Catherine Ann Dorset
| Catherine Ann Dorset | |
|---|---|
| Born | c. 1753 Stoke next Guildford |
| Died | after 1816 Chichester |
| Occupation | writer |
| Nationality | British |
| Genre | children's books |
Catherine Ann Dorset (c. 1753 – (after) 1816) was a children's writer.
Catherine Ann(a) Turner was born in Stoke next Guildford and baptised in 1753. Nicholas Turner became a widower after her birth and it is thought that her mother died as a result of the birth. Catherine had a brother, Nicholas, and an elder sister, Charlotte and she became a writer. Her father remarried and she married Captain Michael Dorset who was in the army on 2 June 1779 at St Martin-in-the-Fields in London. When her father died her brother was given the Bignor Park estate and Catherine was given an annuity. However her brother failed to manage his finances and Dorset was amongst his debtors. Dorset took her own brother to court and her husband was awarded the estate. Dorset and her sister lived there until Dorset's daughter's marriage meant that the estate had to be sold.
Dorset published some unattributed poems in her sister's book called Conversations Introducing Poetry in 1804.
Dorset sister was more well known until 1809 when Dorset published a story that both entertained and educated and it was titled "The Peacock 'At Home': A sequel to the Butterfly's Ball". Her sister had died the year before and this new work was unattributed until 1809 when a new edition identified Dorset. The book was illustrated by the Irish painter William Mulready and was seen as a sequel to the The Butterfly's Ball, and the Grasshopper's Feast by William Roscoe.The Peacock had been meant as a sequel to William Roscoe's book but some felt that it was better than the original and it sold 40,000 copies as part of John Harris's Cabinet series. The series was extended and Dorset contributed Think before you Speak, or, The Three Wishes and maybe another title too. Think before you Speak, or, The Three Wishes was based on a translation of a traditional French poem.
Dorset wrote an account of the life of her sister that was included in Walter Scott's Miscellaneous Prose Works in 1827. There is said to be no record of Dorset after 1816 so her place and year of death are given as unknown, but another source that she spent her old age in Brighton and died in Chichester. She had a daughter, Lucy, and a son, Charles Ferguson Dorset, who joined the army also wrote some poetry.
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