Mary Theresa Vidal
Mary Theresa Vidal, born Mary Theresa Johnson on July 25, 1815, in Devonshire, England, was a notable figure in early Australian literature. She married Frances Vidal, a church curate, and together with their children, they emigrated to Australia in search of new opportunities. Despite their aspirations in farming, the Vidals faced significant challenges, including economic downturns and a harsh climate, which ultimately led them to return to England in 1845.
While in Australia, Vidal emerged as a writer, publishing her first novel, *Tales for the Bush*, in 1844, likely to supplement her family's income. She is recognized as one of the early authors to depict Australian life, with her work *Bengala: Or, Some Time Ago* providing valuable insights into domestic life and the experiences of English settlers in the 19th century. Although critiques of her work suggested an overly Anglophile perspective, it nonetheless reflects the moral and domestic narrative styles prevalent in English literature of her time. Vidal's literary contributions remain significant, marking her as an important figure in the narrative of Australian writing, despite her relatively short residence in the country. She passed away from meningitis in 1873, leaving behind a legacy intertwined with both her English roots and her Australian experiences.
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Mary Theresa Vidal
Fiction Writer
- Born: July 25, 1815
- Birthplace: Devonshire, England
- Died: November 1, 1873
- Place of death: Sutton, Suffolk, England
Biography
Mary Theresa Johnson was the eldest child of Charles William Johnson and Theresa Furse Johnson. She was born in Devonshire, England, on July 25, 1815. In 1835, she married Frances Vidal, the curate of the church at Torrington. After five years of marriage, the couple, their three young sons, and Francis’s brother George all sailed to Australia, landing in New South Wales.
Over the next several years, Francis Vidal served parishes in several locations southwest of Sydney. However, it seems that the Vidals were more interested in becoming farmers because they bought land near Melbourne. For a time, they also managed a Johnson family farm at Sutton Forest, outside of Sydney. The Vidals were not very successful at farming. During this period, convicts, once a source of cheap labor, were no longer being transported to Australia, and there were serious droughts in 1839 and 1840. Also, the Bank of Australia, where Francis Vidal kept his money, crashed in 1843. In 1844, Vidal published her first novel, Tales for the Bush, and it is likely that the family sorely needed this additional income. By 1845, the Vidals and their five children, two more children having been born in Australia, decided to return to England.
Shortly after her return from Australia, Vidal was asked by her brother William to help establish a residential house at Eton. Her husband later joined her there, and the family spent fourteen years at the school, with Vidal bearing most of the responsibility for managing the house. During this time, she had two additional children, and she managed to keep writing in spite of her duties as a mother and house manager. During the late 1860’s, the family vacationed in southern Europe during the summer to try to improve Vidal’s health. Her husband eventually accepted a position in a parish in Suffolk, England, where Vidal died of meningitis in 1873.
Although Vidal lived in Australia for a just a few years, she is remembered as an Australian writer. She was one the first authors to write about Australian life, although she was accused of being too much of an Anglophile. Although this accusation was not necessarily true, her writing does reflect the English tradition of the morality tale and the domestic novel. Her novel Bengala: Or, Some Time Ago is one of the earliest accounts of domestic life in nineteenth century Australia. Also, the book chronicles a rather forgotten period in Australian history when English settlers still enjoyed the dream of creating an orderly English society in the rugged Australian landscape.