Anne Hulton
Anne Hulton was an English woman born in Chester, England, who gained posthumous recognition for her letters written between 1763 and 1776 to her friend, Mrs. Adam Lightbody, and others. These letters, which provide insight into the political and social climate of colonial America, particularly during the lead-up to the American Revolution, were published in 1927 as *Letters of a Loyalist Lady*. Hulton was the sister of Henry Hulton, a loyalist who served as a customs commissioner in Boston, and her writings reflect her experiences as an unmarried woman managing her brother's farm and navigating the turbulent political landscape of the time. Her correspondence covers a variety of topics, including the domestic economy, current fashions, and the challenges faced by loyalists during the revolution, including violent protests against their loyalty to the Crown. Hulton's letters also document the daily life of her family in colonial New England, including details about food prices and agricultural practices. Although her life was marked by political turmoil, her letters provide a unique perspective on the experiences of women in the 18th century, particularly from a loyalist viewpoint. After returning to England in late 1775, she died in Chester around 1778 or 1779.
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Subject Terms
Anne Hulton
Writer
- Born: Unknown
- Birthplace: Chester, England
- Died: Late 1778 or early 1779
- Place of death:
Biography
Anne Hulton languished in obscurity for almost two hundred years after her death in late 1778 or early 1779. Two coincident circumstances caused her to receive considerable recognition for letters she wrote to her close friend, Mrs. Adam Lightbody, and to others between 1763 and 1776. Collected and published in 1927 as Letters of a Loyalist Lady: Being the Letters of Anne Hulton, Sister of Henry Hulton, Commissioner of Customs at Boston, 1767-1776, they did not receive widespread recognition until the United States was about to celebrate its bicentennial in 1976. Because the feminist movement was then becoming a dominant force in American literary and academic circles, many participants in this movement were eager to ferret out writings by women that had a direct relationship to the American Revolution. The letters Hulton wrote to Lightbody and some other friends were precisely what feminists needed as the bicentennial approached.
Hulton was born in Chester, England, the daughter of John Hulton, of whom little is known. Hulton, who never married, was an active member in the growing family of her brother, Henry Hulton, who was loyal to King George III and served as a commissioner of customs in colonial Boston for nine years immediately before the American Revolution. Henry Hulton, his wife, and their four sons lived in Brookline, Massachusetts, where they owned a house and land. The times were sufficiently troubled, however, that they often had to leave their dwelling for the security of Castle William, an impregnable fortification in Boston harbor. At one point, Henry’s family was terrorized by protesters, who broke the windows of their Brookline residence and threatened to torch it.
Anne Hulton’s extensive correspondence deals with the political unrest that preceded the American Revolution but also with details about current fashions, the domestic economy, diseases and ways of treating them, raising produce and livestock, and the duties a responsible single woman was expected to assume in eighteenth century America. She apparently was a tradesperson before coming to the New World, where she served as manager of her brother’s farm. Her letters describe the food the family ate, the prices they paid for it, and the adjustments they had to make for New England’s climatic extremes.
During Hulton’s stay in the United States, periods of relative calm fell over the Massachusetts colony. Late in 1773, however, overt hostilities erupted over the tax imposed on tea, which some colonists denounced as taxation without representation. Hulton details some of the atrocities the rebels committed against those loyal to the Crown. One loyalist was tarred, feathered, and beaten and then driven for five hours through Boston’s streets on a cart, during which time his captors badgered him to denounce the king, which he would not do. Hulton reports another incident in which rebel guards stripped a woman and her children when she was giving birth, making a sideshow of her childbirth.
Hulton sailed for England late in 1775, returning to her birthplace, Chester. She apparently died there about three years later.