Mary Matilda Betham was an English poet, woman of letters, and miniature painter.

She was the daughter of William Betham

William Betham (antiquary)

William Betham was an English clergyman and antiquary, known for his work on the baronetage.-Life:He was born at Little Strickland, near Morland, Westmoreland, on 17 May 1749. He was educated at the public school of Bampton, was ordained in 1773, apparently without graduating at a university, and...

. In London, Betham gave public Shakespeare readings and exhibited her portraits at the Royal Academy. She published A Biographical Dictionary of the Celebrated Women of Every Age and Country in 1804. Her best work in poetry is Lay of Marie (1816), based upon the story of Marie de France

Marie de France

Marie de France was a medieval poet who was probably born in France and lived in England during the late 12th century. She lived and wrote at an undisclosed court, but was almost certainly at least known about at the royal court of King Henry II of England...

. Betham was a close friend of Robert Southey

Robert Southey

Robert Southey was an English poet of the Romantic school, one of the so-called "Lake Poets", and Poet Laureate for 30 years from 1813 to his death in 1843...

 and his wife, Anna Laetitia Barbauld

Anna Laetitia Barbauld

Anna Laetitia Barbauld was a prominent English poet, essayist, literary critic, editor, and children's author.A "woman of letters" who published in multiple genres, Barbauld had a successful writing career at a time when female professional writers were rare...

 and her husband, and Charles and Mary Lamb

Mary Lamb

Mary Ann Lamb , was an English writer, the sister and collaborator of Charles Lamb.-Biography:She was born on 3 December 1764. In 1796, Mary, who had suffered a breakdown from the strain of caring for her family, killed her mother with a kitchen knife, and from then on had to be kept under constant...

 and an acquaintance of John Opie

John Opie

John Opie was an English historical and portrait painter. He painted many great men and women of his day, most notably in the artistic and literary professions.-Life and work:...

, Frances Holcroft, Hannah More

Hannah More

Hannah More was an English religious writer, and philanthropist. She can be said to have made three reputations in the course of her long life: as a poet and playwright in the circle of Johnson, Reynolds and Garrick, as a writer on moral and religious subjects, and as a practical...

, Germaine de Staël, and Samuel Taylor Coleridge

Samuel Taylor Coleridge

Samuel Taylor Coleridge was an English poet, Romantic, literary critic and philosopher who, with his friend William Wordsworth, was a founder of the Romantic Movement in England and a member of the Lake Poets. He is probably best known for his poems The Rime of the Ancient Mariner and Kubla...

. Some of Betham's letters along with a biographical sketch are in the book Six Life Stories of Famous Women (1880) by her niece Matilda Betham-Edwards

Matilda Betham-Edwards

Matilda Betham-Edwards was an English novelist, travel writer and francophile. She was also a prolific poet and wrote several children's books. She also corresponded with well-known English male poets of the day.-Biography:She was the daughter of a clergyman...

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