Mary Theresa Vidal

Mary Theresa Vidal (née Johnson) (23 June 1815 – 19 November 1873) was a British–Australian writer described as Australia's first female novelist.

Mary Theresa Vidal
Born	Mary Theresa Johnson (1815-06-23)23 June 1815 Torrington, Devon, England
Died	19 November 1873(1873-11-19) (aged 58) Sutton, Suffolk, England
Occupation	novelist
Years active	1845–1866
Relatives	William Johnson Cory (brother, inter alia)

Life

Mary was born in Devon, England, the daughter of Britton William Johnson and his wife, Mary Theresa, daughter of P. W. Furse. The poet William Johnson, who took the name of Cory in 1872, was a younger brother. In 1840 she married the Rev. Francis Vidal and came with him to Australia. Her husband had an extensive parish to the south-west of Sydney, at Penrith.

In 1845, Vidal's first book, Tales for the Bush, was published in Sydney, apparently intended as an instructive work for her servants.^[1] Soon afterwards she returned with her husband to England. Ten other volumes of tales and novels were published between 1846 and 1866. She sometimes made use of her experiences in Australia, especially in Bengala, or Some Time Ago (1860). Some of these books ran into more than one edition. She died in 1873 and was survived by her husband, six sons (including George William Vidal) and a daughter.

Works

• Tales for the Bush. Sydney: D. L. Welch, 1845
• Winterton: A Tale. London: Rivington, 1846.
• Esther Merle and Other Tales. London: J. Hughes, 1847
• Cabramatta and Woodleigh Farm. London: Rivington, 1850.
• Home Trials. London: Masters, 1858.
• Ellen Raymond. London: Smith, Elder, 1859. Volume I Volume II Volume III
• Bengala, or Some Time Ago. London: Parker, 1860.
• Florence Temple. London: Smith, Elder, 1862.
• Lucy Helmore. London: J. Morgan, 1863.
• Trials of Rachel Charlcote. London: J. Morgan, 1864.
• Deb Clinton, The Smugglers Daughter. London: MacIntosh, 1866.