author
Lady Mary Hamilton
1739–1816
An 18th-century Scottish novelist from an aristocratic family, she wrote sentimental and moral fiction that circulated in Britain and beyond. Her life joined literary ambition with a complicated personal story, including two marriages and years spent on the Continent.
1 Audiobook
Munster Village
by Lady Mary Hamilton
About the author
Born Mary Leslie in 1739, she was the youngest daughter of Alexander Leslie, 5th Earl of Leven and Melville. Reference works and archival records describe her as a Scottish novelist who later became known as Lady Mary Hamilton.
She married Dr. James Walker in 1762, and later married Robert Hamilton of Jamaica. Bibliographic and biographical sources link her to several novels, including Letters from the Duchesse de Crui and Others, Munster Village, and The Ruins of an Ancient Castle, placing her among the many women who helped shape late-18th-century fiction.
Some sources disagree about details of her life, including her exact death date, so it is safest to say that she lived from 1739 to 1816, as given in major library and reference records for the author of these works.