Mary Ann Kilner (1753–1831)

Mary Ann Kilner, née Maze, was born into a prosperous Huguenot family of silk merchants, learning to speak both French and English. Her best friends in childhood were the siblings Dorothy and Thomas Kilner. In 1774, she married Thomas and the couple had five children. Her sister-in-law Dorothy came to live with the family. Mary Ann Kilner became a popular and prolific author of works for children, originally using the pseudonym "S.S." for her address in Spital Square. The best known of her books was The Adventures of a Pincushion (c. 1780).