Author: Rhodes, Henrietta
Biography:
RHODES, Henrietta (d 1817: ancestry.co.uk)
She was the daughter of Nathaniel and Hannah 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 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 at home on East Castle Street, Bridgnorth. Her will left her estate to her companion, Maria or Miranda Lewis, and gave directions for a handsome tomb to be erected over her parents’ graves. (GM 87 [1817]; GM 90 [1790]; ancestry.co.uk 13 Sept. 2021; EN2; “The Modern History of Silk,” Constable’s Miscellany 76 [1832])