Anna Maria Hall [Mrs. S. C. Hall]

Life
1800-1881 [née Fielding]; b. Dublin, 6 Jan.; raised Bannow, Co. Wexford with mat. grandparents; m. Samuel Carter Hall, Sept. 1824; contrib. The Amulet, annual ed. by S. C. Hall, with whom she issued 500 books; originator of fund to honour Florence Nightingale, amounting to £45,000; supported hospital for consumptives, etc.; temperance advocate; subscription fund of £1,500 presented to the Halls at their 50th wedding anniversary, with album of 500 testimonials; Reminiscences of a Long Life (1883); Sketches of Irish Character (1829); Lights and Shadows of Irish Life (1838); Stories of the Irish Peasantry (1840), with pref. remarks, ‘My design was to exhibit and illustrate those peculiarities in the Irish characer which appear to be the root of evils in their condition’ (‘Dedication’, p.5); The Whiteboy (1845), in which the title-character is Lawrence Macarthy, child of a mixed marriage, and the central character a returned absentee, Edward Spencer, for former being killed and the latter adopting meliorism on his estate; Popular Tales and Sketches (1856); The Fight of Faith [1862]; also novels, Nelly Nowlan (1865); The Outlaw (1835); Marian (1840); Midsummer’s Eve (1848); civil list pension of £100 in 1868; some pieces ‘good runs’ at Adelphi and St James Theatres [PI]; d. 30 Jan., at Devon Lodge, East Moulsey, bur. Addlestong Churchyard; there is a portrait by William Rothwell in the National Gallery of Ireland. DNB PI JMC NCBE IF/2 DIW DIB DIH MKA DIL RAF SUTH OCIL

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Works
Mabel’s Curse, a musical drama (London [1825]); Sketches of Irish Character (London: F Westley & A. H. Davis 1829); Sketches of Irish Character, 2nd ser. (Westley & Davis 1831), and Do. (NY 1845); The Buccaneer (1829), another ed. (London: R Bentley 1832); The Outlaw (1832), another ed. (London: Bentley 1835); Tales of Woman’s Trials (London: Houlston 1835); Uncle Horace (London: H. Colburn 1837); St. Pierre the Refugee, a burletta (London 1837); The French Refugee [revised ed. of St. Pierre] (London: Chapman & Hall 1838); The Groves of Blarney (London: Chapman & Hall 1838); Lights and Shadows of Irish Life (London: H. Colburn 1838); Marian, or a Young Maid’s Fortune (London: H. Colburn 1840), trans. eds. in German and Dutch; Stories of the Irish Peasantry (Edinburgh: W. & R. Chambers 1840; rep. [1850] 1880), (ii), (vi), 302pp.; Ireland, with S. C. Hall (London: How & Parsons 1843) [aka Hall’s Ireland]; The Whiteboy (London: Chapman & Hall 1845); A Midsummer’s Eve (London: Longman 1848); A Woman’s Story; Can Wrong be Right? (1857); The Book of the Thames (1868); The Book of South Wales (1869); The Fight of Faith (London: Chapman & Hall 1869); Grandma’s Pockets (Edinburgh: W. & R. Chambers 1869), rpt. 158pp.; The Chronicles of a Schoolroom [no details]. [Inc. Eggeley Catl. 44]

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Criticism
William Maginn, ‘Mrs. S. C. Hall’ [Gallery of Literary Characters, No.73], in Fraser’s Magazine, No. 13 (1836), rep. in Daniel Maclise, A Gallery of Illustrious Characters ... Accompanied by Notices Chiefly by the late William Maginn (London 1873).

William Maginn, ‘Our Portrait Gallery’ No. 10, in Dublin University Magazine, 16 (1840).

James Newcomer, ‘Mrs Samuel Carter Hall and The Whiteboy’, in Etudes Irlandais, 8 (Dec 1983), pp.113-19.

Barry Sloan, ‘Novels by Mrs Hall, Le Fanu, Lever and Carleton (1845-1850)’, in The Pioneers of Anglo-Irish Fiction, 1800-1850 [Irish Literary Studies 21] (Gerrards Cross: Colin Smythe NJ: Barnes & Noble 1986), pp.197-37.

Maureen Keane, Mrs S. C. Hall: A Literary Biography (Gerrards Cross: Colin Smythe 1998), 272pp.

William Carleton, ‘The Late John Banim, Esq.’, [National Gallery, No. V], The Nation (23 Sept. 1843).

Benedict Kiely, ‘The Two Masks of Gerald Griffin, in Raid into Dark Corners, 1991, p.205.

Allen Feldman with Eamonn O’Doherty, The Northern Fiddler (Blackstaff Press 1979).

Luke Gibbon, ‘Romanticism, Realism, and Irish Cinema’, in Kevin Rockett, et al. eds., Cinema and Ireland (1988), p.194.

