List of early-modern British women poets

This is an alphabetical list of female poets who were active in England and Wales, and the Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland before approximately 1800. Nota bene: Authors of poetry are the focus of this list, though many of these writers worked in more than one genre.

The seventh sonnet of Mary Wroth's Pamphilia to Amphilanthus, from a manuscript in Wroth's own hand, c. 1620

Poets

A

• Eliza Acton (1799–1859)
• Jean Adam (1704–1765)
• Lucy Aikin (1781–1864)
• Mary Alcock (c. 1742 – 1798)
• Elizabeth Amherst (c. 1716–1779)
• Anne Askew (1521–1546)
• Mary Astell (1666–1731)
• Penelope Aubin (c. 1658 – 1731)
• Katherine Austen (1629 – c. 1683)

B

• Grizel Baillie (1665–1746)
• Joanna Baillie (1762–1851)
• Anne Bannerman (1765– 1829)
• Anna Laetitia Barbauld (1743–1825)
• Mary Barber (c. 1690 – 1757)
• Jane Barker (1652–1732)
• Anne Barnard (née Lindsay; 1750–1825)
• Maria Barrell (née Weylar; died 1803)
• Elizabeth Bath (fl. 1806)
• Henrietta Battier (c. 1751–1813)
• Aphra Behn (1640–1689)
• Benvenida Cohen Belmonte (fl. 1720)
• Elizabeth Benger (1775–1827)
• Elizabeth Bentley (1767–1839)
• Matilda Betham (1776–1852)
• Charlotte Beverley (fl. 1792)^[1]
• Margaret Bingham (1740–1814)
• Susanna Blamire (1747–1794)
• Annabella Blount (née Guise; fl. 1700–1741)^[2]
• Elizabeth Blower (c. 1757/1763 – after 1816)
• Frances Boothby (fl. 1669–1670)
• Jane Bowdler (1743–1784)
• Elizabeth Boyd (c. 1710 – 1745)
• Anne Bradstreet (c. 1612 – 1672)
• Barbarina Brand (1768–1854)
• Hannah Brand (1754 – 1821)
• Charlotte Brereton (b. c. 1720)^[2]
• Jane Brereton (1685–1740)
• Frances Brooke (1724–1789)
• Anne Bryton (fl. 1780)^[1]
• Frances Burney (1752–1840)
• Sophia Burrell (1753–1802)
• Phillipina Burton / Phillipina Hill (fl. 1768–1787)^[1]

C

• Mary Carey (née Jackson, later Peyler; c. 1609 – c. 1680)
• Rebekah Carmichael (later Hay; fl. 1790–1806)^[2]
• Christian Carstairs (fl. 1763–1786)
• Elizabeth Carter (1717–1806)
• Elizabeth Cary (née Tanfield; 1585–1639)
• Jane Cave (1754?–1812)
• Elizabeth Cavendish (1626–1663)
• Georgiana Cavendish (née Spencer; 1757–1806)
• Jane Cavendish (1620/21–1669)
• Margaret Cavendish (1623–1673)
• Dorothea Celesia (bap. 1738, d. 1790)
• Susannah Centlivre (1667–1723)
• Anna Chamber (d. 1777)
• Mary Chandler (1687–1745)
• Hester Chapone (1727–1801)
• Mary Chudleigh (1656–1710)
• Emily Frederick Clark (fl. 1798–1833)
• Elizabeth Cobbold (née Knipe; 1767–1824)
• Alison Cockburn (1713–1794)
• Mary Collier (c. 1688 – 1762)
• An Collins (fl. 1653)
• Elizabeth Cooke (Lady Russell, formerly Hoby; 1528–1609)
• Maria Susanna Cooper (1737–1807)
• Hannah Cowley (1743–1809)
• Frances Maria Cowper (née Madan; 1726–1797)
• Helen Craik (c. 1751 – 1825)
• Ann Batten Cristall (1769–1848)

D

• Charlotte Dacre (1782–1841)
• Alicia D'Anvers (1667–1725)
• Eleanor Davies (1590–1652)
• Mary Davys (1674–1732)
• Eliza Day (fl. 1734–1814)
• Maria De Fleury (fl. 1773–1791)
• Anne Dick (died 1741)
• Sarah Dixon (1671–1765)
• Katherine Doyley Dyer (d. 1654)
• Dorothea Dubois (née Annesley; 1724–1774)^[2]
• Anne Dutton (1692–1765)

