Author: Ryves, Frances Catharine
Biography:
RYVES, Frances Catharine formerly HARDING (1767-1827: ancestry.co.uk)
The author of Cumbrian Legends was not Frances Warren Ryves (d 1819, aged 74), as given in library catalogues and SWPRP, but the wife of her eldest son, William. Frances Catharine was the daughter of Ambrose Harding, a barrister, and his wife Margaret (Baillie), and was probably born in Dublin where her parents were living in the 1760s-70s. She married William Ryves (1756-1817) in Dublin on 23 June 1787, and they seem initially to have lived in the Tontine Buildings, Limerick (where Ryves Castle, named on her title-page, is located). When William’s father, Francis, died in 1803, he should have inherited the estate but newspaper notices suggest financial troubles. Perhaps because of this, they lived in England and by 1811 Frances was at Hale Hall, Cumberland, from where she wrote to Walter Scott (q.v.) seeking his subscription to Cumbrian Legends. The couple had five children—two sons and three daughters. One of the daughters was Margracia Ryves, later Loudon (q.v.). After William’s death, Frances lived with her daughters in Bath and Leamington. Frances died at St Helier, Jersey, on 28 February and was buried at St. Saviour Church; her age at the time of her death is given as 60. The notes to her book indicate that the poems had been written by about 1806. Aside from subscribers in Scotland, Ireland, and England, the subscription list includes some located in the West Indies, possibly indicating a connection with the slave trade. William F. Taylor of the Royal Marines, the future husband of her youngest daughter (Mary Anne), is also listed. (ancestry.co.uk 11 Sept. 2020; findmypast.co.uk 11 Sept. 2020; contributions from AA)
Other Names:
- Mrs. Ryves