Marianne Francis Explained

Marianne Francis (1790–1832) was an English evangelical, now known principally as a correspondent of Hester Piozzi and Sarah Wesley. She has been called an "evangelical bluestocking", and is recognised as a significant participant in debate about religious enthusiasm.^[1]

Early life

She was the daughter of Clement Francis (died 1792), a physician and medical writer, and his wife Charlotte Ann Burney, daughter of Charles Burney and sister of Frances Burney.^[2] Her mother married, secondly, in 1798, Ralph Broome (1742–1805), against her father's wishes.^[3]

Marianne early studied Latin, Greek, Hebrew and Arabic. She showed mathematical ability, and undertook a wide course of reading. She wrote hymns, at least from age ten.^[4] She "impressed all she knew by her linguistic ability, learning, and brilliant performances on the pianoforte."^[5] Charles Burney, himself a musician, wrote to his daughter Frances that Marianne was a "marvellous performer":

She may perhaps be styled a Bravura performer. But her courage & persistence in attacking difficulties of all kinds, is unparalleled, so that in spite of my civility to her countenance, I pronounce her to be—a monster.^[6]

In Bath in 1805, Marianne met Hester Piozzi, and an extensive correspondence ensued.^[7] The Francis family shortly moved to Exmouth, in 1806, and kept in touch.^[8] Marianne's diaries 1803–9, and 1820–1, are extant.^[9]

Wilberforce and Young

Introduced to William Wilberforce at Gore House, Marianne became a classical tutor and secretary in the family, and came to know the Clapham Sect more generally, including the Thornton family.^[10] She told Barbara Wilberforce (1799–1821), daughter of the house and a reluctant pianist, that "you may, by practising an hour a day be able to manage a hymn & any simple melodies" without a musician's dedication.^[11]

Her mother's life was now itinerant: to Richmond, Surrey to stay with her daughter Charlotte Barrett; at Brighton for the sea air; much time on the continent of Europe with her invalid son Clement who had become a Fellow of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge. This nomadic existence, however, did not suit Marianne.^[12]

In early 1811 Marianne underwent painful eye treatment in London under Jonathan Wathen Phipps, and Piozzi's friend Sir William Pepys, 1st Baronet kept her company as she recovered.^[13] Later that year, she went with her mother on a visit to Bradfield Hall, Essex, with the aging Arthur Young; a close friendship resulted with Young, who died in 1820.^[14] She acted as secretary to Young, who suffered from cataract, and lost his sight.^[7] An account of the Bradfield Hall household when Marianne was a visitor, sleeping over the servant's hall, including Young's French secretary St Croix, was given by Young's daughter in a letter of 1814.^[15]

Young's son the Rev. Arthur Young (1769–1827) owned an estate in the Crimea, near Kaffa, and in June 1817 Young told Francis he had heard from him. A month or so later Lewis Way enquired of Young about the estate, Karagos, as a potential community for Jewish converts to Christianity.^[16] Francis visited the Poune's Court synagogue in Brighton, for Yom Kippur (20 September 1817).^{[17] [18]} In a letter of February 1818 to Piozzi, she gave an account of Hebrew tuition she had there from a German Jew named Fishel; whom she asked to read the New Testament.^[19]

Francis engaged in Wilberforce's philanthropic work with the poor.^[20] She taught in charity schools, including Young's near Bradfield Hall where she introduced the monitorial system;^{[4] [21]} she visited workhouses and prisons.^[10]

Later life

Marianne Francis had religious views in common with her cousin Frances (Fanny) Raper, who followed "enthusiastic" and Irvingite preachers;^[22] her own mother and sister came to think she took too much account of Irvingite views, and wished to include them.^[23] She predeceased her mother, dying on 15 March 1832, aged 42.^[24]

"Evangelical bluestockings"

It has been noted of the literary circle around Sarah Wesley, of which Marianne Francis was a member, that they circulated writings privately, rather than published them. Others in the group were Elizabeth Benger, Agnes Bulmer, Maria Spilsbury and Mary Tighe.^[25] They debated in particular "whether or not religious enthusiasm, properly regulated, had a place in social and religious life and particularly whether women had a role in securing this place."^[26]

Correspondence

• An Edition of the Letters of Marianne Francis (1790–1832) to Hester Lynch Piozzi (1741–1821), 1808–10 (1975), editor Diane Menagh.^[27] Almost all that survives of the Francis–Piozzi correspondence consists of Marianne's letters to Hester.^[7] Hester mentioned Marianne in letters to Thomas Sedgwick Whalley, including a conversation of Marianne with Hannah More at Wilberforce's house in 1813.^[28]

As part of a larger correspondence between the Burney and Wesley families, Marianne was in touch with both Sarah Wesley and her brother Samuel Wesley.^[29]

The Burney Papers collection of New York Public Library holds more than 100 letters from Arthur Young to Marianne.^[30] There are also family letters at the NYPL and the British Library, from Marianne to her sister Charlotte Barrett.^{[31] [32]}

External links

• The Wilberforce family and Fanny Burney, blogpost 1 January 2017 by Anne Stott.

