ABSTRACT
Of the four children born to Mary Shelley, only Percy Florence, born 12 November 1819, survived both his parents. After P. B. Shelley drowned, Mary Shelley described her son as ‘the only chain that links me to time’ (Feldman and Scott-Kilvert, vol. 2, p. 433); mother and son remained deeply devoted to each other. On Sir Timothy Shelley’s death in 1844, Percy Florence Shelley inherited the baronetcy and he and his mother jointly inherited an estate that, after debts, would bring in somewhat less than £2000 per annum. 26 In 1848, Sir Percy married Jane Gibson St John, an event that apparently brought as much happiness to Mary Shelley as to the newlyweds. Shortly after the wedding, Mary Shelley described the bride as,
very pretty – but that is her least merit. I never knew any one so good, true & affectionate. She never thinks of herself – all her thoughts are spent on those she loves – her tastes are quiet & domestic. Percy deserves so good a wife – & please God they will be long happy together & I hope to share their happiness living at Field Place with them occupied by improving the estate & being of use to the tenants She has a fortune of £15,000 which will lighten our odious mortgages. (Bennett, MWSL, vol. 3, p.342)
