Harriet Raikes (2 August 1808 – 4 October 1890) was an English author, whose 1849 book The Marriage Contract was the first recorded murder mystery novel in English by a woman.[citation needed]

Raikes was born in London, the daughter of Thomas Raikes the Younger and Sophia Maria Bayly.[1][2] Her father was a London merchant and banker, and the son of Thomas Raikes the Elder, also a merchant and banker and Governor of the Bank of England from 1797–9. Her mother was the daughter of plantation owner and politician Nathaniel Bayly.

Her father became a famous diarist and dandy traveller in Europe, meeting the highest celebrities of his times. In 1861, Raikes edited her father's correspondence with the 2nd Duke of Wellington.[3]

She died in 1890 in Versailles, Yvelines.[2]

Bibliography

edit

References

edit
  1. ^ Westminster, London, England, Church of England Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1558–1812
  2. ^ a b Yvelines, France, Births, Marriages and Deaths 1734–1996
  3. ^ "Great Britain". The Danville Quarterly Review. Richard H. Collins: 545. September 1861. Retrieved 16 April 2024.