Notes and References

1. Winckles . Andrew O. . Sisters of the Quill: Sally Wesley, the Evangelical Bluestockings, and the Regulation of Enthusiasm . Women's Literary Networks and Romanticism . 1 June 2018 . 16–46 . 10.5949/liverpool/9781786940605.003.0002. 191987825 .
2. Web site: Letters from Marianne Francis - Thrale-Piozzi Manuscripts - Archives Hub . archiveshub.jisc.ac.uk.
3. 603. Pat. Rogers. Burney [married name D'Arblay], Frances [Fanny] (1752–1840).
4. Clark . Lorna . Growing Up Burney . Journal of Juvenilia Studies . 9 December 2020 . 3 . 1 . 10 . 10.29173/jjs46. 230581121 . free .
5. Book: Burney . Fanny . The Journals and Letters of Fanny Burney (Madame D'Arblay).: France 1803-1812, letters 550-631 . 1975 . Clarendon Press . 978-0-19-812467-2 . 634 note 2. VI . en.
6. Book: Hemlow . Joyce . The History of Fanny Burney . 1958 . Clarendon Press . Oxford . 327 and note 4, 328 . English.
7. Book: Piozzi . Hester Lynch . The Piozzi Letters: 1805-1810 . 1989 . University of Delaware Press . 978-0-87413-393-6 . 203 note 2 . en.
8. Book: Burney . Sarah Harriet . The Letters of Sarah Harriet Burney . 1997 . University of Georgia Press . 978-0-8203-1746-5 . 75 note 3 . en.
9. Book: British Diaries: An Annotated Bibliography of British Diaries Written Between 1442 and 1942 . 28 May 2021 . Univ of California Press . 978-0-520-36395-3 . 159 . en.
10. Book: New York Public Library . Bulletin of the New York Public Library . 1977 . New York Public Library. . 325 . en.
11. Book: Stott . Anne . Wilberforce: Family and Friends . 15 March 2012 . OUP Oxford . 978-0-19-969939-1 . 158 . en.
12. Book: Hemlow . Joyce . The History Of Fanny Burney . 1958 . 417–418 . English.
13. Book: Piozzi . Hester Lynch . The Piozzi Letters: 1811-1816 . 1989 . University of Delaware Press . 978-0-87413-394-3 . 75 note 6 . en.
14. Book: Burney . Sarah Harriet . The Letters of Sarah Harriet Burney . 1997 . University of Georgia Press . 978-0-8203-1746-5 . 2 . en.
15. Book: Young . Arthur . Travels in France During the Years 1787, 1788, 1789 . 1889 . George Bell and Sons . xlviii–xlix . en.
16. Web site: Gazley . John G. . The Reverend Arthur Young, 1769-1827: traveller in Russia and farmer in the Crimea, Bulletin of the John Rylands Library. 1956;38(2):360-405. . escholar.manchester.ac.uk. 398–399.
17. Web site: The synagogues of brighton - C - Articles - Brighton and hove - Trails - Anglo-Jewish History - JTrails.org.uk . www.jtrails.co.uk.
18. Web site: Jewish Calendar 1817 Diaspora, Hebcal . www.hebcal.com.
19. Book: Piozzi . Hester Lynch . The Piozzi Letters: 1817-1821 . 1989 . University of Delaware Press . 978-0-87413-395-0 . 172 note 1 . en.
20. Book: Chisholm . Kate . Fanny Burney: Her Life . 31 May 2011 . Random House . 978-1-4464-7631-4 . 224 . en.
21. Web site: Gazley . John G. . Bulletin of the John Rylands Library, 1954, vol. 37, pp.419-421 . escholar.manchester.ac.uk.
22. Book: Burney . Fanny . The Journals and Letters: Mayfair 1818-1824: letters 1180-1354 . 1984 . Clarendon Press . 978-0-19-812563-1 . 51 note 5. XI . en.
23. Book: New York Public Library . Bulletin of the New York Public Library . 1976 . New York Public Library. 322 . en.
24. Book: Burney . Sarah Harriet . The Letters of Sarah Harriet Burney . 1997 . University of Georgia Press . 978-0-8203-1746-5 . 364 . en.
25. Book: Winckles . Andrew O. . Rehbein . Angela . Women's Literary Networks and Romanticism: "A Tribe of Authoresses" . 1 June 2018 . Oxford University Press . 978-1-78694-832-8 . 5 . en.
26. Book: Winckles . Andrew O. . Eighteenth-Century Women's Writing and the Methodist Media Revolution: 'Consider the Lord As Ever Present Reader' . 31 October 2019 . Oxford University Press . 978-1-78962-018-4 . 179 . en.
27. Book: Menagh . Diane . An Edition of the Letters of Marianne Francis (1790 - 1832) to Hester Lynch Piozzi (1741 - 1821), 1808 - 10 . 1975 . City University of New York . en.
28. Book: Whalley . Thomas Sedgwick . Journals and correspondence of Thomas Sedgewick Whalley; . 1863 . R. Bentley . London . 866. II .
29. Rogal . Samuel J. . For the Love of Bach: The Charles Burney – Samuel Wesley Correspondence . Bach . 1992 . 23 . 1 . 31–37 . 41640368 . 0005-3600.
30. Book: American Philosophical Society . Year Book - The American Philosophical Society . 1956 . American Philosophical Society. 264 . en.
31. Book: New York Public Library . Bulletin of the New York Public Library . 1976 . New York Public Library . 344 . en.
32. Web site: Barrett Collection. Vol. XLII (ff. 292). Miscellaneous letters and literary papers of members of the Barrett and Francis families. Viz.:- (1) Letters ... - British Library . searcharchives.bl.uk.