List of people from the London Borough of Hackney
Notable residents -- Literature
Table:
Name

Notability

District[1]

Notes[2]

Grace Aguilar

Writer

Hoxton

B

Lucy Aikin

Biographer, daughter of John

L

Anna Laetitia Barbauld

Poet,
buried in Saint Mary's Church

Stoke Newington

L/I[26]

Alexander Baron

Writer
(including The Lowlife, set in the area)

Hackney Downs School

L[27]

James Burgh

Writer, educationalist and philosopher

L[28]

Rosa Nouchette Carey

Children's novelist

Tryons Road

L[29]

Daniel Defoe

Writer and spy (educated)

Stoke Newington

L[30]

Siobhan Dowd

Author

Haggerston

L

Sir Edmund Gosse

Poet, author and critic

De Beauvoir Town

B[31]

Kate Greenaway

Children's illustrator

Hoxton

L[32]

William Hazlitt

Writer (educated)

Homerton

L

Mary Howitt

Poet and translator

Upper Clapton

L

Mary Lamb

Writer and co-author of Tales from Shakespeare.

Hackney

L

Harold Pinter

Playwright and Nobel Prize winner

Hackney Downs School

B[33]

Edgar Allan Poe

Writer (educated)

Stoke Newington

L[34]

Samuel Rogers

Poet and banker

L

Michael Rosen

Children's Laureate 2007–2009

Dalston

L[35]

Iain Sinclair

Writer

Haggerston

L

Mary Wollstonecraft

Reformer and writer, mother of Mary Shelley

Newington Green

L[36]

Considering the following table as well as the supporting evidence provided at the end.

Answer the following question: What is the district for the person who was the mother of the woman who wrote the novel Frankenstein ? Return your answer as JSON: {"answer": "YOUR ANSWER"}. Avoid adding external knowledge.

