Introduction

The surviving letters of Eliza Jaco Fenwick (1764-1840) to Mary Hays (1759-1843), two important novelists in England during the 1790s, span the years 1798 to 1828. Most were published by A. F. Wedd in The Fate of the Fenwicks (London: Methuen, 1927), but nearly all the material in the letters relating to Mary Hays and her family members in London was unfortunately excised by Wedd, effectively burying for nearly a century very important biographical information on Hays. Other material was omitted as well, all of which has been highlighted in yellow in the letters on this site. A letter by Fenwick to Hays, dated 3 May 1806, residing now in the Carl H. Pforzheimer Collection of Shelley and His Circle, New York Public Library, New York, is also included in the calendar below. 

After the publication of The Fate of the Fenwicks, Wedd sent her Fenwick letters to a descendant of Eliza Fenwick in America. Those letters were eventually deposited in the New York Historical Society, along with a collection of letters to and from Fenwick and various members of her family between 1828 and 1840. These letters and other materials now comprise the Fenwick Family Correspondence, 1798-1855, MS 211, Patricia D. Klingenstein Library, New York Historical Society.  Mary Hays's letters to Fenwick were preserved by the Fenwick family well into the 20th century but at some point were unfortunately destroyed, a significant loss to our knowledge of both Hays and Fenwick and women's literary history.

Calendar

1. Eliza Fenwick to Mary Hays, 30 Kirby Street, Hatton Garden, Monday, [22 October 1798].

2. Eliza Fenwick to Mary Hays, Sunday, [c. 1798-99].

3. Eliza Fenwick to Mary Hays, 30 Kirby Street, Monday, [28 January 1799].

4. Eliza Fenwick to Mary Hays, 30 Kirby Street, [c. February 1799].

5. Eliza Fenwick to Mary Hays, 30 Kirby Street, Hatton Garden, Saturday morning, [c. March 1799].

6. Eliza Fenwick to Mary Hays, 22 Hatton Garden, London, [28 March 1799].

7. Eliza Fenwick to Mary Hays, 22 Hatton Garden, London, [31 May 1799].

8. Eliza Fenwick to Mary Hays, at Mr Kingsfords, Wepham, near Canterbury, Friday, 30 August [1799].

9. Eliza Fenwick, London, to Mary Hays, at John Dunkins, Belsen Mill, near Maldon, Essex, 9 October 1799.

10. Eliza Fenwick, at T. H. Pierce's Esqr, New Park near Axminster, to Mary Hays, Hatton Garden, Sunday (and Monday), 4 and 5 July [1800].

