Mary DarRobinson (1758-1800)
Mary Darby Robinson (1758-1800) was born on the 27th November, 1758 in Bristol, England. She was the third of five children born to a ships Captain who eventually left when she was seven to set up a whaling station in Canada. Marys mother moved the family to London, and she set up a boarding school to support them. When she was only fifteen however, her father (now estranged), but still legally in control of the family, forced her mother to close the school; and Mary moved to a finishing school in Oxford, where she was quickly spotted as something of a talent and offered work on the stage. She married at the age of sixteen, and lived beyond her means with her new husband; with him eventually going to debtors prison. At this time her poetry began to bloom; while still actively pursueing her stage career, and she had an affair with the Prince of Wales who she later blackmailed.
All this, and she is still only twenty-one! Quite a woman. To read a fuller account of her life and times go to this site to find out what happened next.
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