Tavistock vicar’s wife, writer, tale collector 1790-1883
Anna Elizabeth Kempe was born in Newington, Surrey in 1790. After the untimely death of her first husband, in 1823 Anna married Edward Bray, the vicar of Tavistock. From 1826 to 1874 she wrote many historical novels. Those based on the main families of Cornwall and Devon, including the Trelawneys of Trelawne, were particularly successful. She also wrote The Borders of the Tamar and the Tavy (1836, 3 vols.) Travel books, where she mentions Tintagel, Nathan’s Kieve, Pixy Gathon of Cornwall, the Cheesewring, May-fires, a Pixie House and Druids.
A Peep at the Pixies, or Legends of the West (1854). It has six tales, three set in North Cornwall, one referring to Cornwall and two set in Devon. Anna died in London in 1883.
Article for The Gentleman’s Magazine 1851 on Cotehele.
More about Anna Elizabeth on The Piskey Trap.
She died in London in 1883.
https://shows.acast.com/the-piskie-trap/episodes/anna-eliza-bray