11. Eliza Fenwick, Englefield Cottage, near Egham, Surrey, to Mary Hays, undated [c. early August 1800].

12. Eliza Fenwick to Mary Hays, Maisonnette, near Ingotstone, Essex, 19 September 1801.

13. Eliza Fenwick, Penzance, to Mary Hays, 20 [sic] Hatton Garden, Monday [c. 1802] [postmark not readable].

14. Eliza Fenwick, Penzance, to Mary Hays, 20 Hatton Garden, 17 December [1802].

15. Eliza Fenwick to Mary Hays, 3 Park Street, Islington, Monday, [postmark 31 March 1806].

16. Eliza Fenwick, London, to Mary Hays, 3 Park Street, Islington [postmark 7 April 1806].

17. Eliza Fenwick, Portsmouth, to Mary Hays, 3 Park Street, Islington, 3 May [1806].

18. Eliza Fenwick, London, to Mary Hays, [3] Park Street, Islington, [postmark 25  October 1806].

19. Eliza Fenwick, London, to Mary Hays, 3 Park Street, Islington, Thursday evening, c. 1806.

20. Eliza Fenwick, London, to Mary Hays, 54 Great Coram Street, Brunswick Square, Thursday morning, [23 December 1806].

21. Eliza Fenwick, London, to Mary Hays, 54 Great Coram Street, Brunswick Square, Thursday morning, [5 November 1807].

22. Eliza Fenwick, London, to Mary Hays, 3 Park Street, Islington, Tuesday[ morning, [12 January 1808].

23. Eliza Fenwick, London, to Mary Hays, 3 Park Street, Islington, [c. January 1808].

24. Eliza Fenwick, London, to Mary Hays, 3 Park Street, Islington, Tuesday [27 January 1808].

25. Eliza Fenwick, 82 High Street, Belfast, to Mary Hays, 3 Park Street, Islington, 23 February [1808].

26. Eliza Fenwick, [London], to Mary Hays, at T. Hays, Esqr, Wandsworth, Monday, 23 July [1810].

27. Eliza Fenwick, [London], to Mary Hays, Saturday evening, [c. summer 1810].  

28. Eliza Fenwick, [London], to Mary Hays, at Thomas Hays, Esqr, Wandsworth Common, [c. 1811].

29. Eliza Fenwick, London, to Mary Hays, at Thomas Hays, Esqr, Wandsworth Common, 23 May [1811].

30. Eliza Fenwick, London, to Mary Hays, at Thomas Hays, Esqr, Wandsworth Common, Sunday, 10 o’clock, [c. June 1811].

31. Eliza Fenwick, London, to Mary Hays, Wandsworth Common, Sunday Evening, [c. August 1811].

32. Eliza Fenwick to Mary Hays, Wandsworth Common, Friday, 2 o’clock, [c. August 1811].

33. Eliza Fenwick, London [Vauxhall], to Mary Hays, Wandsworth Common, Sunday evening, [Monday, 16 September] [1811].

34. Eliza Fenwick, London, to Mary Hays, Wandsworth Common, Thursday evening [28 September 1811].

35. Eliza Fenwick, London, to Mary Hays, at T. Hays, Esqr, Wandsworth Common, Wednesday, 3 o’clock, [c. early October 1811].

36. Eliza Fenwick, London, to Mary Hays, Wandsworth Common, Tuesday evening, [29 October 1811].

37. Eliza Fenwick, London, to Mary Hays, Saturday evening, 9 o’clock [2 November 1811].

38. Eliza Fenwick, 5 Tavistock Square, to Mary Hays, Wandsworth Common,Wednesday, 13 [14] November [1811].

39. Eliza Fenwick, [5 Tavistock Square], to Mary Hays, Wandsworth Common, Wednesday night, 27 November 1811 [28 November 1811].

40. Eliza Fenwick, [5 Tavistock Square], to Mary Hays, Wandsworth Common,Tuesday Evening, [1 December 1811].

41. Eliza Fenwick, [5 Tavistock Square], to Mary Hays, Wandsworth Common, [c. late December 1811].

42. Eliza Fenwick, [5 Tavistock Square], to Mary Hays, Wandsworth Common, [postmark 6 January 1812].

43. Eliza Fenwick, [5 Tavistock Square], to Mary Hays, Wandsworth Common, Saturday, 18 January [1812].

44. Eliza Fenwick, London, to Mary Hays, Wandsworth Common, [10 March 1812].

45. Eliza Fenwick, London, to Orlando Fenwick, her son, Sunday Evening [10 March 1812].

46. Eliza Fenwick, 5 Tavistock Square, London, to Mary Hays, Wandsworth Common, 25 March 1812.

47. Eliza Fenwick, London, to Mary Hays, Wandsworth Common, Sunday [c. April 1812].

48. Eliza Fenwick, London, to Mary Hays, Wandsworth Common, Thursday Evening, [24 April 1812].

49. Eliza Fenwick, London, to ‘Mrs M. Hays, Wandsworth Common,’ Saturday Evening, 5 May 1812.

50. Eliza Fenwick, Lee Mount, to Mrs. M. Hays, at T. Hays, Wandsworth Common, near London, 21 July 1812.

51. Eliza Fenwick, Lee Mount, to Mrs. M. Hays, at T. Hays, Wandsworth Common, 24-25 September 1812.

52. Eliza Fenwick, Lee Mount, to Mrs. M. Hays, at T. Hays, Esqr., Wandsworth Common, 27 October [1812].

53. Eliza Fenwick, Lee Mount, to Miss Mary M. Hays, Wandsworth Common, 24 November 1812.

54. Eliza Fenwick, [Lee Mount], to Mrs. M. Hays, at T. Hays, Esqr., Wandsworth  Common, 17 December 1812.

55. Eliza Fenwick, Lee Mount, to Mrs. M. Hays, at T. Hays, Esqr, Wandsworth Common, 8 February 1813.

56. Eliza Fenwick, Lee Mount, to Miss Hays, at T. Hays, Wandsworth Common, 28 April [1813].

57. Eliza Fenwick, Lee Mount, to Miss Hays, at J. Hays Esqr, Paragon, Blackheath, 3 June 1813.

58. Eliza Fenwick, Lee Mount, to Mrs. M. Hays, at John Hays, Paragon, Blackheath, Mrs. Mackies, Tansor, near Oundle, Northanptonshire, 26 August 1813.

