• Name: Shelley, Percy Bysshe
• Gender: Male
• Birth Date: 4  August  1792
• Death Date: 8  July  1822

Percy Shelley contacted Godwin in January 1812 having been an enthusiastic reader of Political Justice. The two men met in October and, as Godwin's financial position worsened, he increasingly looked to Shelley to save his fortunes. Shelley was then married to Harriet, who was also introduced to the Godwin household. Just as it seemed that Shelley might finally be in a position to rescue Godwin's finances by selling a post-obit bond in July 1814, he announced that he could give Godwin only half of the money raised. He also declared his love for Godwin's daughter Mary. Godwin was horrified, and still more distressed when the couple eloped taking Godwin's step-daughter Jane with them. There followed two years in which Godwin could hardly bear to communicate with his daughter and in which he refused to see Shelley, while bombarding him with letters asking for financial support. When Shelley's wife Harriet committed suicide (7 December 1816), Godwin was desperate for the couple to marry, and when they did on 30 December 1816, Godwin readmitted them to his house. Godwin's relationship with Shelley was contaminated from the start by the prospect that Shelley might solve Godwin's financial problems and throughout Shelley's life Godwin pressed him for money. After the Shelleys' departure for Italy in March 1818, Godwin became ever more demanding and desperate. For a time, Shelley intercepted his letters to Mary because of her precarious health.

In 1812-1813 we have assumed that meals at Shelley's include Harriet. The one caveat is that Shelley and Harriet become estranged in 1813 and Shelley was likely to have been in London on his own at points. The last entry where Harriet might be included with Shelley is 17 July 1813, 'Dine at Shelley's'.

See the discussion of the coding for Mary Shelley.

Various place names have been coded for Percy Shelley and Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley when Godwin writes letters to Livorno, Lucca, Florence, Napoli during 1818-19.

There is also a 'Percy problem' in coding. There is a code for Joseph Clinton Robertson, pseud. Sholto Percy, but this identification is very tentative - we have no evidence for any relationship and it is also unusual for Godwin to refer to someone by their pseudonym. Moreover, the DNB suggests that Robertson did not achieve literary success until the 1820s and did not adopt the Sholto Percy pseudonym until he began writing The Percy Anecdotes in 1821 yet the majority of Godwin's refs to a 'Percy' come several years before this. In addition, there is both Reuben Percy and Sholto Percy, Reuben being a pseudonym for Thomas Byerley - and there seems no reason to privilege Sholto over Reuben. So the identification of this Percy is unclear. However, it is clear that there is a Percy who needs distinguishing from Shelley, for a detailed discussion of these see Percy.

From 1826 Percy entries have been consistently coded for Percy Shelley junr, who is eight in the November of that year. The evidence suggests that from this point on (around 100 references 1826-36) Godwin uses Percy to refer to his grandson. He appears with Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley in a lot of entries and we know that on 27 March 1828, 'Percy to Slater' refers to Percy junr entering Edward Slater's Gentlemen's Academy, Church Street, Kensington. There are quite a lot of Percy entries dining alone with Godwin (at the Godwin's) but the majority of entries show a connection to Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley.

• DNB.
• St Clair.
• Richard Holmes, Shelley: The Pursuit (London: Harper Perennial, 2005).

This table lists the people this person is most frequently noted with in the diary.

• Name: Shelley, Mary Wollstonecraft (née Godwin)
• Gender: Female
• Birth Date: 30  August  1797
• Death Date: 1  February  1851
• Occupation: writer

In the diary Mary Shelley is denoted by 'MWG', 'children', 'Shelleys' and, mostly, 'MWS'. She is also denoted by the intial 'M' in about 100 instances between 1800 and 1817. These instances are where the context has led us to believe that the initial stands for Mary rather than Marshall for example, 'theatre w. MJ, M and F', 'w. Shelley, M and Peacock'. In the majority of instances we have still taken M to stand for Marshall.

There are some problems in systematically distinguishing Marshall from Mary Shelley. because from Mary's birth, 30 August 1797, to her elopement with PBS, 28 July 1814, Godwin uses M to ref to both Marshall and Mary . She then disappears from the diary and returns at the end of 1816. From 27.5.1817 she is nearly always distinguished as MWS but in the few months from the end of 1816 to May 1817 she is denoted by several different variants: MWG, Mary and M.

T he question of whether an entry is Marshall or Mary is especially difficult in the early years after Mary's birth. It is clear that Godwin sees Mary when she is a child much more often than he registers in the diary. TThe occasions on which she does appear in the diary when she is a child seem to be special outings but it is difficult to assess how frequent these are, and they are deduced largely by the presence of two M entries within a single event. Once Godwin is married to Mary Jane it seems likely that Mary and one or other of Mary Jane's own children might accompany her, suggesting that an entry that includes MJ, and one of F. C, or J (Fanny, Charles or Jane) and an M is more likely to be referring to Mary than top Marshall. The history of tension between Mary Jane and Marshall would reinforce such a judgment; on the other hand, the tension might be because Godwin included him so often!

