Isabella Kelly (1759–1857)

Isabella Fordyce was born at Cairnburgh Castle in Scotland, the daughter of William Fordyce, a military officer and courtier to King George III of England. In 1789, Isabella married Major Robert Kelly, a captain in the Royal Navy who also served with the East India Company; they had a son who became Sir Fitzroy Edward Kelly, a politician, judge and Attorney-General.
Isabella published poems written as a teenager but became a professional writer in order to support her family after her first husband apparently deserted her. She was widowed by 1802 and later married a merchant named Hedgeland. She produced popular Gothic novels and other works, including a couple of pedagogic books for children (one of them a French grammar), at least one magazine story, and a memoir of a friend.