Jewsbury, Maria Jane (1800–1833)

English poet and prose writer. Name variations: Mrs. Fletcher. Born Maria Jane Jewsbury in Measham, Derbyshire, England, on October 25, 1800; died in Poona, India, on October 4, 1833; eldest of six children of Thomas Jewsbury (a Manchester merchant and insurance agent) and Maria (Smith) Jewsbury; sister of Geraldine Jewsbury (1812–1880); married Reverend William Kew Fletcher (a chaplain in the East India projects), in 1832.

On her mother's death in 1819, 19-year-old Maria Jane Jewsbury assumed the upbringing of her siblings, despite the fact that she was less than physically hearty. A collection of her verse, Phantasmagoria, was published in 1825. Dedicated to William Wordsworth, it allowed her entrée to the poet and his family. During a forced convalescence in 1826, Jewsbury began to write in earnest. Her poetry collection Lays of Leisure Hours was published in 1829 and a collection of stories entitled The Three Histories: The History of an Enthusiast, The History of a Nonchalant, and The History of a Realist, in 1830. The History of an Enthusiast echoed a theme in her sister Geraldine Jewsbury 's book The Half Sisters. Both narratives concern two women—one who seeks literary fame, the other who seeks the life of a conventional wife—and both echo Germaine de Stäel 's novel Corinne (1807). With three printings, The Histories established Maria Jane Jewsbury's reputation as a writer. In 1832, she married a chaplain in the East India projects and journeyed with him to Poona, India. Fourteen months later, age 33, she was dead of cholera.