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At the Circulating Library

A Database of Victorian Fiction, 1837–1901

A Database of Victorian Fiction, 1837–1901

Author: Ellen Baseley

Author: Ellen Baseley (1844–1907)

Alternate Name(s): Mignon (pseudonym)

Biography: Ellen Baseley was born in 1844 in Ulverston, Lancashire. In 1873, she married the Rev. William Linzey Baseley, the curate of Bourne, Lincolnshire. The couple had six children, only one of which survived childhood, a daughter Evelyn (born 1875). In 1877, her husband became the curate of Newton, Lancashire, and, in 1885, he became the vicar of nearby Rhodes. After the move to Newton, Baseley began writing fiction with two serial novels in Manchester newspapers and the three-volume novel Millicent's Children (1883). She followed these with stories and novels under the pseudonym "Mignon" for The Family Herald including her most popular novel Sweet Anna Greyson (1888). Sometime in the 1890s Baseley separated from her husband (causes unknown) and depended on writing to support herself and her daughter. Living in Blackpool in 1900, she applied to the Royal Literary Fund due to illness—her case, incomplete due to the lack of supporting letters, was rejected. By 1901, she had returned to her husband and she died in 1907.

Author Tags:

References: British Census (1881, 1891, 1901); RLF (case number 2574)

Fiction Titles:

  1. Millicent's Children: A Novel.  3 vol.  London: Remington, 1883.
  2. Sweet Anna Greyson.  1 vol.  London: William Stevens, 1888.
  3. The Dowager's Secret: Leaves from Frank Capel's Diary.  1 vol.  London: Simpkin, 1897.