How to find it
On the outside wall of the Kendrick View Dental Practice, 39 London Road, RG1 5BL, to the left of the main entrance to the building. The plaque marks her living at the house which her father had built.
A bit of background
Mary Russell Mitford (1787-1885) – English author and dramatist. She is best known for Our Village a series of sketches of village scenes and vividly drawn characters based upon her life in Three Mile Cross, near Reading.
Born in Alresford, Hampshire as the only child of Dr George Mitford and Mary Russell (a descendent of the aristocratic Russell family). She was a precocious child and was able to read before the age of three.
Life was complex for young Mary as her mother was described as plain and comely while her father was handsome and a gambler, having lost the original family fortune.
Aged 10 she chose the winning ticket ‘2224’ (the sum made up her age) in the Irish lottery. With the £20,000 (over £1,000,000 now) prize money her father built a fashionable town house at 39 London Road, Reading. Later the family moved to ‘Bertram House’, a small country estate in Grazeley, just outside Reading. . RBH: History of Grazeley, Berkshire (berkshirehistory.com)
Mary was educated in London eventually re-joining her parents back in Reading. Her literary taste began to develop. She read enormously, once mastering 55 volumes in only 31 days. In 1810 aged 23 she published her first book of poems.
Many were entertained in this house including famous people like Jane Austen, they probably were friends.
The Mitford’s return to riches was short lived as Dr Mitford gambled most of it away in a few years. In 1820 the family moved to a labourer’s cottage in the nearby village of Three Mile Cross. Here they lived on the small remnants of her father’s fortune and the earnings of Mary’s developing literary career.
Despite his failings Mary was devoted to her father. She nursed her mother through dementia.
Mary is credited with writing the first ever prose on the game of cricket. Between 1810 and 1854 she wrote 20 works. Her books sold well but the income did not keep pace with her father’s extravagances, when he died in 1842 friends rallied round to pay his debts of £1,000.
In 1835 Mary wrote a book entitled ‘Belford Regis’ – a fictional town based on Reading where for example she commented on changes in religious teachings etc.
In 1851 Mary moved from Three Mile Cross to Swallowfield (both just south of Reading) where she died in 1855 after previously being involved in a carriage accident.
Mary was a prolific writer, writing 18 books of poetry or books which were often based on observed life containing colourful characters. She also wrote 4 plays and not surprisingly they were all tragedies.
Her place in English literature was secured as the author of ‘Our Village’. The series first appeared in ‘The Lady’s Magazine’ as sketches and characters based on her life living in Three Mile Cross.
