Born King's Lynn, Norfolk, father was Dr Charles Burney. Diarist, novelist: Evelina (1778), Cecelia (1782), Camilla (1796) and playwright. Her first novel, Evelina, was a big success and she entered literary society becoming good friends with Samuel Johnson. She became a member of the royal court, as an attendant to Queen Charlotte, 1786 - 1791, during which she witnessed one of King George III's first major periods of mental illness. When she left she was given a life-long pension and remained friends with the royal family. In 1793 married Alexandre D'Arblay, an exile from France. They returned to Paris and while there Fanny suffered a mastectomy without anaesthetic, which she then wrote about in horrific detail in a letter to her sister. In France 1802 - 1812 but returned to England with her son to avoid him being conscripted. She met Louis XVIII while they were both in London. When Napoleon escaped from Elba in 1815 she was in Paris and only just escaped as he entered. She was in Brussels in 1815 during the Battle of Waterloo. She then returned to England and lived in Bath and London for the rest of her life, dying at 29 Lower Grosvenor Street, Mayfair. Certainly not a dull life.
This section lists the memorials where the subject on this page is commemorated:
Frances (Fanny) Burney
Commemorated ati
Sir Isaac Newton's house- detailed
plaque inside building at top of stairway directly facing entrance
Other Subjects
Robert Aickman
Author and conservationist. Born at 77 Fellows Road, Hampstead. One of the founders of the Inland Waterways Association, where he met and collaborated rather too closely with the author Elizabeth J...
George Bernard Shaw
Born Dublin. Socialist, member of the Fabian Society. Plays include: Saint Joan, Major Barbara and Pygmalion on which My Fair Lady is based. Didn't like his first name, "Don't George me!" so is oft...
Person, Literature, Politics & Administration, Seriously Famous, Theatre, Ireland
Raymond Chandler
Novelist. Born in Chicago, Illinois. After his father abandoned the family, his mother moved him to Britain to further his education, At Dulwich College. He worked for a while at the Admiralty, but...
Person, Literature, Canada, France, USA
Gavin Maxwell
Author and Naturalist. Born at House of Elrig, Mochrum, Wigtownshire. During World War II he served as an instructor with the Special Operations Executive. In 1956 he toured the reed marshes of Sou...
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Chelsea Hospital for Women
SW6, Fulham Road, Cancer Research Centre
Princess Alexandra was laying the foundation stone for the Chelsea Hospital for Women which was here until about 1916.
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