Grace Aguilar ( 2 June 1816 - 16 September 1847 ) was an English novelist , poet and writer on Jewish history and religion . Although she had been writing since childhood , much of her work was published posthumously . Among those are her best known works , the novels Home Influence and A Mother 's Recompense . Aguilar was the eldest child of Sephardic Jewish refugees from Portugal who settled in the London Borough of Hackney . An early illness resulted in her being educated by her parents , especially her mother , who taught her the tenets of Judaism . Later , her father taught the history of Spanish and Portuguese Jews during his own bout with tuberculosis which had led the family to move to the English coast . After surviving the measles at the age of 19 , she began to embark on a serious writing career , even though her physical health never completely recovered . Aguilar 's debut was an anonymous collection of poems , The Magic Wreath of Hidden Flowers . Three years later she translated Isaac Orobio de Castro 's Israel Defended into English at her father 's behest . Later her The Spirit of Judaism drew interest and sales in both Britain and the United States after being published in Philadelphia by Isaac Leeser . He added a preface to the work elucidating his differences with her , the first of many clashes her work would have with mainstream Jewish thought . In the 1840s her novels began to attract regular readers , and Aguilar moved back to London with her parents .
Hoxton is an area in the London Borough of Hackney , England . Together with the rest of Shoreditch , it is often described as part of the East End , the historic core of wider East London . It was historically in the county of Middlesex until 1889 . It lies immediately north of the City of London financial district , and was once part of the Ancient Parish and subsequent Metropolitan Borough of Shoreditch , prior to its incorporation into the London Borough of Hackney . The area has never been formally defined , but approximates to an area bordered by the Regent 's Canal on the north side , Wharf Road and City Road to the west , Old Street to the south , and Kingsland Road to the east . There is a Hoxton electoral ward which returns three councillors to Hackney London Borough Council . The area forms part of the Hackney South and Shoreditch parliamentary constituency .
Lucy Aikin ( 6 November 1781 - 29 January 1864 ) was an English historical writer , biographer and correspondent . She also published under the pseudonyms Mary Godolphin , I. F. M. and J. F . W. [ Source ? ] Her literature-minded family included her aunt Anna Laetitia Barbauld , a writer of poetry , essays and children 's books .
Anna Laetitia Barbauld ( /bɑːrˈboʊld/ , by herself possibly /bɑːrˈboʊ/ , as in French , née Aikin ; 20 June 1743 - 9 March 1825 ) was a prominent English poet , essayist , literary critic , editor , and author of children 's literature .
Stoke Newington is an area occupying the north-west part of the London Borough of Hackney in north-east London , England . It is 5 miles ( 8 km ) north-east of Charing Cross . Stoke Newington Church Street was the site of the original hamlet of Stoke Newington , which in turn gave its name to Stoke Newington the ancient parish . The historic core on Church Street retains the distinct London village character which led Nikolaus Pevsner to write in 1953 that he found it hard to see the district as being in London at all . Stoke Newington is nicknamed Stokey by many residents .
Alexander Baron ( ( 1917-12-04 ) 4 December 1917 - ( 1999-12-06 ) 6 December 1999 ) was a British author and screenwriter . He is best known for his highly acclaimed novel about D-Day , From the City , from The Plough ( 1948 ) , and his London novel The Lowlife ( 1963 ) .
Hackney Downs School was an 11-16 boys , community comprehensive secondary school in Lower Clapton , Greater London , England . It was established in 1876 and closed in 1995 .
James Burgh ( 1714-1775 ) was a British Whig politician whose book Political Disquisitions set out an early case for free speech and universal suffrage : in it , he writes , All lawful authority , legislative , and executive , originates from the people . He has been judged one of England 's foremost propagandists for radical reform . Burgh also ran a dissenting academy and wrote on subjects such as educational reform . In the words of Lyndall Gordon , his widow acted as fairy godmother to early feminist Mary Wollstonecraft , then a young and unpublished schoolmistress , helping her to set up her own boarding school . Wollstonecraft entitled her first book Thoughts on the Education of Daughters ( 1787 ) , alluding to Burgh 's Thoughts on Education ( 1747 ) which in turn alludes to John Locke 's 1693 work , Some Thoughts Concerning Education .
Rosa Nouchette Carey ( 27 September 1840 - 9 July 1909 ) was an English children 's writer and popular novelist , whose works reflected the values of her time and were thought of as wholesome for girls . However , they are not entirely bereft of grit and realism .
Daniel Defoe ( /dɪˈfoʊ/ ; c. 1660 - 24 April 1731 ) , born Daniel Foe , was an English trader , writer , journalist , pamphleteer and spy . He is most famous for his novel Robinson Crusoe , which is second only to the Bible in its number of translations . He has been seen as one of the earliest proponents of the English novel , and helped to popularise the form in Britain with others such as Aphra Behn and Samuel Richardson . Defoe wrote many political tracts and was often in trouble with the authorities , and spent a period in prison . Intellectuals and political leaders paid attention to his fresh ideas and sometimes consulted with him . Defoe was a prolific and versatile writer , producing more than three hundred works - books , pamphlets , and journals - on diverse topics , including politics , crime , religion , marriage , psychology , and the supernatural . He was also a pioneer of business journalism and economic journalism .
Siobhan Dowd ( 4 February 1960 - 21 August 2007 ) was a British writer and activist . The last book she completed , Bog Child , posthumously won the 2009 Carnegie Medal from the professional librarians , recognising the year 's best book for children or young adults published in the U.K .
