Ann Yearsley
Ann Yearsley (1752-1806) was an English poet and writer who overcame a challenging upbringing to gain recognition in the literary world during the late 18th century. Born near Bristol, she faced hardship after the early loss of her father and was raised by her mother, Mrs. Cromartie, who instilled in her a love for reading. Yearsley’s exposure to classic literature, including works by Milton and Shakespeare, significantly influenced her writing. At sixteen, she married John Yearsley, and together they experienced dire poverty, particularly during the harsh winter of 1783-1784.
Her plight attracted the support of local benefactors, leading to her discovery as a poet. Esteemed Bluestockings, Hannah More and Elizabeth Montagu, helped publish her works and secure financial stability for her family. Yearsley's writing encompassed themes such as social justice, the abolition of the slave trade, and compassion, setting her apart from her contemporaries. She utilized various literary forms, including poetry and drama, to advocate for change. Throughout her life, she maintained her literary endeavors and established a circulating library in Bristol, ultimately publishing a significant collection of her poetry, "The Rural Lyre," in 1796. Ann Yearsley's journey exemplifies resilience and the transformative power of literature.
On this Page
Subject Terms
Ann Yearsley
Poet
- Born: July 1, 1753
- Birthplace: Clifton Hill, near Bristol, England
- Died: May 8, 1806
Biography
Ann Yearsley, who rose to fame from a background of squalor at the juncture between the Age of Enlightenment and early Romanticism, was born and raised at Clifton Hill, near Bristol, England. She lost her father early. Her mother, Mrs. Cromartie, and older brother are both given credit for teaching her to read. Mrs. Cromartie passed on to her daughter her vocation as a milkwoman, and she borrowed books for Ann from the prosperous families to whom she made daily milk deliveries. Thus Ann became acquainted with works by John Milton and William Shakespeare, her most important early influences.
At approximately age sixteen, Ann was married off to John Yearsley, an agricultural laborer who soon became unemployed and to whom Ann bore five children in the first five years of marriage. (A sixth child was born later.) Their situation reached its nadir during the bitterly cold winter of 1783-1784. However, Ann Yearsley’s ascent to the heights of the fashionable literary world also began at that point.
When John Yearsley, his pregnant wife Ann, their four children, and Mrs. Cromartie were found huddled in the straw, near starvation and freezing in their hovel, local benefactors took an interest in them. It was soon ascertained that Ann Yearsley, the young milkwoman, was an untutored poet. This came at the apogee of eighteenth century society’s interest in both natural geniuses and talented women. Two eminent Bluestockings, Hannah More and Elizabeth Montagu, adopted Yearsley as their latest protégée. They published her works by subscription, raised a considerable sum of money, and invested it to ensure her and her children’s future. Instead of basking in the happy ending to a fairy tale, Yearsley became a challenging and sophisticated writer who took on such causes as ending the slave trade, establishing justice for the English working classes, and even campaigning to save Marie Antoinette from execution. Yearsley used the media of poetry, the pamphlet, and most ambitiously, drama in verse (Earl Goodwin, performed in 1789, published in 1791) to express her concerns. What sets her agenda apart from that of contemporaries with views similar to her own is her belief that society must be moved and healed by love.
The resourceful Yearsley prospered even during the hard times of the Napoleonic Wars, by opening a circulating library in the prosperous Hot Wells section of Bristol. She continued to succeed in her remaining years, selling her own works by subscription, including her final, most substantial and virtuosic volume of poetry, The Rural Lyre: A Volume of Poems (1796).