Catharine Trotter
Catharine Trotter, born on August 16, 1679, in London, was a notable playwright and philosopher of her time, emerging from a challenging childhood marked by financial instability following her father's death from plague. Her early experiences, including the loss of her family's pension, likely influenced her literary focus on themes such as money, love, female equality, and intellectual freedom. Displaying remarkable intelligence, Trotter began her writing career at a young age, publishing an epistolary novel at fourteen and producing her first play, *Agnes de Castro*, by sixteen. Over the years, she achieved significant acclaim, producing four more plays and multiple philosophical works by the age of twenty-six before stepping back from her writing career. Trotter later married clergyman Patrick Cockburn in 1708 and settled in Aberdeen, Scotland, where she managed family life and resumed writing in the 1720s, exploring philosophical themes and humor. She passed away on May 11, 1749, shortly after her husband's death, leaving behind a legacy of contributions to literature and thought.
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Subject Terms
Catharine Trotter
- Born: August 16, 1679
- Birthplace: London, England
- Died: May 11, 1749
Biography
Catharine Trotter was born on August 16, 1679, in London to Scottish gentleman and navy commander David Trotter and Sarah Ballendon Trotter. Five years later, Trotter’s father and fellow officers onboard ship died from plague. His crewmen stole what possessions he had on board, and within months the goldsmith who had been in charge of Commander Trotter’s remaining estate went bankrupt. The surviving Trotters were destitute, and though an empathetic King Charles II gave the family a living pension, the king died a year later and the pension died with him. The Trotters’ pension would not be reinstated until seven years later, in 1702, when Queen Anne ascended the throne. This financial situation may have caused Trotter to focus some of her writings on money, as well as on the themes of love, female equality, and intellectual freedom.
The young Trotter was a smart child who displayed her genius by writing verses, mastering French, and drafting an abstract of logic and other philosophies that she would use in her writing. When she was fourteen, Trotter began writing to authors, gaining friendships with and crafting verse for such notables as William Congreve, George Farquhar, Bevil Higgons, and John Locke. At age fourteen she also published an epistolary novel and by the time she was sixteen, her first play, Agnes de Castro, was produced in London. With gifts for writing drama, poetry, and philosophy, Trotter saw the success of four more plays and five philosophical and epistolary works, all by the age of twenty-six, when she “retired” from her writing career. By this time, she had moved in with her sister and brother-in-law at Salisbury, Wiltshire, and had completed her final work, a play featuring female characters as freedom fighters in male disguise and as intellectuals arguing with archbishops.
Trotter had many suitors. She married Patrick Cockburn, a clergyman, in 1708, and the couple settled in Aberdeen, Scotland. Here, Trotter raised the couple’s children and attended to domestic duties. Around 1726, Trotter resumed writing, composing philosophical works on John Locke and comic plays. She died on May 11, 1749, a few months after her husband’s death.