Anna Laetitia Barbauld was born on 20 June 1743 at Kibworth Harcourt, Leicester, to a highly respected middle-class Dissenting family of Scottish origin. During her early years her father, John Aikin, a distinguished classicist and theologian, operated a small but highly respected boys' school. Young Anna received her early education from her parents, her father even overcoming his reluctance to teaching her Latin and Greek. At a very young age, then, Anna Aikin was already extraordinarily well-educated for a girl.

Because of their departure from beliefs and practices of the Church of England, Dissenters suffered legal and social discrimination, and were barred from England's prestigious universities. As a result they establish

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First published 23 March 2002

Citation: Waters, Mary. "Anna Barbauld". The Literary Encyclopedia. 23 March 2002.
[http://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=249, accessed 9 February 2010.]