Browning, Elizabeth Barrett ___ 1806-1861 ___ British ___ poet

BIOGRAPHICAL SUMMARY
Elizabeth Barrett was born at Coxhoe Hall, Durham, the eldest in a large family, but moved with the family to Hope End, near Ledbury in Herefordshire, when only three. She was educated at home, learning classics and several modern languages. When 13, her father arranged to have one of her epic poems ('The Battle of Marathon') printed. When 15, she suffered a bad fall and injured her spine. Subsequently, poor health meant she devoted most of her time to reading and writing. In her early 20s, she became friends with a classicist, Hugh Stuart Boyd, who had moved into a house nearby. In 1828, Elizabeth's mother died, and, during the following years, her father's income (based on Jamaican sugar plantations) declined badly. The family sold Hope End, and moved first to Sidmouth in 1832 then, three years later, to London. In 1838 Barrett published her first major book, 'The Seraphim and Other Poems', which received critical acclaim. The same year she went to stay in Torquay, Devon, for health reasons, and it was there that her favourite brother, Edward, drowned. The accident caused her much distress. Eventually, she returned to London where her reputation as a poet continued to grow. In 1844, the poet Robert Browning began a correspondence with her, which led to an engagement in 1845, and, because her father disapproved, a secret marriage in 1846. The couple went to Italy where Elizabeth's health improved, where she had a son, and where she stayed for the rest of her life.
A biography link
Wikipedia bio
The Diary Review - Elizabeth at Hope End

DIARY DATES, CONTENT DESCRIPTORS
1831-1832 ___ social family health

WEB TEXT LINKS
a few quotes

ORIGINAL MANUSCRIPT LINKS
 

SOME PUBLISHED TITLES
The Unpublished Diary of Elizabeth Barrett Browning
The Barretts at Hope End: The Early Diary of Elizabeth Barrett Browning 
 

May 2005, September 2008, March 2013
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IMPORTANT NOTES AND CAUTIONS: 1) The first line of basic information may be incomplete in several ways: some historical figures have different names (titles, pen-names); their birth and death dates may be unknown or uncertain (g - guess, c - circa); similarly, their occupations may be unknown, or they may have had other jobs; and, for early diarists, I've used 'British' a bit too freely. 2) The biographical summary may not be accurate. It was compiled quickly from various sources, mostly on the internet, and the facts were not checked anywhere near as rigorously as they would have been if they'd been intended for publication in a printed form. 3) The journal dates and descriptors (which are in no particular order) must be treated with caution: since I have not examined the diaries myself, the descriptors are only guesses based on bibliographies, anthologies and internet biographies. 4) For the biography and etext links, I have ignored any sites with charges, and I have avoided, wherever possible, those with pop-ups or too much advertising. I have limited myself to providing three etext links where there is some variety between them. 5) For the original manuscript links, I have limited myself to providing a maximum of two (although, for a few diarists, their original diaries are held in more than two places). 6) I have provided the titles - chosen randomly - for up to three printed editions of the diaries.