Mangnall, RICHMAL

Mangnall, RICHMAL, of Irish extraction, but born probably in Manchester, 7th March 1769, was the head-mistress of a ladies' school at Crofton Hall, near Wakefield, and died there 1st May 1820. Few particulars of her personal history have been preserved; she survives only in her redoubtable Questions, the pride and terror of several generations of school-girls. She was an amiable and excellent woman, but as a writer she has been well called 'the very high-priestess of the great god Cram.' Of the popularity of her schoolroom encyclopædia, compiled entirely by herself, there can, however, be no doubt: an impression, printed in 1857 in America, was taken from the 84th London edition. It has been reprinted in England (ed. by Wright and Hodder) as recently as 1892.