E

• Elizabeth Egerton (1626–1663)
• Sarah Fyge Egerton (1670–1723)
• Jean Elliot (1727–1805)
• Elizabeth Elstob (1683–1756)
• Ephelia (fl. 1679)
• Mary Evelyn (1665–1685)^[1]

F

• Mary Fage (fl. 1637)
• Maria and Harriet Falconar (fl. 1788–1791)
• Catherine Maria Fanshawe (1765–1834)
• Sarah Farrell (fl. 1792)^[1]
• Anne Finch (1661–1720)
• Martha Fowke (1689–1736)
• Anne Francis (née Gittins) (1738–1800)
• Elizabeth Freke (1641–1714)
• Caroline Fry (1787–1846)

G

• Jean Glover (1758–1801)
• Janet Graham (1723–1805)
• Catherine Gray, Lady Manners (1766–1852)
• Frances Greville (c. 1727 – 1789)
• Jane Grey (1537–1554)
• Constantia Grierson (c. 1705 – 1732)
• Ann Griffiths (née Thomas, 1776–1805)
• Elizabeth Grimston (c. 1563 – c. 1603)

H

• Anne Halkett (1623–1699)
• Elizabeth Hamilton (1756 or 1758 – 23 July 1816)
• Elizabeth Hands (1746–1815)
• Susannah Harrison (1752–1784)
• Margaret Harvey (1768–1858)
• Lucy Hastings (1613–1679)
• Susanna Hawkins (1787–1868)
• Mary Hays (1759–1843)
• Eliza Haywood (1693–1756)
• Felicia Hemans (1793–1835)
• Mary Heron (fl. 1786–1792)
• Susanna Highmore (1689/90–1750)
• Margaret Holford (1757–1834)
• Margaret Holford (1778–1852)
• Anne Hughes (fl. 1784–1790)^[1]
• Anna Hume (fl. 1644)
• Anne Hunter (1742–1821)
• Lucy Hutchinson (1620–1681)

I

• Anne Ingram (c. 1696 – 1764)

J

• Anna Brownell Jameson (1794–1860)
• Catherine Jemmat (née Yeo; 1714–1766)
• Mary Jones (1707–1778)

K

• Isabella Kelly (c. 1759 – 1857)
• Anne Killigrew (1660–1685)
• Sophia King (later Fortnum; born c. 1781)
• Henrietta Knight (Baroness Luxborough; née St John; 1699–1756)

L

• Caroline Lamb (1785–1828)
• Mary Lamb (1764–1847)
• Laetitia Elizabeth Landon (1802–1838)
• Aemilia Lanier (1569–1645)
• Mary Latter (1725–1777)
• Mary Leapor (1722–1746)
• Helen Leigh (fl. 1788)^[2]
• Charlotte Lennox (1720–1804)
• Mrs Letches (fl. 1792)^[1]
• Esther Lewis (1716–1794)
• Anne Ley (née Norman; c. 1599 – 1641)
• Anne Lindsay (1750–1825)
• Mary Linskill (1840–1891)
• Janet Little (1759–1813)
• Mary Locke (later Mary Mister, 1768–1816)
• Maria Logan (fl. 1793)^[1][2]
• Agnes Lyon (1762–1840)

M

• Judith Madan (1702–1781)
• Bathsua Makin (1600 – c. 1675)
• Delarivier Manley (1663 or c. 1670 – 1724)
• Mary Masters (1694?–1759?)
• Elizabeth Melville, Lady Culross (fl. 1598–1631)
• Mary Russell Mitford (1787–1855)
• Mary Mollineux (née Southworth; c. 1651 – 1696)
• Mary Monck (née Molesworth; 1677? – 1715)
• Mary Wortley Montagu (c. 1689 – 1762)
• Elizabeth Moody (1737–1814)
• Jane Elizabeth Moore (born 1738)^[1]
• Hannah More (1745–1833)
• Arabella Moreton (after 1690 – 1727)
• Sydney Owenson Morgan (1783–1859)
• Celia Moss Levetus (1819–1873)
• Martha Moulsworth (née Dorsett; 1577 – c. 1646)
• Ann Murry (1750 – after 1818)

