Author: Rhodes, Henrietta
Biography:
by
Ragaz, Sharon (SR)
RHODES, Henrietta (d 1817: ancestry.co.uk)
She was the daughter of Nathaniel and Hannah (George) Rhodes of Bridgnorth, Shropshire. The exact year of her birth is not known but she was said to be 61 at the time of her death on 2 Feb. 1817, indicating a likely birth year of 1756. She never married and had a very close relationship with her parents; her father died in 1790 and was predeceased by her mother in 1785. Henrietta was the executrix of his will which benefited her and her brother George. In the 1780s she was actively involved in a campaign to promote the cultivation of silkworms in England and was awarded a silver medal from the Society for the Encouragement of Arts. She published a novel, Rosalie; or, The Castle of Montalabretti, in 1811. She died on 28 Feb. 1817 at home on East Castle Street, Bridgnorth, and was buried at St. Mary Magdalen, Bridgnorth, on 6 Mar. Her will left her estate to her companion, Maria or Miranda Lewis--described as "the adopted child of my heart"--and gave directions for a handsome tomb to be erected over her parents’ graves. Her book includes a long ballad, "Sir Edric, a Legendary Tale," some shorter poems and three essays including ones on Stonehenge and the sugar maple. Some of the poems indicate that she was involved in amateur theatricals, and likely knew both French and Latin. One of the poems was written by a Captain Morris. (GM 87 [1817]; GM 90 [1790]; ancestry.co.uk 13 Sept. 2021, 26 Sept. 2025; EN2; “The Modern History of Silk,” Constable’s Miscellany 76 [1832]) SR