Author: Attersoll, Ann
Biography:
ATTERSOLL, Ann, formerly HOLMES, formerly DOHERTY (1786-1832: ancestry.co.uk)
Ann(e) was the daughter of Thomas and Hannah (Hornby) Holmes and born on 16 Oct. 1786 in London and baptised on 16 Dec. at St. Mary's, Ealing. In 1802 Thomas Holmes inherited an estate in Hertfordshire on condition that he take the name Hunter. That same year Ann Holmes eloped with Hugh Doherty, an Irish officer in the 23rd Light Dragoons; they married at St. Helen and St. Giles, Rainham, Essex, on 25 May 1802. They had a son, probably in 1803, but the marriage did not last; in 1806 she eloped to Scotland with her husband's architect friend, Philip William Wyatt. Hugh Doherty published The Discovery (1807), a "Quasi-fictional romance," to expose the couple, then living near Barnet; it went to several editions. In 1808 he published a novel, Ronaldsha, from a manuscript by her and dedicated by him to her parents. In Feb. 1811 he successfully sued Wyatt for “criminal conversation” with his wife. After her separation from Doherty she published two novels, The Castles of Wolfnorth and Mont Eagle (1812), and The Knight of the Glen (1815), under the name Ann Doherty. The relationship with Wyatt was short-lived and so too was one with John Attersoll, with whom she likely lived in France. Her play, Peter the Cruel King of Castile and Leon, was written and published in France. There is no evidence it was ever performed but she sent a copy to Robert Southey (q.v.) hoping for his support. A subsequent relationship led her to use the name “de la Piqueliere” by which she was known at the time of her death in Upper Gloucester Street, London. Her will, signed on 30 July 1831, was proved on 22 May 1832 but it was overturned because at the time of her death and despite an 1813 petition for divorce she was still legally married to Hugh Doherty who died after her in 1833. She was therefore deemed to have died intestate and in 1849 the proceeds of her estate were assigned to Doherty’s creditors. (Margot Finn & Kate Smith, The East India Company at Home, 1757-1857 [2018]; Morning Post 14 Feb. 1803; Roscommon and Leitrim Gazette 28 Sept. 1833; Letters of Robert Southey, Romantic Circles online 23 Apr. 2022; ancestry.co.uk 23 Apr. 2022; National Archives UK PROB 11/1800/22; Champion [London] 6 June 1818; EN2) SR
Other Names:
- Mrs. Attersoll