Mary Robinson

Claire Brock (The University of Leicester)
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Mary Robinson was born in Bristol on 27th November 1758. Her father Nicholas Darby was an American-born merchant, while her mother, Hester Darby, claimed aristocratic descent from the Seys of Boverton Casle in South Wales, who in turn boasted family links with the seventeenth-century philosopher John Locke. Robinson was one of three surviving children born to the Darbys; her brothers John and George followed their father into trade, both becoming successful merchants at Leghorn.

In her posthumously published Memoirs (1801) Robinson suggests that her birth during a tremendous thunderstorm foreshadowed the “tempest” of her life in “this world of duplicity and sorrow”. Robinson's unconventional, peripatetic childhood and foreshortened youth certainly furnished her with material for

1785 words

Citation: Brock, Claire. "Mary Robinson". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 21 March 2002 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=3820, accessed 19 March 2024.]

3820 Mary Robinson 1 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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