Sadly, tragedy struck just a year later in 1821 when she developed an agonising spinal disease at the age of fifteen, leaving her with a lifetime of pain.Īfter experiencing severe symptoms of head and spinal pain as well as some loss of mobility she was sent to a Gloucester spa for treatment, however long-term she would be forced to resort to taking laudanum and morphine, leading to a life-long dependence on strong medication and a permanently weakened body as a result.Īt this time in her life she again found solace in literature, becoming particularly inspired by Mary Wollstonecraft’s feminist discourse entitled “A Vindication of the Rights of Women”. Meanwhile her mother, who was impressed by Elizabeth’s literary prowess, put together a compilation of all of Elizabeth’s poems, whilst her father, showing how much pride he had in his daughter’s natural talent, referred to her as the “Poet Laureate of Hope End”. By the age of ten, she had begun to study Greek and the following year even composed her own Homeric inspired work entitled, “The Battle of Marathon: A Poem”.Įlizabeth proved herself to be most content when she had her nose in a book and her writing would continue to become a creative outlet which later transformed into a successful career.īy the time she was fourteen, she had her epic privately published with copies handed out to members of the family. She was tutored alongside her brother and would prove to be very advanced for her age. He moved his wife and twelve children into a beautiful mansion which he designed himself in an Ottoman style with the most opulent interiors making use of the finest materials.Įlizabeth grew up in an affluent setting and received a good education from home.
With her father choosing to keep his family in England, whilst maintaining his business interests in Jamaica, by 1809 he could afford a vast 500 acre estate in Ledbury, Hertfordshire. Her grandfather had ownership of several plantations in the British West Indies as well as mills, glassworks and ships which travelled between Newcastle and Jamaica. This fortune had been accumulated, on both sides of the family, from plantation ownership in Jamaica. Her early life began in the northeast of England in County Durham where she was born on 6th March 1806, the eldest of twelve children.Įlizabeth would benefit from a very comfortable and happy childhood as a result of her family’s immense wealth. Elizabeth Barrett Browning was a celebrated Victorian poet, famous not only for her love sonnets to her husband but her use of poetry to address social issues of the day.
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