Author: Baillie, Marianne
Biography:
BAILLIE, Marianne, formerly WATHEN (1788-1831: ancestry.co.uk)
She was born on 13 July 1788 at St. Catherine, Jamaica, and baptised two years later in England at Bury St. Edmunds, the daughter of George Wathen, an army captain (who later became an actor), and his wife Marianne Norford, the daughter of a Bury physician. She married Alexander Baillie at St. Luke’s Chelsea on 9 Sept. 1815. They initially lived at Sion Cottage, Twickenham, and in the summer of 1818 toured Europe with limited means. Alexander Baillie was appointed Agent of His Majesty’s Packets in Lisbon in 1821 and they remained in Portugal until 1823. On their return to England they again lived in the Twickenham area, at Stanley Cottage, Richmond Hill. She died at Clarges Street, Hanover Square, on 2 Feb. 1831. Her husband died on 14 Dec. 1838 at Georgetown, Demerara, Guyana, where his family held extensive plantations (in partnerships). He was awarded almost £10,000 compensation in 1836 following the winding-up of the Philadelphia Estate of which he was a trustee. His will provided for the two daughters who were not of age (Marianne Harriet b 1822, Augusta Dorothea b 1828). A son, Alexander Wathen Baillie (1821-1842), died at Georgetown, Demerara, while he was probably winding up the estate. Both Marianne’s parents survived her and died at Windsor in 1849, her father having been made Military Knight of Windsor. She published or contributed substantially to three volumes of poetry, Guy of Warwick (1817), Trifles in Verse (1825), and The Casket (1829). Her accounts of life in Europe are still of value: First Impressions on a Tour upon the Continent (1819) and Lisbon (1824). (ancestry.co.uk 4 Sept. 2020; ODNB 4 Sept. 2020; Bury and Norwich Post 24 Oct. 1787; London Courier 4 Feb. 1831; St. James’ Chronicle 22 Jan. 1839) AA
Other Names:
- Mrs Alexander Baillie