Mary Rolls

Mary Rolls née Hillary (also known as Mrs Henry Rolls;^[a] 13 September 1775^[b] – 8 April 1835) was an English poet.^[1][2]

Mary Rolls
Born	Mary Hillary (1775-09-13)13 September 1775
Died	8 April 1835(1835-04-08) (aged 59)
Occupation	Poet
Parents	Richard Hillary (father) Hannah Wynne (mother)
Relatives	William Hillary (brother)

Life

Born on 13 September 1775^[b] to Hannah (née Wynne; 1738–1806) and Richard Hillary (1703–1789) in Westmorland. She was raised as a Quaker along with her older brothers Richard (1768–1803) and William (1771–1847).^[1][2]

She married Henry Rolls (bapt. 1782–1838) on 16 July 1810, at St Anne's Church, Liverpool. He entered Christ's College, Cambridge in December 1810, was ordained in 1813, served a curacy at Boxworth, Cambridgeshire (1813–1816) before becoming rector first of Barnwell St Andrew (1818), then Barnwell All Saints (1819), and finally All Saints Aldwincle (from 1820), all in Northamptonshire. They had at least four daughters and two sons, though only two survived to adulthood.^[1][c]

She died at Aldwincle rectory on 8 April 1835.^[1] Her remains lie under the altar of All Saints Church, Aldwincle.

Poetry

Rolls published a number of books of poetry from 1815 to 1828. From 1817 she contributed to several periodicals, including The Literary Gazette,^[2][3] and The Literary Magnet.^[4] From 1828 until her death she also contributed to annuals,^[1] such as Forget-Me-Not.^[5][6]

Bibliography

• Sacred Sketches from Scripture History (1815)
• Moscow. A Poem (1816)
• A Poetical Address to Lord Byron (1816)
• The Home of Love, a Poem (1817)
• Legends of the North, or, the Feudal Christmas; a Poem (1825)
• Choice Selections, and Original Effusions; or, Pen and Ink Well Employed (1828)

Notes

1. Mrs Henry Rolls was the name she published under, and was referred to in the press.
2. Rolls' obituary in The Gentleman's Magazine incorrectly gave her age as 54, leading many later sources to state her year of birth as 1781/1782.^[2]
3. Two of their daughters, Marianna Hillary (1811) and Maria Gulielma (1813), survived less than a year.^[2]