Haggerston is a locale in East London , England , centred approximately on Great Cambridge Street ( now renamed Queensbridge Road ) . It is within the London Borough of Hackney and is considered to be a part of Londons East End . It is about 3.1 miles ( 5 km ) northeast of Charing Cross . The adjacent neighbourhoods are Dalston ( to the north ) , Hoxton ( to the west ) and Bethnal Green ( to the south east ) . Haggerston historically formed part of Shoreditch borough , and was divided into the following ecclesiastical parishes : All Saints , St Chad , St Columba , St Mary , St Paul , St Augustin , and St Stephen . In 1965 , the Metropolitan Borough of Shoreditch became part of the new London Borough of Hackney . There is an electoral ward called Haggerston within the borough . In the 1990s a number of the area 's more rundown housing estates were refurbished and some disused public buildings were privately converted into gated communities . In 2010 , Haggerston Railway station re-opened , a little to the north of the original station .
Sir Edmund William Gosse CB ( /ɡɒs/ ; 21 September 1849 - 16 May 1928 ) was an English poet , author and critic . He was strictly brought up in a small Protestant sect , the Plymouth Brethren , but broke away sharply from that faith . His account of his childhood in the book Father and Son has been described as the first psychological biography . His friendship with the sculptor Hamo Thornycroft inspired a successful career as a historian of late-Victorian sculpture . His translations of Henrik Ibsen helped to promote that playwright in England , and he encouraged the careers of W. B. Yeats and James Joyce . He also lectured in English literature at Cambridge .
De Beauvoir Town is a district in East London and is in the London Borough of Hackney , 2 miles ( 3.2 km ) north of the City of London . The area was a part of the Hackney ; the Ancient Parish and subsequent Metropolitan Borough that was incorporated into the larger modern borough . The name is pronounced variously ; notably /də ˈbiːvər/ and /di ˈboʊvwɑːr/ , with some who use the former applying the nickname Beavertown . The area was developed in the mid-19th century , much of it as a carefully planned new town designed to attract prosperous residents , although it does include a range of other housing and land use types . The new town was based around De Beauvoir Square and primarily built in the Jacobethan style . The special character of the neighbourhood has been retained and is recognised by the designation of the De Beauvoir and Kingsland Road Conservation Areas which include many listed and other notable buildings .
Catherine Greenaway ( 17 March 1846 - 6 November 1901 ) was an English Victorian artist and writer , known for her children 's book illustrations . She received her education in graphic design and art between 1858 and 1871 from South Kensington School of Art and the Royal Female School of Art , and the Slade School of Fine Art . She began her career designing for the burgeoning holiday card market , producing Christmas and Valentine 's cards . In 1879 wood-block engraver and printer , Edmund Evans , printed Under the Window , an instant best-seller , which established her reputation . Her collaboration with Evans continued throughout the 1880s and 1890s . The depictions of children in imaginary 18th-century costumes in a Queen Anne style were extremely popular in England and internationally , sparking the Kate Greenaway style . Within a few years of the publication of Under the Window Greenaway 's work was imitated in England , Germany and the United States .
William Hazlitt ( 10 April 1778 - 18 September 1830 ) was an English essayist , drama and literary critic , painter , social commentator , and philosopher . He is now considered one of the greatest critics and essayists in the history of the English language , placed in the company of Samuel Johnson and George Orwell . He is also acknowledged as the finest art critic of his age . Despite his high standing among historians of literature and art , his work is currently little read and mostly out of print . During his lifetime he befriended many people who are now part of the 19th-century literary canon , including Charles and Mary Lamb , Stendhal , Samuel Taylor Coleridge , William Wordsworth , and John Keats .
Homerton ( /ˈhɒmərtən/ HOM-ər-tən ) is a district in London , England , in the London Borough of Hackney . It was a suburb of the metropolitan area of London until 1965 when it was reformed and expanded . It is bordered to the west by Hackney Central , to the north by Lower Clapton , in the east by Hackney Wick , Leyton and by South Hackney to the south .
Mary Howitt ( 12 March 1799 - 30 January 1888 ) was an English poet , and author of the famous poem The Spider and the Fly . She translated several tales by Hans Christian Andersen .
Upper Clapton is a district in the London Borough of Hackney , forming part of Clapton in northeast London , England . Upper Clapton approximates to the northern part of the E5 ( Clapton ) postal district . The district borders the River Lea ( spelled Lea or Lee ) to the east and the border with Lower Clapton to the south is marked by the Lea Bridge and Kenninghall Roads . Neither Upper Clapton nor the wider Clapton area have ever been an administrative unit and consequently their extent has never been formally determined . Describing Upper Clapton as northern E5 is useful but also informal and imperfect , for instance a small area of Clapton Common and the immediately adjacent community is excluded from the postal district despite almost always being publicly viewed as being part of Upper Clapton . As is frequently the case with London districts , these boundaries are often uncertain and overlapping because of the meeting of the developing expansion of the original settlements . Western parts of the area are often considered part of a wider Stamford Hill , understandable perhaps because of the public transport junction and shopping area at Stamford Broadway , and that the Hasidic Jewish community identified as being located in Stamford Hill extends into Upper Clapton .
