Matilda Hays

Matilda Mary Hays (8 September 1820 – 3 July 1897) was a 19th-century English writer, journalist and part-time actress. With Eliza Ashurst, Hays translated several of George Sand's works into English. She co-founded the English Woman's Journal. Her love interests included the actress Charlotte Cushman, with whom she had a 10-year relationship, and the poet Adelaide Anne Procter.

Early life Hays was born in London on 8 September 1820, John Hays was a partner of William C. Hall. They did business as Hays and Hall, Corn and Flour Factor, Merchant and Mealman and had locations in Brixton, Mark-lane in London and Bermondsey in Surrey. and his wife, Elizabeth Mary Atkinson. who married Frederick Salmon in 1830. Matilda's full siblings were Elizabeth, Susanna and Albert.

Hays was identified as a Creole or, according to Joseph Parkes, half Creole. If this is true, it must be through her mother's side, as her father's family were Londoners going back at least three generations.

Career She wrote articles for periodicals, often regarding women's issues, starting about 1838. The periodicals included The Mirror and Ainsworth's Magazine.

The initial translations of Sand's works were undertaken by Hays, Ashurst and, Larken. La Dernière Aldini, the first volume, was translated by Hays. Ashurst translated Les Maîtres mosaïstes and it was published in 1844. Hays's friend, Giuseppe Mazzini, wrote a preface for Ashurt's translation of Lettres d'un voyageur. Sand, at Mazzini's urging, invited Ashurt to her home in Nohant. Olive Class reported that "Sand was unsettled by the superficial display of feminist rebellion exhibited by her as yet still unmarried disciple and characterized her as 'a prude without modesty.'"

George Henry Lewes suggested to Hays that the translation to the English language also toned down some of the rhetoric with an English cultural sensibility.

Larken's work with Hays and Ashurst came to an end in 1847.

Hays' translation of Fadette was published in 1851, separate from Ashurst.

Eliza Cook's Journal Shortly after Hays' unsuccessful attempt, poet Eliza Cook started a self-named journal and Hays was a journalistic contributor to the magazine. The journal was "a compendium of essays, poetry, reviews, and fiction that particularly addressed issues such as women's education, dress reform, temperance, and the plight of the working class and domestic servants. in 1858. It was in 1858 founded by Barbara Bodichon and Bessie Rayner Parkes, with others, Bodichon being the major shareholder.

The Society for Promoting the Employment of Women and the Victoria Press, which Hays helped found, met at the Langham Place offices of the journal. Hays had left the journal by 1864, reputedly because of her "difficult temperament". She had often disagreed with Parkes, her co-editor, about the journal's direction. and Charlotte Cushman's sister, Susan, was leaving the stage, which created an acting opportunities. Charlotte's sister, Susan Webb Cushman, who had played Juliet to Charlotte's Romeo, left the stage to marry a successful Liverpool scientist, James Sheridan Muspratt.

Published works George Sand translations Ashurst translated the following books: Sand, George. (1842). Spiridion. Transl. Eliza A. Ashurst. Ed. by Matilda M. Hays. London: Churton. Sand, George. (1847). Letters of a Traveller. Transl. by Eliza A. Ashurst. Ed. by Matilda M. Hays. [Introduction by J. Mazzini]. London: Churton, 1847. Sand, George. (1847). The Works of George Sand. By Matilda M. Hays. [Translated by Matilda M. Hays, Eliza A. Ashurst, and E. R. Larken.]. Sand, George. (1847). Andre'''. Transl. Eliza A. Ashurst, Ed. by Matilda M. Hays. London: Churton. Sand, George. (1851). Fadette. Transl. Matilda Hays.

Novels

Personal life She had close personal relationships with Charlotte Cushman, Adelaide Anne Procter and Harriet Hosmer. Elizabeth Barrett Browning commented, "I understand that she (Cushman) and Miss Hays have made vows of celibacy and of eternal attachment to each other -- they live together, dress alike... it is a female marriage." They wore tailored shirts and jackets. Matilda was often referred to by their friends as Mathew or Max. Hays oversaw the tending of Procter's grave after her death and mourned her death throughout her later years.

Theodosia Blacker, Lady Monson Theodosia Blacker, Lady Monson (1803–1891) was a promoter of women's rights who rented 19 Langham Place as a homeplace for the Langham Place group, a circle of like-minded women who gathered there. She was the last companion of Hays.

Later years and death Hays died in Liverpool at 15 Sefton Drive in Toxteth Park, on 3 July 1897. Although Adelaide Procter had died 30 years before Hays, the Liverpool Echo'' obituary stated that she had been "the dear friend of Adelaide Procter, gone before."