Mary Shelley

Birth Name:
Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley
Birth Date:
August 30, 1797
Birth Place:
The Polygon, Clarendon Square, Somers Town, London, England
Death Date:
February 1, 1851
Place of Death:
24 Chester Square, Belgravia, London, England
Age:
53
Cause of Death:
Brain tumor
Cemetery Name:
St Peter's Church
Claim to Fame:
Writers and Poets
Mary Shelley (1797–1851) was an English novelist, best known for writing Frankenstein, one of the most influential works in the horror genre. She was born Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin, the daughter of the feminist writer Mary Wollstonecraft and philosopher William Godwin. Her mother died only 11 days after her birth, leaving her with a strong intellectual legacy and a challenging childhood. In 1814, at the age of 16, Mary began a romantic relationship with the poet Percy Bysshe Shelley, who was already married. Despite societal taboos, they eloped to France in 1816, where they faced personal hardships, including the death of their first child. That same year, during a summer spent with Lord Byron at Lake Geneva, she conceived the idea for Frankenstein, which was published in 1818 when she was just 20. Percy Shelley died in 1822 in a drowning accident, leaving Mary a widow with a young son. She continued to write and publish, but struggled financially and emotionally. She wrote novels, short stories, travelogues, and biographies, though none gained the lasting fame of Frankenstein. She also edited and promoted Percy’s works. Mary Shelley died on February 1, 1851, from a brain tumor at the age of 53. She left behind a legacy as a pioneering figure in Gothic literature and a trailblazer for women in literature, particularly through her groundbreaking work with Frankenstein, which explored themes of creation, responsibility, and the human condition.

Fun Facts

On the first anniversary of Mary Shelley’s death, the Shelleys opened her box-desk. Inside they found locks of her dead children’s hair, a notebook she had shared with Percy Bysshe Shelley, and a copy of his poem Adonaïs with one page folded round a silk parcel containing some of his ashes and the remains of his heart.

Percy Shelley hadn’t achieved much fame during his life but Mary made it her personal mission to keep her husband’s legacy alive. She edited volumes of his work for publication and it was through her determination that Percy Bysshe Shelley become one of the most celebrated of the romantic era poets.

When Mary Shelley’s son, Percy Florence, died in 1889, he was buried with the ashes of his father’s heart.

 

Cemetery Information:

Final Resting Place:

St Peter's Church

Hinton Road

Bournemouth BH1 2EE, London,

United Kingdom

Europe

Grave Location:

The Shelley-Wollstonecraft Family Tomb, Plot 615

Grave Location Description

As you make your way around to the back of St. Peter’s Church, standing at the doorway off St. Peter’s Path look slightly to the left and then take the stairs up and look to your right for the family tomb of Mary Shelley.

Grave Location GPS

50.720360, -1.875006

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Mary Shelley

popular name: Mary Shelley

date_of_death: February 1, 1851

age: 53

cause_of_death: Suspected brain tumor

claim_to_fame: Writers and Poets

best_know_for: Mary Shelley was an English novelist who wrote the Gothic novel Frankenstein (also called The Modern Prometheus 1818), which is considered an early example of science fiction. She also edited and promoted the works of her husband, the Romantic poet and philosopher Percy Bysshe Shelley. Her father was the political philosopher William Godwin and her mother was the philosopher and feminist activist Mary Wollstonecraft.

Lewis Carroll

popular name: Lewis Carroll

date_of_death: January 14, 1898

age: 65

cause_of_death: Pneumonia

claim_to_fame: Writers and Poets

best_know_for: Lewis Carroll, born Charles Lutwidge Dodgson in Daresbury, England, was an English writer, mathematician, logician, and photographer, best known for his iconic works Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1865) and Through the Looking-Glass (1871). Carroll was the eldest boy of 11 children and attended Rugby School and then attended Oxford University in 1850. He would remain at Christ Church as student, teacher and in various others roles until his death. Despite his academic success, his true passion lay in writing and storytelling. Under the pen name Lewis Carroll, he began writing stories and poems, blending fantasy, logic, and wordplay. His most famous works, the Alice books, originated from a storytelling session for the young Alice Liddell, the daughter of the Dean of Christ Church. These books became celebrated for their imaginative narratives, playful language, and deep philosophical undertones, earning Carroll a lasting place in literary history. Carroll was also a pioneering photographer, particularly known for his portraits of young girls, including Alice Liddell. His photography career, however, has been the subject of some controversy due to his obsession with young subjects. Though Carroll spent much of his life in relative obscurity, his works gradually gained fame, and he became a beloved figure in British literature.

Harold Robbins

popular name: Harold Robbins

date_of_death: October 14, 1997

age: 81

cause_of_death: Respiratory heart failure

claim_to_fame: Writers and Poets

best_know_for: Harold Robbins, a writer whose formula of sex, money and power made him one of the best-selling authors of his day, wrote over 25 best-sellers, selling over 750 million copies in 32 languages. Among his best-known books is The Carpetbaggers (1961) – featuring a protagonist who was a loose composite of Howard Hughes, Bill Lear, Harry Cohn, and Louis B. Mayer. The Carpetbaggers takes the reader from New York to California, from the prosperity of the aeronautical industry to the glamor of Hollywood. Its sequel, The Raiders, was released in 1995. He spent a great deal of time on the French Riviera and at Monte Carlo until his death from respiratory heart failure, at the age of 81 in Palm Springs, California. His cremated remains are interred at Forest Lawn Cemetery in Cathedral City. Robbins has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6743 Hollywood Boulevard.

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