Mary Ann Lamb ( 3 December 1764 - 20 May 1847 ) was an English writer . She is best known for the collaboration with her brother Charles on the collection Tales from Shakespeare . Lamb suffered from mental illness , and in 1796 she stabbed her mother to death during a mental breakdown . She was confined to mental facilities off and on for most of her life . She and Charles presided over a literary circle in London that included the poets William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge , among others .
Tales from Shakespeare is an English children 's book written by brother and sister Charles and Mary Lamb in 1807 . The book is designed to make the stories of Shakespeare 's plays familiar to the young . Mary Lamb was responsible for the comedies , while Charles wrote the tragedies ; they wrote the preface between them . Marina Warner , in her introduction to the Penguin 2007 edition , says that Mary did not get her name on the title page till the seventh edition in 1838 .
Hackney Central is a sub-district of Hackney in the London Borough of Hackney in London , England and is four miles ( 6.4 km ) northeast of Charing Cross . The Hackney Central area is focused on Mare Street and the retail areas to the north of it including Narrow Way and surrounding local area around Hackney Downs railway station . As such it extends north from Regent 's Canal ( with Bethnal Green ) , takes in most of Broadway Market and London Fields , and follows each side of Mare Street till it terminates in the vicinity of Hackney Central railway station . The area also includes the central retail area which extends from Hackney Downs station in the west to the Hackney Walk Outlet Village , on Morning Lane and goes in between Wick Road ( Homerton ) and Cassland Road ( South Hackney ) till meeting Hackney Wick , to the east . Hackney Central is the area that once would have been known as Hackney Village . This was a place that flourished from the Tudor period , when principal members of the Court had their houses in the surrounding area , and King Henry VIII of England had a palace ( located near the modern Lea Bridge Road roundabout ) . Hackney Central remained a popular resort for Londoners until the end of the Georgian era , when this suburb of London began to be completely built up . Railways , trams and factories brought an end to Hackney 's rural atmosphere during the Victorian era , and its fortunes declined . The industries of nearby Homerton and the Lee Valley have largely disappeared , leaving the NHS and local council as the largest employers . Successive waves of immigrants , both from abroad and within the United Kingdom , make modern Hackney a culturally vibrant part of inner London , with both the benefits and challenges that this brings . Extensive post-World War II redevelopment replaced much of the housing stock , but the Georgian housing and Victorian terraces that remain have become popular again .
Harold Pinter CH CBE ( /ˈpɪntər/ ; 10 October 1930 - 24 December 2008 ) was a British playwright , screenwriter , director and actor . A Nobel Prize winner , Pinter was one of the most influential modern British dramatists with a writing career that spanned more than 50 years . His best-known plays include The Birthday Party ( 1957 ) , The Homecoming ( 1964 ) , and Betrayal ( 1978 ) , each of which he adapted for the screen . His screenplay adaptations of others ' works include The Servant ( 1963 ) , The Go-Between ( 1971 ) , The French Lieutenant 's Woman ( 1981 ) , The Trial ( 1993 ) , and Sleuth ( 2007 ) . He also directed or acted in radio , stage , television , and film productions of his own and others ' works . Pinter was born and raised in Hackney , east London , and educated at Hackney Downs School . He was a sprinter and a keen cricket player , acting in school plays and writing poetry . He attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art but did not complete the course . He was fined for refusing national service as a conscientious objector . Subsequently , he continued training at the Central School of Speech and Drama and worked in repertory theatre in Ireland and England . In 1956 he married actress Vivien Merchant and had a son , Daniel , born in 1958 . He left Merchant in 1975 and married author Lady Antonia Fraser in 1980 .
The Nobel Prize in Literature is a Swedish literature prize that is awarded annually , since 1901 , to an author from any country who has , in the words of the will of Swedish industrialist Alfred Nobel , produced in the field of literature the most outstanding work in an ideal direction ( original Swedish : den som inom litteraturen har producerat det mest framstående verket i en idealisk riktning ) . Though individual works are sometimes cited as being particularly noteworthy , the award is based on an author 's body of work as a whole . The Swedish Academy decides who , if anyone , will receive the prize . The academy announces the name of the laureate in early October . It is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the will of Alfred Nobel in 1895 . On some occasions the award has been postponed to the following year , most recently in 2018 .
Edgar Allan Poe ( /poʊ/ ; born Edgar Poe ; January 19 , 1809 - October 7 , 1849 ) was an American writer , editor , and literary critic . Poe is best known for his poetry and short stories , particularly his tales of mystery and the macabre . He is widely regarded as a central figure of Romanticism in the United States and of American literature as a whole , and he was one of the country 's earliest practitioners of the short story . He is generally considered the inventor of the detective fiction genre and is further credited with contributing to the emerging genre of science fiction . He was the first well-known American writer to earn a living through writing alone , resulting in a financially difficult life and career . Poe was born in Boston , the second child of actors David and Elizabeth Eliza Arnold Hopkins Poe . His father abandoned the family in 1810 , and his mother died the following year . Thus orphaned , the child was taken in by John and Frances Allan of Richmond , Virginia . They never formally adopted him , but he was with them well into young adulthood . Tension developed later as John Allan and Edgar Poe repeatedly clashed over debts , including those incurred by gambling , and the cost of Poe 's secondary education . He attended the University of Virginia but left after a year due to lack of money . Edgar Poe quarreled with John Allan over the funds for his education and enlisted in the Army in 1827 under an assumed name .
