Charlotte Smith

CHARLOTTE TURNER was born in London in 1749. As a result of her father’s reckless spending, she was required to marry very early, at the age of 15, Benjamin Smith, the violent son of a wealthy merchant. They had twelve children. Her husband was eventually incarcerated for debt, and she joined him in debtor’s prison. Her first publication, a book of poetry entitled Elegiac Sonnets, was published while she lived there in 1784. After release from the prison, the couple moved around trying to avoid Smith’s creditors; she finally left him in 1787.

Smith settled near Chichester and her first novel, Emmeline, was published very successfully in 1788. It was followed by nine more, as well as essays, children’s books and further poetry. She grew increasingly radical, and embraced the growing movement for the rights of women, as well as the huge political changes that accompanied the American War of Independence and the French Revolution.

A legal dispute over her father’s will, starving her of funds, had been churning through the chancery system for many years, since his death in 1776. It was not settled in her lifetime. Having hitherto earnt enough through her writing to support herself and her children, changing times saw her star waning and income decreasing. By 1803 she was living in poverty. She died at the age of 57 in 1806.