 Mary Shelley was born as Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin in Somers Town , London , in 1797 . She was the second child of the feminist philosopher , educator , and writer Mary Wollstonecraft , and the first child of the philosopher , novelist , and journalist William Godwin . Wollstonecraft died of puerperal fever shortly after Mary was born . Godwin was left to bring up Mary , along with her older half @-@ sister , Fanny Imlay , Wollstonecraft 's child by the American speculator Gilbert Imlay . A year after Wollstonecraft 's death , Godwin published his Memoirs of the Author of A Vindication of the Rights of Woman ( 1798 ) , which he intended as a sincere and compassionate tribute . However , because the Memoirs revealed Wollstonecraft 's affairs and her illegitimate child , they were seen as shocking . Mary Godwin read these memoirs and her mother 's books , and was brought up to cherish her mother 's memory . 
