Jael Pye Explained

Jael Henrietta Pye (1782), born Jael Mendez, was an English writer. She is known to have authored four works, all of different genres: a piece of garden writing, a collection of poetry, a play, and a two-volume novel. She is perhaps best known for A Short Account, of the Principal Seats and Gardens, in and about Twickenham (1760), an account of the Twickenham homes of various Georgian eminences.

Life

Her father was a merchant and lived in Red Lion Square, Holborn, London.^[1] Weintraub reports that his name was Solomon Mendes (or Mendez), a 'wealthy and literary-minded businessman known to the Disraelis'.^[2] Her first husband, John Neil Campbell, was a lawyer. In 1766, she married her second husband, Robert Hampden Pye, whose father—Henry Pye (not to be confused with Henry James Pye, Robert's brother)—was an MP for Faringdon, then part of Berkshire.^[3]

Pye was born Jewish, although a letter of Horace Walpole suggests that she later converted to some form of Christianity. Hodes states that 'Mendez identifies a Jewish family of Portuguese or Spanish origins'.^[4]

She was a correspondent of David Garrick and an acquaintance of Marie Jeanne Riccoboni.

Pye lived in France from 1774 to at least 1779.^[5] On 9 November 1774, she paid a visit to Voltaire in Paris.^[6] She died in France.

Writing

In her Short Account (1760), Pye describes the homes and gardens of notable Twickenhamites including Hannah Pritchard, Kitty Clive, Horace Walpole, Alexander Pope, and others.^[7] She observes critically that visits to Twickenham were 'commonly the only travels permitted to our sex, and the only way we have of becoming at all acquainted with the progress of the arts'.^[8] Walpole disparaged the book in a letter to William Cole, calling it a 'silly little book' and referring to Pye derisively as a 'Jewess'.^[9]

Garrick produced her play A Capricious Lady, described as a 'farce', in 1771. It was not subsequently published.

Mandal describes her Theodosius and Arabella (published posthumously in 1786) as a 'sentimental novel'.^[10]

Works

• A Short Account, of the Principal Seats and Gardens, in and about Twickenham (1760). Later titled A Peep into the Principal Seats and Gardens at and about Twickenham (1775).
• Poems, by a Lady (1767). Later Poems, by Mrs. Hamden Pye (1772).
• A Capricious Lady (play,).
• Theodosius and Arabella (novel, 2 volumes, 1786). Published posthumously.

Notes and References

1. Book: Rizzo, Betty. A Dictionary of British and American Women Writers, 1660–1800. 1987. Rowman & Littlefield. 0-8476-7556-4. Todd. Janet M.. Janet Todd. Totowa, New Jersey. 260–261. 16666665.
2. Book: Weintraub, Stanley. Disraeli: A Biography. 1993. Dutton. 0-525-93668-8. New York. 25. 27684040.
3. Web site: Namier. Lewis. Lewis Namier. 1970. Pye, Henry (1709–66), of Faringdon, Berks.. 2020-07-25. The History of Parliament.
4. 72235. Pye [née Mendez, other married name Campbell], Jael Henrietta. 10.1093/ref:odnb/72235. Hodes. Tamar. 2004-09-23.
5. Book: Encyclopedia of British Writers, 16th, 17th, and 18th Centuries. 2014-05-14. Infobase Publishing. 978-1-4381-0869-8. Hager. Alan. New York. 200. en.
6. Book: Complete Works of Voltaire. 1975. Voltaire Foundation. Besterman. Theodore. Theodore Besterman. 41. Banbury, Oxfordshire. 207. 9780729411332 .
7. Book: Baines. Paul. The Wiley-Blackwell Encyclopedia of Eighteenth-Century Writers and Writing 1660–1789. Ferraro. Julian. Rogers. Pat. 2010-01-07. Wiley. 978-1-4443-9006-3. Oxford. 282. 10.1002/9781444390063.
8. Bell. Susan Groag. Susan Groag Bell. 1990. Women Create Gardens in Male Landscapes: A Revisionist Approach to Eighteenth-Century English Garden History. Feminist Studies. 16. 3. 471–491. 10.2307/3178016. 3178016. 2027/spo.0499697.0016.304. free.
9. Book: Private Correspondence of Horace Walpole, Earl of Orford. 1820. Rodwell & Martin. 4. London. 12–16 at 14. Horace Walpole to William Cole, 25 April 1775. The Peep into the Gardens at Twickenham is a silly little book, of which a few little copies were printed some years ago for presents, and which now sets up for itself as a vendable book. It is a most inaccurate, superficial, blundering account of Twickenham and other places, drawn up by a Jewess, who has married twice, and turned Christian, poetess, and authoress..
10. Book: Mandal, Anthony. Jane Austen and the Popular Novel: The Determined Author. 2007-09-18. Palgrave Macmillan. 978-0-230-28750-1. Basingstoke, Hampshire. 43. en.