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Notes
Dictionary of National Biography, notes that she edited St. James Magazine, 1862-3; nine novels incl. Lights and Shadows; two plays, and fiction, Tales of the Irish Peasantry (1840), and Midsummer Eve, a fairy tale of love (1848); collaborated with her husband. RAF adds that she spent her childhood at Bannow, Co. Wexford; cites commentaries, Hamilton Buckley, Notable Irishwomen, X, [q.d.]pp.129-141; Harrison, Irish Women Writers, IV, 280-306; and William Maginn’s Gallery.

Stephen Brown, Ireland in Fiction [Pt. I] (Dublin: Maunsel 1919) lists 10 titles, incl. Irish Life and Character (1910); Marian (1848); Midsummer Eve (1848); Nelly Nowlan (1848); Popular Tales; Sketches of Irish Character, 2 vols. (1829, 1842); Whiteboy (1855).

Patrick Rafroidi, Irish Literature in English, The Romantic Period, Vol 2 (Gerrards Cross 1980), feminism, anti-alcoholism, spiritualism, charitable causes, and wifely perfection; b. Dublin of Huguenot origin, went to London at 15; fashionable gatherings and philanthropic enter-prises with her husband; d. 30 Jan 1881. WORKS, Sketches of Irish Character, 2 vols. (Lon 1829), containing I, ‘Lilly O’Brien’, ‘Kelly the Piper’, ‘Captain Andy’, ‘Independence’, ‘Black Dennis’, ‘Old Frank’; II, ‘The Bannow Postman’, ‘Father Mike’, ‘Master Ben’, ‘Hospitality’, ‘Peter the Prophet’; Sketches of Irish LIfe, 2nd ser. (1831), containing, ‘Mabel O’Neil’s Curse’, Annie Leslie’, ‘The Rapparee’, ‘Norah Clarey’s Wise Thought’, Kate Connor’; ‘We’ll See about it’, ‘Jack the Shrimp’, ‘Irish Settlers in an English Village’, ‘Mark Connor’s Wooing and Wedding’, ‘Luke O’Brian’, ‘Larry Moore’, ‘Mary [?]Magoharty’s Petition’, ‘The Last of the Line’, the collection ded. to Maria Edgeworth; Chronicles of a Schoolroom (1830); The Buccaneer, a tale, 3 vols. (London: Bentley 1832); The Outlaw, 3 vols. (Bentley 1835); Tales of Woman’s Trials ([London:] Houlston 1835); Uncle Horace, 3 Vol. novel (London: Colburn 1838); Lights and Shadows of Irish Life, 3 vols. (Colburn 1838), containing I, ‘The Groves of Blarney’, II, ‘Sketches on Irish Highways during the Autumn of 1834’, III, ‘Illustrations of Irish Pride’, ‘The Dispensation’, ‘Old Granny’; Martian, or A Young Maid’s Fortunes, 3 vols. (London: Colburn 1840); with S. C. Hall, Ireland, Its Scenery, Character, &c, 3 vols, ill. (London: How & Parsons 1841); with S. C. Hall, A Week at Killarney (London: J. How 1843); Characteristic Sketches of Ireland and the Irish by W. Carleton, S Lover, and Mrs Hall, etchings by Kirkwood (Dub, PD Hardy & Sons, 1845), incl. her stories ‘The Irish Agent’, ‘Philip Garraty, or We’ll See About It’; A Midsummer Eve, a fairy tale of love (Longman 1848); Stories of the Irish Peasantry (Edinburgh: Chambers 1850) [first in 1840, IF], contains ‘Too Early to Wed’, ‘Time Enough’, ‘It’s Only a Drop’, ‘Do you think I’d Inform’, ‘The landlord Abroad’, ‘The Landlord At Home’, ‘It’s Only a Bit of a Stretch’, ‘sure It was Always so’, ‘It’s only the Bit and the Sup’, ‘The Follower of the Family’, ‘Reddy Ryland’, ‘The Crock of Gold’, ‘The Wrecker’, ‘It’s only My Time’, ‘Going to the Law’, Union is Strength’, ‘Family Union’, ‘Going to Service’, ‘Debt and Danger’, ‘The Tenant Right’; The Fight of Faith, 2 vols. (London: Chapman & Hall, 1850); Plays, St Pierre, The Refugee, 2 act burletta (Lon, J. Macrone 1837); Mabel’s Curse, 2 act mus. dram. (Duncombe 1837/n.d.); The Groves of Blarney, 3 act dram. (Chapman & Hall (1838); Juniper Jack, or My Aunt’s Hobby, burletta (unpublished). NOTE, GBI lists Mrs S. C. Hall Groves of Blarney (1836), with Tyrone Power.

