Pendarves died in 1725 and Mary came to London. She was popular in society despite her lack of fortune, and she made many friends. In 1731 Mary travelled to Ireland where she met Patrick Delany, a cleric, who she married many years later in 1743. The couple lived in Ireland until the death of Patrick Delany in 1768.
Mary returned to London, spending most summers at Bulstrode in Buckinghamshire with her friend the Duchess of Portland. The friends improved the gardens, and in 1774 Mary began to make the ‘paper mosaics' which were to become her best achievement. She used coloured tissue to cut all the parts of a plant to create a perfect specimen.
George III and Queen Charlotte were regular visitors to Bulstrode, and after the death of the Duchess of Portland in 1785 the king gave Mary a house at Windsor and a pension. She died at Windsor Castle in 1788.
Several plants were donated to Mary by society figures of the day. She used these plants as models for her collages. The following is a list of the donors and the sites from which the plants were sourced:
Astley, Mrs: Barnes
Dartmouth, Lord: Black Heath
[Portland, Dwr. Duchess of]: Bulstrode
Yalden, Mr: Bulstrode
[Miller, Philip]: Chelsea Physic Garden
John Boyd Bt, Sir: Dansen
Mr & Mrs Keally: Delville, Dublin
Booth Grey, Mr: Dr. Fothergill's [garden] Upton, Essex; [Dunham Massey or Worksop?]; Ealing
Lee, Mr James: [Vineyard Nursery] HammersmithLee, Mr James: Hammersmith
Pitcairn, Dr William: Islington
[Aiton, W.]: Kew
Farwell, Mr: Kew
Willoughby, Lord: Lord Willoughby's Marsh Garden
Bute, Lord: Luton [Hoo]; Luton Park
Lawrence, The Revd. Mr: Mount Vesuvias
Bateman, Mr: Old Windsor
Conway, General: Park Place, [originally] from Jersey
Jennings, Miss: Shiplack
Northumberland, Duke of: Sion [House]
Fothergill, Dr: Upton, Essex; Weymouth
Portland, Dowager Duchess of: Whitehall; Wimbledon
Other plant donors from unspecified locations:
Dashwood, Mrs
Queen Charlotte
Weddel Mrs
Mansfield, Lord
Rockingham, Lord
Howard, Sir George
Lawrence, The Revd. Mr
Harcourt, Lord
Pultney, Mrs [?wife of Richard Pulteney of Dorset]
Weymouth, Lady
Cullum: The Rev: Sir John
Lightfoot, Mr [John]
Jennings, Miss
Bibliography:
Schnorrenberg, Barbara Brandon, 'Delany, Mary (1700-1788) Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (Oxford: Oxford University Press, Sept 2004; online edn, Oct 2006) http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/7442 [accessed 21 June 2009]
Laird, Mark and Weisberg-Roberts, Alicia Mrs. Delany and Her Circle (Yale University Press, 2009)