59. Eliza Fenwick, Lee Mount, to Mrs. M. Hays, to the care of Thos Hays, Esqr, Mill Street, Dockhead, Southwark, 8 and 14 October 1813.

60. Eliza Fenwick, Lee Mount, to Mrs. M. Hays, to the care of Thos Hays, Esqr, Mill Street, Dockhead, Southwark, 21 December 1813.

61. Eliza Fenwick, Lee Mount, to Mrs. M. Hays, at T. Hays, Esqr, Mill Street, Dock Head, Southwark, 13 April 1814.

62. Eliza Fenwick, Lee Mount, to Mrs. M. Hays, at T. Hays, Esqr, Wandsworth Common, 24 May 1814.

63. Eliza Fenwick, Bridge Town, Barbados, to Mrs. Hays, at Pennington’s Esqr, Hotwells, Bristol, 11 December 1814.

64. Eliza Fenwick, Barbados, to Mary Hays, 21 March and 12 April 1815  [21 June 1815].

65. Eliza Fenwick, Barbados, to Mary Hays, Penningtons, Bristol, 3, 8 and 19 July and 7 August 1815.

66. Eliza Fenwick, Barbados, to Mary Hays, at N. Palmers, Esqr, Aldermanbury, London, 26 September 1816.

67. Eliza Fenwick, Barbados, to Mary Hays, at N. Palmer’s, Esqr, Aldermanbury,London, Thursday, 14 November 1816. 

68. Eliza Fenwick, Barbados, to Mary Hays, 20 May 1817.

69. Eliza Fenwick, Barbados, to Mary Hays, 24 April 1818.

70. Eliza Fenwick, Barbados, to Mary Hays, at T. Hay’s Esqr, Mill Street, Bermondsey, 20 January 1819.

71. Eliza Fenwick, Barbados, to Mary Hays, 14 August 1819.

72. Eliza Fenwick, Barbados, to Mary Hays, Friday morning, 15 October [1819].

73. Eliza Fenwick, Barbados, to Miss Hays, 1 Upper Cumming Street, Pentonville, 1 February 1820.

74. Eliza Fenwick, Barbados, to Miss Hays, 1 Upper Cumming Street, Pentonville, 12 May 1820.

75. Eliza Fenwick, Barbados, to Mrs. M. Hays, 41 Cross Street, Islington, Sunday, 15 April 1821.

76. Eliza Fenwick, Barbados, to Miss Hays, 41 Cross Street, Islington, 31 July 1821.

77. Eliza Fenwick, Barbados, to Miss Hays, 11 [sic] Cross Street, Islington, 10 December 1821.

78. Eliza Fenwick, New Haven, Connecticut, to Mrs. M. Hays, 11 Cross Street, Islington, London, 2 September 1822.

79. Eliza Fenwick, State Street, New Haven, Connecticut, to Mrs. M. Hays, No. 11 Cross Street Vanburgh [sic] Castle, Blackheath, near London, 1 August 1823.

80. Eliza Fenwick, State Street, New Haven, Connecticut, to Mrs. M. Hays, Vanbrugh Castle, Maize Hill, Blackheath, near London, 24 March 1824.

81. Eliza Fenwick, State Street, New Haven, Connecticut, to Mrs. M. Hays, Vanbrugh Castle, Maize Hill, Greenwich, near London, 1 March 1825.

82. Eliza Fenwick, 663 Broadway, New York, to Mary Hays, Vanbrugh Castle, Maize Hill, Blackheath, 7 August 1825.

83. Eliza Fenwick, 643 Broadway, New York, to Mrs M. Hays, Vanburg [sic] Castle, Maize Hill, Blackheath, [letter arrived 15 July 1826].

84. Eliza Fenwick, 643 Broadway, New York, to Mrs M. Hays, Vanburg [sic] Castle, Maize Hill, Blackheath, 15 October 1826.

85. Eliza Fenwick, 11 Bond Street, New York, to Mrs. M. Hays, Vanburg Castle, Maize Hill, Blackheath, 15 April 1828.

See also:

A Collection of Letters by Peter Jaco,  1763-64, 1779-80.