FORTEY, Mary Comber

Mary Comber Fortey, later known publicly as Lady Benedict and afterwards Mrs. Frank Lawson, was a 19th-century British pianist and composer. Despite the social barriers women faced in music during the Victorian era, she successfully studied, performed, and published original work. Displaying an early talent for the piano, she traveled to London to pursue higher musical education. In 1877, she entered the Royal Academy of Music (RAM) to study piano, a step recommended by the prominent organist and composer Dr. John Stainer. She successfully crossed over into composing. Her best-known surviving work is a vocal ballad titled "Time at the Ferry".