Mary Ann Evans
Born 22 Nov. 1819 in Arbury, Nuneaton, Warwickshire, England.[1] Daughter of Robert Evans and Christiana Pearson.[2] Moved to Griff House, Nuneaton, Mar. 1820; attended boarding schools, 1824–1835.[3] Began using the name Marian Evans, 1834.[4] First publication, a poem titled “Knowing That Shortly I Must Put Off This Tabernacle,” published in the Christian Observer, Jan. 1840; translated Strauss’s Life of Jesus, 1846.[5] Assistant editor and editor of the Westminster Review, 1851–1854.[6] Moved to London, 1852.[7] Published the story “The Sad Fortunes of the Rev. Amos Barton” in Blackwood’s Magazine, 1856.[8] Published her first book, Scenes of Clerical Life, 1857, under the name George Eliot.[9] Authored highly regarded novels, including Adam Bede, The Mill on the Floss, Silas Marner, Ramola, Felix Holt, Agatha, Middlemarch, Daniel Deronda, and Impressions of Theophrastus Such, 1859–1879.[10] Married John Walter Cross, 6 May 1880, in London.[11] Died 22 Dec. 1880 in Chelsea, London.[12] Her work Essays, and Leaves from a Note-Book was published posthumously, 1884.[13] Admired by EBW, who visited the George Eliot home in London, 1899.[14]
[1] Church of England, Parish Church of Chilvers-Coton, Warwickshire, Parish Registers, 1654–1915, Christenings, 1813–1878, p. 61, Mary Anne Evans, microfilm 557299, DGS 4291031, image 46/722, FHL. J. W. Cross, ed., George Eliot’s Life as Related in Her Letters and Journals, 3 vols. (London: William Blackwood and Sons, 1878), 1:1. “Family Tree,” database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org, accessed 5 Mar. 2021), Mary Anne Evans (L8T9-H5Y).
[2] Church of England, Parish Church of Chilvers-Coton, Warwickshire, Parish Registers, 1654–1915, Christenings, 1813–1878, p. 61, Mary Anne Evans, microfilm 557299, DGS 4291031, image 46/722, FHL. Church of England, Parish Church of Astley, Warwickshire, Parish Registers and Poor Law Records, 1600–1953, Register of Marriages, p. 1, no. 1, Robert Evans and Christiana Pearson, microfilm 557297, DGS 4291030, image 96/393, FHL.
[3] J. W. Cross, ed., George Eliot’s Life as Related in Her Letters and Journals, 3 vols. (London: William Blackwood and Sons, 1878), 1:2–3, 13, 17, 19, 22.
[4] George Eliot Archive, Chronology, 16 Mar. 1834 (https://www.georgeeliotarchive.org, accessed 8 Mar. 2021). J. W. Cross, ed., George Eliot’s Life as Related in Her Letters and Journals, 3 vols. (London: William Blackwood and Sons, 1878), 1:262–263.
[5] George Eliot to Maria Lewis, 17 July 1839, George Eliot Archive (https://www.georgeeliotarchive.org/items/show/624, accessed 11 Mar. 2021). George Eliot, “Knowing That Shortly I Must Put Off This Tabernacle (1840),” George Eliot Archive (https://georgeeliotarchive.org, accessed 9 Mar. 2021). “Death of George Eliot,” Nottinghamshire Guardian (Nottingham, England), 31 Dec. 1880, 3. J. W. Cross, ed., George Eliot’s Life as Related in Her Letters and Journals, 3 vols. (London: William Blackwood and Sons, 1878), 1:262–263.
[6] George Eliot to Cara Hennell Bray, 20 Feb. 1852, George Eliot Archive (https://www.georgeeliotarchive.org/items/show/777, accessed 12 Mar. 2021). J. W. Cross, ed., George Eliot’s Life as Related in Her Letters and Journals, 3 vols. (London: William Blackwood and Sons, 1878), 1:208. “Death of ‘George Eliot,’” Standard (London), 24 Dec. 1880, 3.
[7] George Eliot to Cara Hennell Bray, 4 July 1852, George Eliot Archive (https://www.georgeeliotarchive.org/items/show/794, accessed 12 Mar. 2021).
[8] J. W. Cross, ed., George Eliot’s Life as Related in Her Letters and Journals, 3 vols. (London: William Blackwood and Sons, 1878), 1:342–344.
[9] J. W. Cross, ed., George Eliot’s Life as Related in Her Letters and Journals, 3 vols. (London: William Blackwood and Sons, 1878), 1:379. George Eliot to John Blackwood, 30 Oct. 1857, George Eliot Archive (https://www.georgeeliotarchive.org/items/show/913, accessed 11 Mar. 2021). “Next Week Will Be Published,” Examiner (London), 26 Dec. 1857, 831.
[10] “Adam Bede,” Sheffield & Rotherham Independent (Sheffield, England), 26 Mar. 1859, 9. “The Literary Examiner,” Examiner (London), 16 June 1860, 372. “Silas Mariner,” Morning Post (London), 4 Apr. 1861, 2. “Literature,” Glasgow Herald (Glasgow, Scotland), 25 June 1866, 6. “Public Notices: Now Ready in Three Volumes,” Leeds Intelligencer (Leeds, England), 11 July 1863, 4. “George Eliot’s New Novel,” Manchester Guardian (London), 21 Dec. 1871, 7. “Works of George Eliot,” Standard (London), 26 July 1877, 8. “George Eliot’s New Work,” Examiner, 7 June 1879, 739–741. “Death of ‘George Eliot,’” Standard, 24 Dec. 1880, 3.
[11] J. W. Cross, ed., George Eliot’s Life as Related in Her Letters and Journals, 3 vols. (London: William Blackwood and Sons, 1878), 3:348. “Marriage,” Standard (London), 10 May 1880, 1.
[12] “Mary Ann Cross,” Free BMD (https://www.freebmd.org.uk, accessed 4 Mar. 2021). “Death of ‘George Eliot,’” Standard (London), 24 Dec. 1880, 3. Great Britain, Principal Probate Registry, Calendar of the Grants of Probate and Letters of Administration Made in the Principal Register, and in Several District Registries of Her Majesty’s Court of Probate, vols. 1–3, Wills and Admins, 1881, Mary Ann Cross, microfilm 251279, DGS 7702484, image 625/644, FHL.
[13] George Eliot and Charles Lee Lewes, Essays and Leaves from a Note-book (New York: Harper and Brothers, 1884).
[14] EBW, Diary, 15 and 22 July 1899.