Winifred Gales
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Winifred Marshall Gales (1761-1839) was an English-born American novelist and memoirist[1][2]. Born on July 10, 1761, in Newark-on-Trent, Nottinghamshire, she was the daughter of John Marshall[1][2]. Gales is notable for being one of the first novelists in North Carolina and for her contributions to literature and social reform.
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Early Life and Marriage
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Winifred exhibited literary talent at an early age and published her first novel, "The History of Lady Emma Melcombe, and Her Family," in 1787[1][2]. At the age of 23, she married Joseph Gales Sr., a liberal reform supporter and abolitionist[1][2]. The couple lived in Sheffield, where they ran the Hartshead Press, printing "The Sheffield Register"[1][2].
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Political Challenges and Emigration
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Due to Joseph Gales' political views, he fled England for continental Europe in 1794, leaving Winifred in charge of the family bookstore and printing press[1][2]. She continued to run the Hartshead Press until the couple's bankruptcy in 1796[1][2]. Winifred eventually joined her husband in Altona, in the Duchy of Holstein, and later emigrated to Philadelphia in 1795[1][2].
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Life in America
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In 1799, the Gales family settled in Raleigh, North Carolina, where Joseph Gales became the editor and printer of "The Raleigh Register," a newspaper supporting Jeffersonian Republicanism[1][2]. Winifred published "Matilda Berkely; or, Family Anecdotes" in 1804, considered the first novel published by a resident in North Carolina[1][2]. The Gales were firm Unitarians and promoters of tolerance, and they left Raleigh for Washington, D.C., in 1833 amid growing orthodox trends in North Carolina[1][2]. Winifred died in Washington on June 26, 1839, and is buried in the Congressional Cemetery[1][2].
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Impact on Newark
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Winifred Gales' impact on Newark is primarily through her early life and literary contributions[1][2]. Her upbringing in Newark and her family's influence in the region shaped her early literary career. Although she spent much of her later life in America, her roots in Newark are an essential part of her story. Her works and her commitment to social reform reflect the values and experiences she carried from her early years in Newark[1][2].
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