilleres.

In 1788, Fanny went on a trip around Ireland with her father. She drew pictures of old buildings and objects they found. Her family lived in London for a short time, from 1789 to 1790.

Family Life and Writing

On May 31, 1798, Fanny married Richard Lovell Edgeworth. She became his fourth wife. This meant she became the stepmother to his 12 children. One of these children was the famous writer Maria Edgeworth. Maria was actually a year older than Fanny!

Fanny and Maria became very close friends. Maria even called Fanny her "beloved friend and mother." Fanny also wrote, just like her sisters and stepdaughter. However, her writings are not as well known.

One visitor to Edgeworthstown in 1813 said Fanny was a "successful" author. He mentioned a novel called What You Choose to Call it or The Good Wife. But the family's own papers do not talk about this book. We do know that Fanny wrote a memoir about Maria Edgeworth. It included some of Maria's letters. Some of Fanny's own letters are kept in libraries today. You can find them in the National Library of Ireland and the Bodleian Library.

Fanny and Richard Lovell Edgeworth had six children together. Their names were Frances, Harriet, Sophia, Lucy, Francis, and Michael Pakenham Edgeworth. Fanny passed away on February 10, 1865. She died at Edgeworthstown, in County Longford. One of her grandchildren became a philosopher named Francis Ysidro Edgeworth.

Artistic Talents

Fanny Edgeworth was a very talented artist. She lived at the same time as other women artists who painted plants, like Mary Delaney. People described Fanny as "exceptionally talented." She worked with oil paints and crayons. She also used watercolors.

Fanny helped her father with his book. She drew pictures for his 1792 A New Map of Ireland. After she married, she helped her husband with his engineering projects. She also drew pictures for Maria Edgeworth's book, The Parent's Assistant. These drawings were used in the third edition of the book. In fact, making these drawings is how Fanny and Richard Lovell Edgeworth met and fell in love!

Some of Fanny's drawings are kept at Edgeworthstown House. The Huntington Library in California has a special book of her botanical watercolors. These paintings show plants from her home and around Ireland. They were made between 1798 and 1807. There are 101 detailed drawings in the book. They show how much Fanny loved botany, which is the study of plants. She even included the scientific names for the plants. She was very interested in a complex group of plants called Cryptogams.