lady's maid, Mary Colling, who had produced a book of poetry, which Bray saw was published. Ann Bray's second husband died in 1857. She then moved to London, where she selected and edited some of his poetry and sermons, before returning to original work. Her last years were embittered by a report that on a visit to Bayeux in 1816, she had stolen a piece of the Bayeux Tapestry. However, her character was cleared by correspondence and leading articles that appeared in the Times. She died in London on 21 January 1883. Her autobiography up to 1843 was published by her nephew, John A. Kempe, in 1884, although it is sketchy and inaccurate. It depicts an accomplished and kindly woman, proud of her own creations and enthusiastic in praise of the literary characters she knew. Other works Bray wrote many other works in addition to those mentioned so far. They included The Borders of the Tamar and the Tavy (1836, 3 vols.), which describes in a series of letters to Southey the traditions, legends and superstitions that surround the town of Tavistock, on the borders of the River Tamar and the River Tavy. It was reviewed by Southey himself in the Quarterly Review. The remainder copies were issued with a new title page by H. G. Bohn in 1838, and a new edition compressed by Mrs Bray herself into two volumes appeared in 1879. Also connected with South-West England are a series of tales for "young people" on the romantic legends connected with Dartmoor and North Cornwall, entitled, A Peep at the Pixies, or Legends of the West (1854). In 1841, her The Mountains and Lakes of Switzerland, with Notes on the Route there and back was published. After a silence of some years she issued three compilations in French history in 1870, The Good St. Louis and his Times, The Revolt of the Protestants of the Cevennes, and Joan of Arc. These were reported by the author of her entry in the Dictionary of National Biography in 1886 to be "pleasantly written, but lacked historical research that could have made them of permanent value". Among her other works are Branded, Trelawney, and The White Hoods: an Historical Romance. References Further reading 1790 births 1883 deaths English women novelists Writers from Tavistock 19th-century English novelists 19th-century English women writers 19th-century English writers 19th-century British writers