Mary Lamb - Later Life

Later Life

In December 1814 Mary wrote an article entitled "On Needle-work", published in the New British Lady's Magazine the following year under the pseudonym Sempronia. The article argued that sewing should be made a recognized profession in order to give independence to women whose only skill and way of making a living was sewing, which at the time was something they were mostly obliged to do as part of their household duties. Mary had a relapse of her mental illness soon after publication of the article. In 1820 Charles began writing of the Essays of Elia, in some of which he described her under the name of Bridget Elia. At this time his and Mary's literary gatherings grew in importance, with new members joining the circle including Thomas Noon Talfourd and Bryan Procter.

In 1820 they met a young girl named Emma Isola, who may have been introduced to them by William Wordsworth. Emma stayed with the Lambs several times over the next few years. After her father's death in 1823, when she was 14, Emma was adopted by the Lambs. She spent five happy years with them until finding a position as a governess. During the time that the three lived together, the Lambs moved to a country house. In 1825, Charles resigned from his position at the East India House. In the later 1820s Mary's mental illness progressed, her periods of dementia lasting longer and becoming deeper, while new symptoms of depression and detachment appeared. Charles's health became more infirm as well through these years.

In 1833 Mary moved to a house for mentally ill people in Edmonton, London; Charles soon followed. Charles never lost his love and devotion for his sister, even as her illness continued to worsen. "I could be nowhere happier than under the same roof as her," he said in 1834. The death of Coleridge in July, 1834 was a great blow to Charles. Charles died on 27 December 1834. According to family friend Henry Crabb Robinson, Mary was "quite insane" at this time and unable to fully feel grief at the death of her brother, though she recovered so far as to be able to persuade Wordsworth to write lines for her brother's memorial stone.

Mary lived on at Edmonton until 1842 when she moved with her nurses to a house in London. She exchanged visits with friends when her mind was strong enough, but her hearing deteriorated in the mid 1840s, making it difficult for her to communicate with others. She died on 20 May 1847, and was buried next to her brother in the Edmonton Churchyard in Middlesex.