N

• Frances Norton (née Freke; 1644–1731)
• Manuela Nuñez de Almeida

O

• Margaret Ogle (fl. 1742)^[1]
• Adelaide O'Keeffe (1776–1865)
• Carolina Oliphant (Lady Nairne; 1766–1845)
• Henrietta O'Neill (1758–1793)
• Amelia Opie (1769–1853)
• Mary Oxlie (fl. 1616)

P

• Catherine Parr (c. 1512 – 1548)
• Elizabeth Pennington (1732–1759)
• Anne Penny (née Hughes; 1729–1784)
• Katherine Philips (1631–1664)
• Amelia Pickering (fl. 1788)^[1]
• Sarah Piers (1697–1714)
• Laetitia Pilkington (c. 1708 – 1750)
• Hester Lynch Piozzi (1740–1821)
• Mary Pix (1666–1709)
• Annabella Plumptre (1769–1838)
• Anne Plumptre (1760–1818)
• Priscilla Pointon (later Pickering; c. 1740 – 1801)^[1][2]
• Anna Maria Porter (1780–1832)
• Diana Primrose (fl. 1630)
• Hester Pulter (1605–1678)
• Jael Pye (née Mendez) (c. 1737 – 1782)

R

• Ann Radcliffe (1764–1823)
• Clara Reeve (1729–1807)
• Henrietta Rhodes (fl. 1811–1814)^[3]
• Catherine Eliza Richardson (née Scott; 1777–1853)
• Elizabeth Richardson (1576/77–1651)
• Maria Banks Riddell (née Woodley; 1772–1808)
• Eliza Roberts (fl. 1780–1788)
• Rose Roberts (1730–1788)
• Mary Robinson (1757–1800)
• Elizabeth Rolt (fl. 1768)^[1]
• Elizabeth Singer Rowe (née Singer; 1674–1737)
• Hannah Rowe (fl. 1785)^[1]
• Susanna Rowson (née Haswell; 1762–1824)
• Elizabeth Ryves (1750–1797)

S

• Maria Grace Saffery (1773–1858)
• Charlotte Sanders/Charlotte Saunders (fl. 1787–1803)^[1]
• Mary Savage (fl. 1763–1777)^[2]
• Anna Sawyer (fl. 1794–1801)^[2]
• Mary Scott (1752–1793)
• Anna Seward (1742–1809)
• Frances Seymour (née Thynne; 1699–1754)^[2]
• Elizabeth Sara Sheppard (1830–1862)
• Elizabeth Ann Sheridan (1754–1792)
• Mary Sidney Herbert (1561–1621)
• Charlotte Smith (1749–1806)
• Elizabeth Smith (1776–1806)
• Joanna Southcott (1750–1814)
• Rachel Speght (b. c. 1597)
• Mariana Starke (c. 1762 – 1838)
• Anne Steele (1717–1778)
• Mary Stockdale (1774–1854)
• Agnes Strickland (1796–1874)
• Elizabeth Stuart, Queen of Bohemia (1596–1660)
• Helen D'Arcy Stewart (née Cranstoun; 1765–1838)

T

• Catherine Talbot (1721–1770)
• Ann Taylor (1782–1866)
• Elizabeth Taylor (d. 1708)
• Ellen Taylor (fl. 1792)^[2][4]
• Emily Taylor (1795–1872)
• Jane Taylor (1783–1824)
• Elizabeth Teft (b. 1723)
• Ann Thomas (fl. 1784—1795)^[2]
• Elizabeth Thomas (1675–1731)
• Elizabeth Thomas (1770/71–1855)
• Mary Tighe (1772–1810)
• Elizabeth Tipper (1660–1698)^[5]
• Elizabeth Tollet (1694–1754)
• Elizabeth Sophia Tomlins (1763–1828)
• Margaret Turner (fl. 1790–1810)^[6][7]
• Anna Trapnel (fl. 1654–1660)
• Catherine Trotter (1679–1749)
• Elizabeth Tudor (1533–1603)

V

• Anne Vavasour (c. 1560 – c. 1650)