Samuel Rogers ( 30 July 1763 - 18 December 1855 ) was an English poet , during his lifetime one of the most celebrated , although his fame has long since been eclipsed by his Romantic colleagues and friends Wordsworth , Coleridge and Byron . His recollections of these and other friends such as Charles James Fox are key sources for information about London artistic and literary life , with which he was intimate , and which he used his wealth to support . He made his money as a banker and was also a discriminating art collector .
Michael Wayne Rosen ( born 7 May 1946 ) is an English children 's novelist , poet , and the author of 140 books . He served as Children 's Laureate from June 2007 to June 2009 . He has been a TV presenter and a political columnist .
Children 's Laureate is a position initially awarded in the United Kingdom once every two years to a writer or illustrator of children 's books to celebrate outstanding achievement in their field . The post stemmed from a discussion between the ( now deceased ) Poet Laureate Ted Hughes and children 's writer Michael Morpurgo . A panel of judges considers nominations from a range of organisations representing librarians , critics , writers and booksellers , including the International Board on Books for Young People . They also consider writers and illustrators nominated directly by children , who now vote online . The award is funded by several publishing industry and charity sector sponsors , including the Museums , Libraries and Archives Council . As of 2019 its main sponsor is Waterstones bookshop ; it was sponsored by Ottakar 's before the two companies merged . A bursary of £15,000 is offered for the two-year term , and the Laureate receives a silver medal at the announcement ceremony , most recently held on 9 July 2019 by Cressida Cowell .
Dalston ( /ˈdɔːlstən/ ) is an area of East London , in the London Borough of Hackney . It is 4 miles ( 6.4 km ) north-east of Charing Cross . Dalston began as a hamlet on either side of Dalston Lane , and as the area urbanised the term also came to apply to surrounding areas including Kingsland and Shacklewell , all three of which being part of the Ancient Parish of Hackney . Gentrification has led to a rapid increase in the price of property , with current prices 8% above the London average . The process of change was accelerated by the East London line extension , now part of London Overground , and the reopening of Dalston Junction railway station , part of London 's successful bid to host the 2012 Olympics .
Iain Sinclair FRSL ( born 11 June 1943 ) is a Welsh writer and filmmaker . Much of his work is rooted in London , most recently within the influences of psychogeography .
Mary Wollstonecraft ( /ˈwʊlstənkræft/ , also UK : /-krɑːft/ ; 27 April 1759 - 10 September 1797 ) was an English writer , philosopher , and advocate of women 's rights . Until the late 20th century , Wollstonecraft 's life , which encompassed several unconventional personal relationships at the time , received more attention than her writing . Today Wollstonecraft is regarded as one of the founding feminist philosophers , and feminists often cite both her life and her works as important influences . During her brief career , she wrote novels , treatises , a travel narrative , a history of the French Revolution , a conduct book , and a children 's book . Wollstonecraft is best known for A Vindication of the Rights of Woman ( 1792 ) , in which she argues that women are not naturally inferior to men , but appear to be only because they lack education . She suggests that both men and women should be treated as rational beings and imagines a social order founded on reason . After Wollstonecraft 's death , her widower published a Memoir ( 1798 ) of her life , revealing her unorthodox lifestyle , which inadvertently destroyed her reputation for almost a century . However , with the emergence of the feminist movement at the turn of the twentieth century , Wollstonecraft 's advocacy of women 's equality and critiques of conventional femininity became increasingly important . After two ill-fated affairs , with Henry Fuseli and Gilbert Imlay ( by whom she had a daughter , Fanny Imlay ) , Wollstonecraft married the philosopher William Godwin , one of the forefathers of the anarchist movement . Wollstonecraft died at the age of 38 leaving behind several unfinished manuscripts . She died eleven days after giving birth to her second daughter , Mary Shelley , who would become an accomplished writer and author of Frankenstein .
Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley ( UK : /ˈwʊlstənkrɑːft/ , US : /-kræft/ ; née Godwin ; 30 August 1797 - 1 February 1851 ) was an English novelist who wrote the Gothic novel Frankenstein ; or , The Modern Prometheus ( 1818 ) . She also edited and promoted the works of her husband , the Romantic poet and philosopher Percy Bysshe Shelley . Her father was the political philosopher William Godwin and her mother was the philosopher and feminist Mary Wollstonecraft . Shelley 's mother died less than a month after giving birth to her . She was raised by her father who was able to provide her with a rich if informal education , encouraging her to adhere to his own anarchist political theories . When she was four , her father married a neighbour with whom Shelley came to have a troubled relationship . In 1814 , Shelley began a romance with one of her father 's political followers , Percy Bysshe Shelley , who was already married . Together with her stepsister , Claire Clairmont , she and Percy left for France and travelled through Europe . Upon their return to England , Shelley was pregnant with Percy 's child . Over the next two years , she and Percy faced ostracism , constant debt and the death of their prematurely born daughter . They married in late 1816 , after the suicide of Percy Shelley 's first wife , Harriet . In 1816 , the couple famously spent a summer with Lord Byron , John William Polidori and Claire Clairmont near Geneva , Switzerland , where Shelley conceived the idea for her novel Frankenstein .