Henrietta Battier
Encyclopedia
Henrietta Battier [née Fleming] (c.1751–1813) was an Irish poet, satirist, and actress. She married the son of a Dublin banker and had at least four children. While on a visit to London in 1783–4, she approached Samuel Johnson
to request his advice about publishing a manuscript collection of poems; Johnson was encouraging and helped her to build a subscription list: he reportedly said to her, "Don't be disheartened my Child, I have been often glad of a Subscription myself." His death in 1784, however, delayed Battier's plans and The protected fugitives was not published until 1791. While she was in London she acted the role of Lady Rachel Russell in Thomas Stratford's tragedy on the death of Lord Russell
, at the Drury Lane Theatre
. Thereafter both she and her husband became seriously ill, and a son died, in 1789, possibly predeceased by his sister. Back in Dublin, as "Patt. Pindar," she published a series of pointed political lampoons beginning with The Kirwanade: "magnificently controlled vituperation in vigorous, colloquial heroic couplets." Her subsequent satires argued for reform, religious tolerance, and Irish freedom. They would seem to have sold well, but her financial circumstances were straightened. She died in Dublin in 1813.
Samuel Johnson
Samuel Johnson , often referred to as Dr. Johnson, was an English author who made lasting contributions to English literature as a poet, essayist, moralist, literary critic, biographer, editor and lexicographer...
to request his advice about publishing a manuscript collection of poems; Johnson was encouraging and helped her to build a subscription list: he reportedly said to her, "Don't be disheartened my Child, I have been often glad of a Subscription myself." His death in 1784, however, delayed Battier's plans and The protected fugitives was not published until 1791. While she was in London she acted the role of Lady Rachel Russell in Thomas Stratford's tragedy on the death of Lord Russell
William Russell, Lord Russell
William Russell, Lord Russell was an English politician. He was a leading member of the Country Party, forerunners of the Whigs, who opposed the succession of James II during the reign of Charles II, ultimately resulting in his execution for treason.-Early life and marriage:Russell was the third...
, at the Drury Lane Theatre
Theatre Royal, Drury Lane
The Theatre Royal, Drury Lane is a West End theatre in Covent Garden, in the City of Westminster, a borough of London. The building faces Catherine Street and backs onto Drury Lane. The building standing today is the most recent in a line of four theatres at the same location dating back to 1663,...
. Thereafter both she and her husband became seriously ill, and a son died, in 1789, possibly predeceased by his sister. Back in Dublin, as "Patt. Pindar," she published a series of pointed political lampoons beginning with The Kirwanade: "magnificently controlled vituperation in vigorous, colloquial heroic couplets." Her subsequent satires argued for reform, religious tolerance, and Irish freedom. They would seem to have sold well, but her financial circumstances were straightened. She died in Dublin in 1813.
Works
- The Mousiad: an Heroic-Comic Poem. Dublin: P. Byrne, 1787 (attributed).
- The protected fugitives: a collection of miscellaneous poems, the genuine products of a lady, never before published. 1791.
- The Kirwanade, or, Poetical Epistle. Humbly Addressed to the Modern Apostle. Published in two parts, 1791.
- The Gibbonade, or, Political Reviewer. Three issues, 1 May 1793–12 September 1794.
- Marriage Ode Royal after the Manner of Dryden. Dublin and London, 1795.
- The Lemon. 1797.
- An Address on … the Projected Union, To the Illustrious Stephen III, King of Dalkey, Emperor of the Mugglins. 1799.
Resources
- "Battier, Henrietta (Fleming)." The Feminist Companion to Literature in English. Virginia Blain, et al., eds. New Haven and London: Yale UP, 1990. 70.
- Grundy, Isobel. “Battier , Henrietta (c.1751–1813).” Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Ed. H. C. G. Matthew and Brian Harrison. Oxford: OUP, 2004. 5 Apr. 2007.