Harriet Pigott
Harriet Pigott | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1775 |
| Died | 1846 |
| Nationality | British |
| Known for | her memoirs of travels |
Harriett Pigott(1775–1846) was known for writing her memoirs of her travels abroad.
Family background
[edit]Pigott's uncles were both aristocratic writers. Her uncle Charles Pigott had published scandalous accounts of his life under the titles ofThe Jockey ClubandThe Female Jockey Club.Her uncleRobert Pigotthad been on theGrand Tourand he wrote about his views on food and dress which influenced some parts of French society during theFrench Revolution.[1]Her father, William, was the rector atChetwyndand her mother was Arabella (born Mytton).[2]
Life
[edit]In 1832 she would have come to notice when she wroteThe Private Correspondence of a Woman of Fashionbut it was published anonymously. This biographical book tells her story via the letters she wrote during travels abroad and back in England. Her letters say that she was "dazzled" when she sawNapoleonafter he returned from theBattle of Waterlooto Paris and how she and her friends visited the battlefield within a fortnight to picnic and pick up souvenirs. She would describe her life in England in 1816. She describesanecdotesin her letters such as seeing the scandalousLadies of Llangollen,the celebritySarah Siddonsacting and a visit by the youngPrincess CharlotteandPrince Leopoldto the theatre.[2]
Whilst she was preparing her next publication, Pigott met the agingJohn Galtwho she persuaded to editRecords of Real Life in the Palace and the Cottage.She received some criticism for this as it was suspected that she was just taking advantage of Galt[2]who died in the same year the book was published. However her unfinished biography of him which is in the Bodleian library[3]implies that it was more of a mutual respects than her critics allowed.Records of Real Life in the Palace and the Cottagehad an introduction by Galt and this three volume work was published with her as prime author in 1839.[4]This book was again in letter form and it documented her long visits to Germany, The Netherlands, Switzerland and France.[2]
Her final work was aliterary fairy tale,titledThe Three Springs of Beauty.Pigott died in Geneva in 1846.[2]
References
[edit]- ^J. G. Alger, ‘Pigott, Robert (1736–1794)’, rev. Stephen M. Lee,Oxford Dictionary of National Biography,Oxford University Press, 2004accessed 5 April 2015
- ^abcdePam Perkins, ‘Pigott, Harriet (1775–1846)’,Oxford Dictionary of National Biography,Oxford University Press, 2004accessed 5 April 2015
- ^Shattock, Joanne, ed. (1999).The Cambridge bibliography of English literature(3. ed.). Cambridge [u.a.]: Cambridge Univ. Pr. p. 1946.ISBN0521391008.
- ^Pigott, Harriet; Galt, John (1839).Records of Real Life in the Palace and the Cottage.
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