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Mary Leapor
Mary Leapor (1722–1746) was an English poet, born in Marston St. Lawrence, Northamptonshire, the only child of Anne Sharman (died 1741) and Philip Leapor (1693–1771), a gardener. She is notable for being one of the most critically well-received of the numerous labouring-class writers of the period.
== Life ==
Partly self-educated, she probably received a rudimentary education at either a local dame school, or at the local free school in Brackley on the south side of the Chapel. According to her father she began writing "tolerably" at the age of 10. Her father recollected, "She would often be scribbling, and sometimes in Rhyme," but that her mother ended up discouraging the writing, requesting she find some "more profitable employment". She was fortunate enough to attain a position as kitchen maid with Susanna Jennens ("Parthenissa" in Leapor's poetry), who apparently encouraged her writing and allowed her the use of her library. Jennens wrote poetry herself and had connections to both Mary Astell and Mary Wortley Montagu. Not all employers were so accommodating and Leapor's devotion to writing led to her dismissal from a subsequent position with Sir Richard Chauncy's family, as she apparently would not stop writing even in the kitchen. In 1784 an account was published in ''The Gentleman's Magazine'', possibly by Chauncy's son, allegedly describing Chauncy's remembrances of the poet. According to this piece, Leapor's
fondness for writing verses there displayed itself by her sometimes taking up her pen while the jack was standing still, and the meat scorching … He represented her as having been extremely swarthy, and quite emaciated, with a long crane-neck, and a short body, much resembling, in shape, a bass-viol.〔Stephen Van-Hagen, "(Mary Leapor )," ''The Literary Encyclopedia'' (3 Mar. 2007).〕
She returned home to Brackley to care for her widowed father in 1744 or 1745, and despite many responsibilities, and not being in the best of health herself, she continued to write and her work circulated among the inhabitants of the town. As a consequence she met Bridget Freemantle (1698–1779), the daughter of a former rector, who became both her friend and mentor. This relationship seems to have marked a turning point for Leapor and she wrote the bulk of her oeuvre in a very short period. It was Freemantle who suggested that Leapor publish a volume of poetry by subscription, and she also attempted to have a play of hers, a blank-verse tragedy called ''The Unhappy Father'', produced in London at the Covent Garden Theatre (a second play remains unfinished). Neither venture was immediately successful, Leapor died of measles at Brackley on 12 November 1746 at the age of 24.
Bridget Freemantle continued her quest to publish Leapor's work. In 1748 she arranged the posthumous publication of ''Poems upon Several Occasions'' with approximately six hundred subscribers for the benefit of Philip Leapor. A second volume of poetry and drama was published three years later by Samuel Richardson and edited by Isaac Hawkins Browne. Mary Delany, Stephen Duck, Elizabeth Montagu, and Sarah Scott were among the subscribers. These volumes secured Leapor's reputation as "one of the most interesting of the natural poets."〔Janet Todd, ed. "Leapor, Mary (Molly)." ''British Women Writers: a critical reference guide''. London: Routledge, 1989. 402.〕 John Duncombe praised her in ''The Feminead'' (1754), and Bonnell Thornton and George Colman included her in their ''Poems by Eminent Ladies'' (1755). Leapor herself would not seem to have embraced her status as a "natural" poet, "untainted" by artifice; she worked hard to acquire a literary education as best she could and embraced the neoclassical ideals of her period. At the time of her death she had accumulated seventeen volumes and several volumes of plays: a considerable library for someone with such a limited income.〔Todd, 402.〕 There are many grammatical errors in Leapor's work, which Freemantle apologises for in the Preface to the "Poems Upon Several Occasions" and assures readers that, had Leapor lived to edit them, the poems would have been flawless. She continues that they are, nevertheless, entertaining.
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