Harriet Stephen

Harriet Marian Stephen ( Thackeray; 27 May 1840 – 28 November 1875), was the wife of Leslie Stephen and what her father William Makepeace Thackeray called 'the balance wheel in the family'.

Early life Harriet Marian Thackeray, known as "Minny", was born in London on 27 May 1840, the third daughter of William Makepeace Thackeray and Isabella Gethin Creagh (née Shawe; 1816–1893). William Makepeace Thackeray died in 1863, and his daughters returned to live with their grandmother, who died a year later. Financially comfortable, Minny and Anne bought a house in London, where they shared household duties according to their particular talents. Elizabeth Gaskell, also present, told Stephen later that she had foreseen their marriage from this early stage.

The marriage was a happy one, and Minny shared her husband's interests, physical and intellectual. Minny became pregnant again in the summer of 1875, but was taken ill on 27 November. She suffered convulsions and never regained consciousness, dying on 28 November, Leslie Stephen's birthday.

Legacy Minny was buried in Kensal Green Cemetery. Her daughter, Laura, was subsequently diagnosed as mentally handicapped, and placed in an institution by Leslie Stephen in 1891.

Although 'somewhat sentimentalized by Stephen and his contemporaries', Minny clearly possessed an observational wit and sharpness:Like her father, she had an acute sense of human ridiculousness, which she could pillory in a phrase, and she had a rod of iron in her character. Her influence on her husband has also been acknowledged, helping to 'inspire a new sense of confidence and assertiveness' in him.