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At the Circulating Library

A Database of Victorian Fiction, 1837–1901

A Database of Victorian Fiction, 1837–1901

Author: Anna Maria Grey

Author: Anna Maria Grey (1823–1888)

Alternate Name(s): A.M. Grey (familiar name); Baynes (married name)

Biography: Anna Maria Grey was born in 1823 in Brinckburn, Northumberland, the daughter of Lt-Col. John Grey (d. 1842) of the 2nd Dragoons (Royal Scots Greys) and novelist Catherine Maria Grey. She wrote five novels, three of which were "edited" by her mother, including The Gipsy's Daughter: A Tale (1852) and Sibyl's Little Daughter: A Sequel to The Gipsy's Daughter (1854). In 1861, Grey married Charles Christopher Carleton Baynes (1824–1905), the son of Major General Baynes and an owner of a cement works. After her marriage, Grey appears to have stopped writing. She died in 1888 in Hampstead. Her eldest sister, Mary Caroline Gray, also wrote a novel. Because some of Anna's works were edited by her mother, they often get attributed to "Mrs. Grey." See the works by Smith and Spedding who identified the authors.

Author Tags:

References: British Census (1881); Gentleman's Magazine (September 1861); pers inf (Christine Kreeeger); Helen R. Smith, New Light on Sweeney Todd, Thomas Peckett Prest, James Malcolm Rymer and Elizabeth Caroline Grey (Jarndyce, 2002); Patrick Spedding, "The Many Mrs. Greys: Confusion and Lies about Elizabeth Caroline Grey, Catherine Maria Grey, Maria Georgina Grey, and Others," PBSA 104.3 (2010): 299–340; Times (13 November 1888; 2 November 1905)

Fiction Titles:

  1. The Gipsy's Daughter: A Tale.  2 vol.  London: T. C. Newby, 1852.
  2. Sibyl's Little Daughter: A Sequel to The Gipsy's Daughter.  2 vol.  London: T. C. Newby, 1854.
  3. Two Hearts: A Tale.  1 vol.  London: Hurst and Blackett, 1858.
  4. One of the Family: or, The Ladies. A Novel.  2 vol.  London: C. J. Skeet, 1861.