Southey’s paternal aunt, also referred to as ‘Aunt Maria’. Whereas Southey was on poor terms with his surviving paternal uncles, John and Thomas, he was on excellent terms with their sister. Mary Southey lived in Taunton, Somerset. After 1803 she provided important links between her nephew and his regional roots, and Southey stayed with her on his visits to the West Country. Mary, like her nephews, suffered from her two brothers’ lack of familial feeling. She was not included in either of their wills, but did eventually manage to obtain some property from the estate of Thomas.