Brian McKenna, Irish Literature, 1800-1875: A Guide to Information Sources (Detroit: Gale Research Co. 1978), cites William Maginn, ‘Gallery of Lit. Chars.,’ No.73, Mrs. S. C. Hall’, in Fraser’s Magazine 13 (1836); same, rep. Daniel Maclise, A Gallery of Illustrious Characters ... accompanied by Notices Chiefly by the late William Maginn (London 1873). Also, ‘Our Portrait Gallery’ no. 10, in DUM 16 (1840). ALSO James Newcomer, ‘Mrs Samuel Carter Hall and The Whiteboy’, in Etudes Irlandais 8 (Dec 1983), pp.113-19.

Justin McCarthy, ed., Irish Literature (Washington: Catholic Univ. of America 1904), her first sketches appeared in Amulet; Sketches (1829) have pathos without exaggeration and are free from ill-natured humor and political or religious bigotry; Tales of Woman’s Trials incl. ‘Marian Raymond’ and ‘Trials of Lady Montague’, stories of loving and noble characters dragged down by weak and worthless husbands; Lights and Shadows (1838) deals with passionate affections and dark passions of Irish men and women; a story in this series was produced on stage as ‘The Groves of Blarney’; Marian tran. German and Dutch; Midsummer Eve appeared in Art Union/Art Journal, and do. ‘Pilgrimages to English Shrines; other novels incl. A Woman’s Story (1857); Can Right Be Wrong? (1857); The Fght of Faith, A Story of Ireland (1862 [sic]); The Book of the Thames (1868), and The Book of South Wales (1869); temperance and anti-consumptive movements; assisted Thomas Moore Celebrations, erecting a subcription window in Bromham Church. d. 30 Jan 1881.

John Sutherland, The Longman Companion to Victorian Fiction (Longmans 1988; rep. 1989), notes that in late girlhood she wrote the kind of Irish sketches which went down well with the English reading public ... Genuinely and practically philanthropic, she was instrumental in setting up the Hosp. for Consumption at Brompton, and the London Home for Decayed Gentlewomen; the tone of her fiction is excessively moralistic and glories in the self-sacrifice of the heroine; successful plays and ran something like a salon in London; never popular in Ireland despite the persistent Hibernian flavour.

Elaine Showalter, A Literature of Their Own (rev. 1984), bio-note, novelist, journalist; . 1824, no children; interested in Temperance, women’s rights, plight of needy governesses; she was anti-suffrage; conducted Sharpe’s London Magazine from 1845, and St. James’s Magazine, 1861.

Frank O’Connor, ed., A Book of Ireland (London: Collins 1959, & Edns.),gives extract on ‘Killarney’ from Ireland ... Scenery [&c.]

Eggeling Books (Cat. 44) lists Sunbeam Stories, Pretty Tales for Girls and Boys (Milner (189[?]), 4 vols., 3 by Mrs Hall, first edn. thus; incls. Deed Not Words, Fanny Murray and Other Choice Stories, 80pp.; The Follower of the Family, and I’s Only a Drop, 80pp.; All is Not Gold that Glitters!, 80pp.; with anon., The First Pinao-Forte and Other Choice Stories, from works of best French authors. [note however that Sunbeam ... valse for pianoforte, c.1922, is given as a musical work of A. Hall in British Library Cat.]

Emerald Isle Books (1995) lists Midsummer Eve, A Fairty Tale of Love (London: Longman 1848), 270pp. [set in Kerry], ill. Maclise, Meadows, Hulme et al.]; Stories of the Irish Peasantry (Edinburgh: Chambers 1850); Hand-Books for Ireland: The south and Killarney (London: Virtue 1853), maps and woodcuts; The Trial of Sir Jasper: A Temperance Tale in Verse (London: Virtue [1872]), ills. by George Cruikshank et al.

De Burca (Cat. 44, 1997) lists Mr. & Mrs. S. C. Hall, Ireland: Its Scenery, Character. With engraved title, numerous steel engravings, vignettes and maps of the counties. Three volumes. London, Virtue, n.d. c. 1845. Pages, (1) xii, 436, (2) viii, 468, (3) viii, 512. Superb set in blind stamped and gilt embossed cloth. All edges gilt. Best edition with over 600 illustrations, including plates from Bartlett’s Scenery & Antiquities of Ireland and maps of the counties in colour. [£385].

Library of Herbert Bell (Belfast) holds Mrs S. C. Hall, Stories of Irish Peasantry (Edinburgh 1851); The North & Giant’s Causeway (London 1853); A Week at Killarney (London 1865) [Segment Copy]; also rep edns., Tales of Irish Life & Character (London 1910), ill. Erskine Nicol; and Tales of Irish Life & Character (London; Foulis 1913). CATL, Cathach 96/97 has Tales of Irish Life & Character (London: Nattali 1844), 380pp., xxx [scarce].

Hyland Books (Oct. 1995) lists with S. C. Hall, Companion to Killarney (1878), map in end pocket. Belfast Central Public Library holds Katie Summers (n.d.) Univ. of Ulster (Morris Collection) holds Tales of Irish Life and Character (1910).

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Princess Grace Irish Library (Monaco)