Anna Eliza Bray

Anna Eliza Bray (born Kempe, 1790-1883) was an English author who, through her second marriage to the Reverend Edward Atkyns Bray, lived in Tavistock on Dartmoor's western edge. There she wrote her best-known work, a series of letters to the poet Robert Southey describing the natural history, folklore, customs and antiquities of the country bordering the rivers Tamar and Tavy - Dartmoor country - first published in 1836. She later revisited and revised the material across several further editions under changing titles, and returned to Dartmoor folklore again in 1854 with a children's book of pixie legends.

Bray was a prolific writer across many genres, including historical novels, French history and continental travel writing, most of it unrelated to Devon; only her Dartmoor-focused work is covered here. She died in London in 1883, aged 92.

Sources: Wikipedia · The Victorian Web.

Books on this site

• A Description of the Part of Devonshire Bordering on the Tamar and the Tavy (1836)
• A Peep at the Pixies; or, Legends of the West (1854)