Mary Anne Clarke

Mary Anne Clarke
Portrait of Mary Anne Clarke, by Adam Buck, 1803
Born
Mary Anne Thompson

3 April 1776
London, England
Died21 June 1852 (aged 76)
Boulogne-sur-Mer, Hauts-de-France, Pas-de-Calais, French Second Empire
NationalityEnglish
Occupation(s)Courtesan
Author
Known forMistress of Frederick, Duke of York
SpouseJoseph Clarke
ChildrenMary Anne
Edward (1795–c.1800)
Ellen Jocelyn du Maurier (1797–1870)
George
"The modern Circe or a sequel to the petticoat", caricature of Mary Anne Clarke by Isaac Cruikshank, 15 March 1809. Her lover Frederick, Duke of York resigned from his post at the head of the British Army ten days after the caricature's publication.
Portrait of the Duke of York by Thomas Lawrence, 1816.

Mary Anne Clarke (born Mary Anne Thompson; 3 April 1776 – 21 June 1852) was the mistress of Prince Frederick, Duke of York and Albany.[1] Their relationship began in 1803, while he was Commander-in-Chief of the army. Later in 1809, she wrote her memoirs which were published.[2] She was the subject of a portrait by Adam Buck, and a caricature by Isaac Cruikshank; ten days after the latter's publication, the Duke resigned from his post as Commander of the British Army. In 1811, she commissioned Irish sculptor Lawrence Gahagan to sculpt a marble bust of her; this is now housed in the National Portrait Gallery, London.

Through her daughter Ellen, who married Louis-Mathurin Busson du Maurier, Clarke was a great-great grandmother of author Daphne du Maurier, who wrote the novel Mary Anne about her life.

  1. ^ Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Clarke, Mary Anne" . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 6 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 445., retrieved 24 November 2018
  2. ^ "Clarke, Mary Anne" . Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900.