Eliza Fletcher


(Eliza Dawson)

1770 - 1858

Minor author. Born in Yorkshire, the daughter of a land surveyor, she met her husband, the lawyer Archibald Fletcher (1746 - 1828), when she was aged only seventeen. Despite their age difference and the initial disapproval of her father, they married four years later and settled first in Edinburgh, then Balfron, later moving to Auchendinny House in Midlothian.

She was encouraged by Joanna Baillie (1762 - 1851), particularly in producing the historical dramatic sketches Elidure and Edward (1825), for which she is best remembered. She also corresponded with Thomas Carlyle (1795 - 1881).

In 1839, she settled in Grasmere in the English Lake District, where she became friendly with the poet William Wordsworth (1770 - 1850) and his sister Dorothy Wordsworth (1771 - 1855). She died at Grasmere. Her autobiography, published posthumously, proved popular.


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