Frankenstein's Mother

The creator of one of English literature's most memorable monsters is laid to rest just behind the Bournemouth branch of T K Maxx. In the churchyard of St Paul's to be precise.

Mary Shelley, author of the novel Frankenstein was the 19th century's wild child; her unconventionality being fostered by her father, free-thinker William Godwin. Godwin's status as a radical meant that most of the leading intellectuals of the day passed through his household, profoundly influencing Mary.
In 1814, one of these, an impoverished poet, Percy Bysshe Shelley fell headlong in love with 17 year old Mary. Although he was already married, it did not stop them from eloping to France leaving behind Percy's pregnant wife. If this wasn't scandalous enough they were accompanied by Mary's half sister. Money problems soon forced them to return.
An unmarried Mary now found she was pregnant, though
the fortuitous suicide of Percy Shelley's wife left them free to marry. Mary's baby girl lived just a few months. Within a short time Mary was pregnant yet again and this time gave birth to a boy.

Once again the three of them plus baby set off across Europe ending up in Geneva where they spent the summer with Lord Byron whose liaison with Mary's half sister was to leave her pregnant. During a bout of particularly bad weather the party passed the time telling ghost stories until Byron suggested they try to write their own.
While everyone else's efforts are now forgotten, Mary's creation, 'Frankenstein', went on to become the enduring classic. With Percy's encouragement she expanded the short story to a novel which was eventually published in 1818 as 'Frankenstein, or The Modern Prometheus'. . It was an immediate success. She was just 21. The pressure of creditors doomed the Shelleys to leave England yet again eventually settling in Italy whose liberal climate enabled Mary to pursue her philosophy of free love among her acquaintances

Then tragedy struck. Percy Shelley's yacht was wrecked in a storm and Percy drowned, his body cremated on the beach where it was found. 

The idyll had ended. 

Within a year, penniless, Mary returned to England to scrape a living from her writing. Mary Shelly never remarried and devoted the rest of her life to writing further novels and preserving her husband's memory. She died at aged fifty three with experiences to fill several lifetimes. 

Her wish, to be buried with her father at St Pancras churchyard was never carried out. Instead her son buried her near his home in Bournemouth where she now lies almost forgotten under a drab Victorian monument just yards from the main street.

There is a final macabre twist, though, when Mary's writing box was opened it was found to contain Percy Shelley's heart, wrapped in his poem 'Adonais'. It now lies with her.