Martineau Family Papers

HMM

Martineau Family Papers

c 1813- c 1960s

Papers in this collection relate mainly to Harriet Martineau and her niece, Maria Martineau. There are though records of other Martineau family members, including Thomas; Fanny Anne; Caroline; Susan; Rachel Anne; and W. Martineau. There are also a few items relating to the Chamberlain family, Joseph and his son Neville, and also to Sir George H. Kenrick, and their presence amongst the Martineau family papers perhaps reflects the close ties between the Martineau, Chamberlain, and Kenrick families.

Records within this collection include manuscripts, papers and pamphlets relating to Harriet Martineau's publications; correspondence to and from the Martineau family; legal and financial papers; photographs; sketch books; books of verse and poetry; travel maps and notes etc. Other miscellaneous items are also listed, including a more unusual item being a piece of hair and cerecloth cut from an Egyptian Mummy, accompanied by a note indicating that Harriet Martineau saw the hair cut from the head of a mummy at Thebes on the Nile in 1847. The hair and cloth is thought to date c 900BC but, that aside, the rest of the material within this Martineau family papers collection date 1813-c 1960s.

See also the Harriet Martineau collection (reference: HM), and the Harriet Martineau Letters Additional collection (reference: HMLAdd).

• Martineau, Harriet, 1802-1876, writer
• Martineau, Maria, 1827-1864, daughter of Robert Martineau and Jane (nee Smith), niece of Harriet Martineau.

2 boxes

Access to all registered researchers

Part of the collection (accession 1994/23) was loaned to Special Collections c1994 for use by a researcher. The owner agreed to deposit this collection on permanent loan with Special Collections and its status as a deposited collection is confirmed in the paper delivered by Christine Penney, then head of Special Collections, at the first meeting of the Martineau Society in July 1994 and which was published with all the other papers in the journal 'Faith and Freedom'. The rest of the collection was deposited directly with the Special Collections Department by a member of the Martineau family.

Harriet Martineau (1802-1876) was a political economist, author, journalist, social commentator and leading feminist intellectual. She published widely and her publications included popular works on economics, several novels, and various children's stories. She was also a regular contributor to and editorial writer for the 'Daily News' and 'Edinburgh Review'.

She was born in Norwich in 1802, the sixth child of Thomas Martineau and Elizabeth Rankin Martineau. She began her literary career at a young age and her first article on 'Female Writers on Practical Divinity' appeared in the Unitarian periodical, 'The Monthly Repository' in 1821. Her first major successful work was 'Illustrations of Political Economy' (1832-34), which was quickly followed by 'Poor Law and Paupers Illustrated' (1833), and 'Illustrations of Taxation' (1834). She visited America between 1834 and 1836 and on her return wrote 'Society in America' (1837) and 'Retrospect of Western Travel' (1838). She continued to travel, visiting Italy, Egypt and Palestine, after which she published 'Eastern Life' (1848). Later publications included 'History of England during the Thirty Years' Peace' (1849) and a translation of Comte's 'Philosophie Positive' (1853). She lived initially in London then moved to Tynemouth near Newcastle to be near her brother. She spent four years there during a period of ill-health but from the 1840s lived at Ambleside in the Lake District in a house she designed herself.

Harriet Martineau was an exceptional correspondent throughout her life and exchanged letters not just with publishers but also with political, literary and other prominent individuals of the time. She suffered from ill-health for many years and was also profoundly deaf. During her later life she was cared for by her nieces, most notably Maria Martineau, 1827-1864, daughter of Robert Martineau and Jane (nee Smith).