- Helena Wells
Helena Wells, later Whitford (1761?-1824) was an American-English novelist and writer at the end of the eighteenth century.
Biography
Helena Wells was born in South Carolina, the daughter of the printer and bookseller Robert Wells (1727/8-1824), who had emigrated from Scotland in the 1750s. The title page of "The Stepmother" describes her as living in
Charleston, South Carolina ; she "seems to have been a Loyalist who later served as a governess inLondon " [J. D. Hart, "Oxford Companion to American Literature", 1941] . According to the ODNB, Wells ran a school in London with her sister from 1789 to 1799, and the subject-matter of "Letters on Subjects of Importance to the Happiness of Young Females" suggests a switch of career to that of governess. [Jane McDermid, [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/45790 ‘Wells , Helena (1761?–1824)’] , "Oxford Dictionary of National Biography", Oxford University Press, 2004, accessed 8 Nov 2007] In 1801 she married Edward Whitford, and had four children.Works
Novels
*"The Stepmother: a domestic Tale from real life", 1798, 2 vols.
*"Constantia Neville; or, The West Indian", 1800. 3 vols.Non-fiction
*"Letters on Subjects of Importance to the Happiness of Young Females", 1799; 2nd edition 1807.
*"Thoughts and remarks on establishing an institution for the support and education of unportioned respectable females", 1809.References
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
