Ann Yearsley

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AY became famous at the outset of her career as a primitive or untaught poet: a role she herself rejected in the course of a bitter row with her patron Hannah More . She went on to publish without the help of patrons, and to add a play and a novel to her poetry. Her letters remained unpublished. Though actually far from uneducated (she packs her poems with literary allusions), she is a writer who lays less emphasis on formal structures or conventions than on sturdy individualism and on the Romantic outpouring of emotion.

Milestones

Shortly before 15 July 1753

AY was born at Clifton, near Bristol, a beautiful spot, later important in her poetry.
Waldron, Mary. Lactilla, Milkwoman of Clifton: The Life and Writings of Ann Yearsley, 1753-1806. University of Georgia Press.
13 and n1

Before 11 June 1785

AY published Poems, on Several Occasions, with the help and patronage of Hannah More , who raised a thousand subscribers for the volume.
Wordsworth, Jonathan. The Bright Work Grows: Women Writers of the Romantic Age. Woodstock Books.
38

By 14 May 1796

AY published her last collection of poems, The Rural Lyre.
Waldron, Mary. Lactilla, Milkwoman of Clifton: The Life and Writings of Ann Yearsley, 1753-1806. University of Georgia Press.
241-2

6 May 1806

AY died at Melksham in Wiltshire, where her son was a leading member of the community.
Waldron, Mary. Lactilla, Milkwoman of Clifton: The Life and Writings of Ann Yearsley, 1753-1806. University of Georgia Press.
272-3

Biography

Birth and Family

Shortly before 15 July 1753

AY was born at Clifton, near Bristol, a beautiful spot, later important in her poetry.
Waldron, Mary. Lactilla, Milkwoman of Clifton: The Life and Writings of Ann Yearsley, 1753-1806. University of Georgia Press.
13 and n1