W

• Hannah Wallis (fl. 1787)^[2]
• Octavia Walsh (1677–1706)
• Catherine George Ward (born 1787)
• Elizabeth Wardlaw (1677–1727)
• Anna Weamys (fl. 1651)
• Jane West (1758–1852)
• Elizabeth Jane Weston (1581 or 1582 – 1612)
• Anne Wharton (1659–1685)
• Mary Whateley (1738–1825)
• Isabella Whitney (b. c.1540, fl. 1566–1573)
• Anna Williams (1706–1783)
• Helen Maria Williams (c. 1761 – 1827)
• Anne Wilson (fl.1778)^[2]
• Jane Wiseman (c. 1682 – 1717)
• Dorothy Wordsworth (1771–1855)
• Frances Wright (1795–1852)
• Mehetabel Wesley Wright (1697–1750)
• Maria Weylar (fl. 1770)^[1]
• Mary Wroth (1587–1652)

Y

• Ann Yearsley (née Cromartie; c. 1753 – 1806)
• Mary Julia Young (fl. 1787–1810; died 1821)

See also

• List of 18th-century British working-class writers
• List of biographical dictionaries of women writers in English
• List of early-modern British women novelists
• List of early-modern British women playwrights
• List of female poets
• List of feminist poets
• List of poets
• List of women rhetoricians
• List of women writers
• Lists of writers
• Oxford period poetry anthologies
• Women Writers Project
• Women's writing (literary category)

Notes

1. Todd, Janet, ed. A Dictionary of British and American women writers, 1660-1800. Totowa, N.J.: Rowman & Allanheld, 1985. (Internet Archive)
2. Lonsdale, Roger, ed. Eighteenth-Century Women Poets: An Oxford Anthology. Oxford University Press, 1989.
3. ”Rhodes, Henrietta.” The Women's Print History Project, 2019, Person ID 2791. Accessed 2023-01-02.
4. Burke, T. (Ed.). (2003). Eighteenth-Century English Labouring-Class Poets: 1780-1800 (1st ed.). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429350191
5. "Elizabeth Tipper." Orlando: Women’s Writing in the British Isles from the Beginnings to the Present. Cambridge UP.
6. Corvey Women Writers on the Web author page
7. "Turner, Margaret." The Women's Print History Project, 2019, Person ID 2786. Accessed 2023-01-02.

Resources

• Blain, Virginia, et al., eds. The Feminist Companion to Literature in English. New Haven and London: Yale UP, 1990. (Internet Archive)
• Buck, Claire, ed.The Bloomsbury Guide to Women's Literature. Prentice Hall, 1992. (Internet Archive)
• Greer, Germaine, ed. Kissing the Rod: an anthology of seventeenth-century women's verse. Farrar Straus Giroux, 1988.
• Lonsdale, Roger ed. Eighteenth Century Women Poets: An Oxford Anthology. New York: Oxford University Press, 1989.
• Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford: OUP, 2004.
• Robertson, Fiona, ed. Women's Writing, 1778–1838. Oxford: OUP, 2001. (Internet Archive)
• Schlueter, Paul, and June Schlueter. An encyclopedia of British women writers. Rutgers University Press, 1998. (Internet Archive)
• Todd, Janet, ed. British Women Writers: a critical reference guide. London: Routledge, 1989. (Internet Archive)
• Todd, Janet, ed. A Dictionary of British and American women writers, 1660-1800. Totowa, N.J.: Rowman & Allanheld, 1985. (Internet Archive)

External links

• Bibliography of Early Modern Women Writers That Are In Print
• 17th Century Women Poets - biographical and bibliographical information on selected poets
• British Women Romantic Poets - an electronic collection of texts for the period (1789–1832).
• The Brown University Women Writers Project Emphasis is on pre-Victorian women writers.
• A Celebration of Women Writers - A major focus of this site is the development of on-line editions of older, often rare, out-of-copyright works.
• Emory Women Writers Resource Project A collection of texts by women writing from the seventeenth century through the early twentieth century.
• List of biographical dictionaries Collectively, the resources at this site "provide information about any 17th-century British woman writer one could imagine."
• Luminarium - an online anthology of English literature
• A Time-Line of English Poetry from Old English to Post Modern
• Representative Poetry Online Includes an index of 4,079 English poems by 618 poets, with bibliographies and literary criticism.
• Romantic Circles - a refereed scholarly website devoted to the study of Romantic-period literature and culture
• Women Romantic-Era Writers
• The Women Writers Archive: Early Modern Women Writers Online