We have assumed that Godwin and Mary Jane are not likely to include Mary in outings and dinners until she is at least three or four. But we cannot always be confident about this since some of the entries are ambiguous. For example, very soon after MW's death, on 23.9.1797 'E F dines: adv M, F, PV, Ht and Johnson' M has been coded as Marshall rather than Mary – but it could plausibly be Mary. However, we read the diary as suggesting that soon after Godwin begins to restrict entries to Mary to special occasions.

Re: 10 May 1799 'F. Aurengzebe, act 4/2. J White calls: M and L J dine: Astley's, w. Fanny, M, L J and Dibbin' – although it is possible that they take Mary to Astley’s the pattern of links between Louisa Jones and Godwin suggest that he records her presence largely in the absence of the children (assuming that he sees her and the children domestically on a daily basis but does not record them unless there are others present or there is some collective activity, dinner or outing). Also M and LJ feature in the Diary from the beginning of 1797, so well before the birth of Mary and the death of MW.

4.10.1799 'Dine at M's, w. F and M and Fell' This seems possibly to be Fanny and Mary and have been coded as such. Also 11.11.1799 dine at Fell's, w. F and M; adv. M . The following are coded as Marshall, not Mary - making the assumption that Mary is too young to be taken out, and that Marshall takes some interest in entertaining Fanny.

15.11.1799 see 'M dines: theatre, 1/5 Castle Spectre, and Children in the Wood, w. M and Fanny ' - this could be Mary, although she would be only two years old.
14.6.1800 M dines; adv. M Robinson : call on Ritson : Sadler's Wells, w. M, M R, M E R, F and Cha. Willis (This is difficult - the initials are probably MR (Mary Robinson), MER (Robinson's daughter Mary Elizabeth (born 1774), and possibly Fanny.
15.6.1800 tea Fell's , w. F and M.
15.9.1800 Astley's, w. M and F, 1/2 price, Gretna and the Pirate.
6.12.1800 theatre, w. M and F, Paul and Virginia.
14.3.1801 Dine at S E's , w.F and M
30.6.1801 Dine at S E's , w. F and M
15.12.1803 Theatre, w. M J, C, J, miss Mellor and M, Shylock, and Caravan
3.1.1804 theatre, Cinderella, w. M
8.2.1805 dine at H Rowan’s , w. M J, M, C and J : theatre, do , School of Reform, and H Quicksilver
8.8.1807 M, T T, M J, E C, F and C dine at S S - this looks like the family dines at Skinner Street which might indicate Mary rather than Marshall - but we have coded as Marshall because family members are grouped after MJ, while M and TT are outside guests.
25.10.1808 theatre, w. T T, M J and M, Mourning Bride
29.5.1817 meet M and Percy . MWS and S are staying at Godwin's most of the week (although 'Shelley leaves us' on 26.5.1817, so it seems unlikely that the Percy is Shelley.
Also, Godwin mentions only specific events in which they are involved. MWS's diary has Marshall dining on that evening and it seems likely that Godwin dined out and then came home and met Marshall (p.172). MWS's visit to the Godwins lasts from 23 May - 31

The following have been coded as Mary Shelley: 23.6.1809 M J and M for Notting Hill - This is likely to be Mary, especially since the entries two and five days later are coded Mary Dine at Notting Hill, w. 2 Corneys, M J, M and C'; and M J and M at home.
16.07.1809 Dine at L Ht’s , w. M J, M and J
29.01.1817 theatre, w. M J, M and W, Jealous Wife - in Mary Shelley's Journal she notes 'Go to the play - Jealous Wife and the Ravens' (p.157)
May 1817. 20.10.1817 Gig w. Mary - refers to Godwin's stay with the Shelley's in Marlow - MWS records a trip in a gig to see Hampden's monument on 20.10.1817

The above entries do sometimes raise questions about which person the entry refers to. We have assumed that it is not Mary in the years of her babyhood, unless there is a double entry for M (and Marshall may well have had outings with Godwin and Fanny before the arrival of MJ). After the arrival of MJ the presumption would be that M might be Mary if there are other children there and if the event seems a likely one for a young child. Otherwise, we have assumed it is Marshall.

See also the entry on Marshall

The 'Write to M and daughter' (10.5.1817) entry is tricky. MWS's first daughter was born and died in 1815, her second was not born until September 1817. So, if this is a letter to MWS it is likely that the daughter is actually Claire's: Allegra, her daughter by Byron, was born Jan 1817. By May, the Shelleys, Claire and Allegra are all living in Marlow and Godwin and Mary Jane are being kept in the dark over the child - perhaps being led to believe it is Mary and Shelley's, not Byron and Claire's.

Various place names have been coded for SHE01 and SHE02 when Godwin writes letters to Livorno, Lucca, Florence, Napoli during 1818-19. We should find out more about these letters (asking Pam or checking whether they've already been published with Mary Shelley's correspondence) to check whether these letters are just to PBS and MWS, or whether Claire's code (CLA03) should also be added - she was travelling with the Shelleys at this point.

• DNB
• St ClairThe Godwins and the Shelleys
• R. HolmesShelley: The Pursuit(London: Harper Perennial, 2005)
• The journals of Mary Shelley, 1814–1844, ed. by Paula R. Feldman and Diana Scott-Kilvert, 2 vols (Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press; Clarendon Press, 1987)

This table lists the people this person is most frequently noted with in the diary.