Best known work

• Chaucer for Children, 1877

Other well known work(s)

• The Art of Beauty, 1878

Genres

• Journalism
• Politics / Philosophy / Essays
• Fiction - Novels

Nom de plume

Mary Eliza Joy, M.E.H

Social class

Middle class

Parental background

Although she had servants and attended many social events money was tight and she had to fund her lifestyle through her writing. Her father was a successful portrait painter.

At publication of best known work

• Age: 29
• Marital status: Married
• Number of children: 3

Physical description

She was rather small in stature, and frequently thought younger than she actually was. She has been described as having a "fragile, small figure, the almost childlike grace" and "a wonderfully juvenile appearance, being constantly mistaken for thirty" ("Mrs. H. R. Haweis." The Woman at Home: 19th Century UK Periodicals). Also described as having "rare personal beauty" and "good dressing" which although people believed costly was actually economical for she liked deceiving people with her thrifty yet elegant clothing. (“The Late Mrs H R Haweis” Women's Penny Paper. Thurs, Jan 26, 1899).

Did you know?

She kept her own “secret revolver”! [quoted in a letter to her son] She was also a part of the anti-vivisection campaign and had a deep sympathy with animals.

Additional information

Her works can be found online via Internet Archive but little bibliographic detail is freely available online. A brief bio is hosted by the University of Glasgow.