Author: Hanson, Martha
Biography:
HANSON, Martha, later ROY (1787-1853: ancestry.co.uk)
She was born on 10 May 1787 and baptised at St. Clement Dane's, London, on 5 June, the daughter of Francis Hanson and Martha (Peale/Peile), who had married in Leeds but moved to London. Her father worked first as a builder in London but moved to Brighton where he acquired Belle Vue house in 1793, from where Hanson wrote her preface to Sonnets (1809). He remortgaged it in 1812, possibly to generate funds for development of the land which eventually became Regency Square. Her brother, Joshua Flesher Hanson, originally a school teacher, also engaged in property development, at first in Brighton and later in London, building several properties at Hyde Park Gate, Kensington, and other sites. She married the Rev. Thomas Roy at St. Nicholas, Brighton, on 22 Nov. 1823. Her husband died in 1834 and thereafter she lived with her son, also a curate, until her death on 13 Mar. 1853, at Bedford. She is buried alongside her husband at Old St. Mary’s Woburn. Her poetry is mostly notable for her memorial poems to Charlotte Smith (q.v.) and topographical poems on the South Downs. She appears not to have written any further poetry after her marriage. (ancestry.co.uk 17 Jul. 2020; findmypast.com 17 Jul. 2020; Index of Gravestones [PDF] woburnheritagemuseum.co.uk; OUCH 6 Dec. 1853; SJC 29 Mar. 1853; GM Mar. 1835, May 1853; Death certificate GRO) AA