Mary Shelley's Birth, Upbringing and Education

• Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin was born in London in 1797, the only daughter after her mother died ten days after her birth.
• Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin's father, William Godwin, raised her and his second wife Mary Jane Clairmont, who he married in 1801.
• Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin craved love and attention from her father, who was reserved and unemotional, focussed on his work.
• William Godwin was interested in new theories for education, but didn’t apply them to the upbringing of his daughter.
• The household was intellectual, often visited by leading writers of the period and Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin read widely, learning Latin, Greek, French and Italian.