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At the Circulating Library

A Database of Victorian Fiction, 1837–1901

A Database of Victorian Fiction, 1837–1901

Author: Mary Ann Hubert Tandy

Author: Mary Ann Hubert Tandy (1827–1895)

Alternate Name(s): Escombe (maiden name); Mrs. J. M. Tandy (alternate name)

Biography: Mary Ann Hubert Tandy was born on 18 March 1827 in London, the daughter of William Escombe of Turnham-Green. On 13 February 1855, she married clergyman John Mortimore Tandy and the couple would have fifteen children. Tandy wrote several novels beginning with Bertie's Birthday Present (1869). John's sister was the author Sophie Tandy and Tandy's novels often get attributed to her or vice versa. The family led a wandering life due to John taking positions in Devizes, the Isle of Thanet, Dalbeattie, and finally Ladysmith, South Africa in 1882. A few years after their arrival in South Africa, her husband died on 8 May 1886. Tragically, Tandy along with several members of her family was killed in a train accident near Glencoe, Natal on 31 December 1895.

References: Boase (John Mortimore Tandy); British Census (1871, 1881); Queen (25 January 1896)

Fiction Titles:

  1. Bertie's Birthday Present: or, Patience Rewarded.  1 vol.  London: R. T. S., 1869.
  2. Old Barnaby's Treasure: A Story.  1 vol.  London: Seeley, 1870.
  3. Fanny Brown and her Honey-Bees.  1 vol.  London: Partridge, 1875.
  4. The Children in the Scrub: A Story of Tasmania.  1 vol.  London: R. T. S., 1878.
  5. Lizzie Sydenham, and the Wrong Turning.  1 vol.  Edinburgh: Johnstone, Hunter, and Co., 1880.