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1791-1874
Ann was born in Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire. Ann lived at Linley Wood, Talke, Staffordshire for her much of her childhood, with her parents and her Aunt, Hannah Stamford, and had a very had a very happy and enriching upbringing where she learned music, languages and all the things a respectable young lady of that period was expected to master.
In 1817 Ann married Arthur Cuthbert Marsh, who initially had a considerable fortune, being the son of a banker. Mrs Josiah Wedgwood noted in a letter to Emma Allen, in the same year, that the match of Ann Caldwell and Arthur Marsh was a very favourable one. After they were married Ann lived with Arthur on his estate, Eastbury in Hertfordshire, near London. The estate was quite large and consisted of a mansion house surrounded by farm land. Their marriage was a happy one and they had eight children.
However in 1824 the family banking firm of Marsh Stacey & Graham went bankrupt due to a fraud carried out by Henry Fauntleroy (one of the partners).
Ann and Arthur lost a lot of their money, if not all of their family fortune. They continued to live at Eastbury but their funds were very much reduced. However, they put a lot of their limited resources into getting the best education possible for their son Martin William James Marsh. Ann realised the value of education but in addition she saw the future of the family very much being dependant on what success Martin would be able to make with his life.
However, in the early 1830s, a friend, Harriet Martineau, visited Ann and encouraged her to publish her first book Two old men's tales. This was published in 1834. Harriet noted that Arthur gave his permission for Ann to publish but only on the condition that she published anonymously. His reason being that if the book should be a failure then no one would know the name of the author. As it was the book was very successful and ran to a number of editions over a period of almost 30 years. Ann continued this success with her second book Tales of the woods and fields which was published in 1836 and after this she worked hard as an author publishing one or two books every year.
The success of Ann's books brought in much needed funds and Ann and Arthur were able to use some of this money to put their son Martin through Eton and then on to Oxford. In 1846 however, tragedy struck when Martin died suddenly at the age of 20 while on a tour of Greece. This devastating event was followed a few years later in 1849 by a further loss when Ann's husband Arthur also died. Shortly after this Ann sold the Marsh family estate of Eastbury and moved to much smaller house, Deacons in Surrey.
Ann's brother James Stamford Caldwell had succeeded to the family estate of Linley Wood in 1838 on the death of their father James Caldwell. James Stamford Caldwell never married and when he died in 1858 he left his estate in trust to the second son of his niece Lady Mary Emma Heath. This second son, Frederic Crofton Heath (later Heath-Caldwell) was only two weeks old when the final codicil to the will was written. The will stated that Ann could live at Linley Wood for the rest of her life, as could any of her unmarried daughters. After that the estate would pass to Frederic Crofton Heath and then on in turn to his eldest son.
And so it was in 1858 that Ann came back to Linley Wood, together with some of her daughters but without her husband (who had died in 1849). It was at this time that Ann changed her surname from Marsh to Mash-Caldwell as required by her brother James Stamford Caldwell's will. She lived in the home of her childhood, for the remaining 16 years of her life, no doubt with many warm memories of her family
Ann had continued to write books even at Linley Wood and it would appear that her last book was Chronicles of Dartmoor which was published in 1866 when she was 75 years old.
Ann died, 5th October 1874 aged 83, leaving her three unmarried daughters (the Miss Marsh-Caldwells) continuing to live at Linley Wood. By her will Ann left most of her estate, valued at £10,000, to these three daughters.
Two old mens tales (1834)
Tales of woods & fields (1836)
The Nevilles of Garretstown (1844)
Triumphs of time, (Sealed orders, the long story or the
previsions of Lady Evelyn, soldier's fortune) (1844)
Mount Sorel or the heiress of the De Veres (1845)
Emilia Wyndham (1846)
Father Darcy (1846) The protestant reformation in
France or the history of the Hugonots (1847)
Bella: a tale of Vendee (1847)
Norman's bridge or the modern Midas (1847)
Angela (1843)
Mordaunt Hall or a September night (1849)
Tales of the first French revolution (1849)
Adelaide Lindsay (1850)
Lettice Arnold: a tale (1850)
The Wilmingtons (1850)
Time the avenger (1851)
Ravenscliffe (1851)
Castle Avon (1852)
Helens Fault: a tale for the young (1853)
The Longwoods of the Grange (1853)
Aubrey (1854)
The song of Roland (1854)
The heiress of Houghton or the mother's secret
(1855)
Evelyn Marston (1856)
The Rose of Ashurst (1857)
Charley & Georgy or the children of Gibraltar (1861)
Heathside Farm: a tale of country life (1863)
Chronicles of Dartmoor (1866)
More information on Ann Marsh-Caldwell and her family can be found at www.jjhc.info.
Page created 27 February 2002 and last updated 28 October 2002
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