Born: 25 February 1797, United Kingdom
Died: 1867
Country most active: United Kingdom
Also known as: Maria Smith
The following is excerpted from A Cyclopædia of Female Biography, published 1857 by Groomsbridge and Sons and edited by Henry Gardiner Adams.
The name of this lady has long been familiar to the readers of English periodical literature, to which she is a constant and valued contributor. Annuals, Pocket-books, Monthly Magazines, and all publications of that class and character, devoted to the advancement of intellectual culture, morality, and especially of religion, to which the service of her spiritual gifts are in a great measure consecrated. Her verse is full of that serenity and cheerfulness which only a warm faith can inspire.
Mrs. Abdy has written several tales which would do credit to many of the high names in literature; her moral is always sound and practical; her characters equally remote from insipidity or exaggeration, while a gentle humour pervades the whole; that termed “The Long Engagement” is one of the happiest specimens of her style. A volume of her collected poems has been printed, but not published, being only for private circulation.