A Political Biography of Eliza Haywood

280 Pages·2012·4.48 MB·English

by  Kathryn R King

A POLITICAL BIOGRAPHY OF
ELIZA HAYWOOD
Eighteenth-Century
Political Biographies
Series Editor: J. A. Downie
Titles in this Series
1 Daniel Defoe
P. N. Furbank & W. R. Owens
2 Jonathan Swift
David Oakleaf
3 Delarivier Manley
Rachel Carnell
4 Henry Fielding
J. A. Downie
5 Richard Steele
Charles Knight
6 Alexander Pope
Pat Rogers
7 William King
Christopher Fauske
8 John Toland
Michael Brown
Forthcoming Titles
Samuel Johnson
Nicholas Hudson
Th omas Paine
W. A. Speck
Joseph Addison
Charles Knight
Frances Burney
Lorna J. Clark
Maria Edgeworth
Susan Manly
A POLITICAL BIOGRAPHY OF
ELIZA HAYWOOD
by
Kathryn R. King
First published 2012 by Pickering & Chatto (Publishers) Limited
Published 2016 by Routledge
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711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017, USA
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© Taylor & Franc is 2012
© Kathryn R. King 2012
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relevant copyright holders and to clear any relevant copyright issues.
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british library cataloguing in publication data
King, Kathryn R.
A political biography of Eliza Haywood. – (Eighteenth-century political
biographies)
1. Haywood, Eliza Fowler, 1693?–1756. 2. Haywood, Eliza Fowler, 1693?–
1756 – Political and social views. 3. Women authors, English – 18th century
– Biography. 4. Authors, English – 18th century – Biography. 5. Politics and
literature – Great Britain – History – 18th century. 6. Politics in literature.
I. Title II. Series
828.5’09-dc23
ISBN-13: 978-1-85196-917-3 (hbk)
Typeset by Pickering & Chatto (Publishers) Limited
CONTENTS
Acknowledgements vii
Abbreviations ix
Biographical Prolegomenon xi
Introduction 1
1 ‘Her Approach to Fame’: 1714–29 17
2 Memoirs of a Certain Island Adjacent to Utopia 35
3 Th eatrical Th irties: 1729–37 55
4 Adventures of Eovaai 73
5 At the Sign of Fame: 1741–4 95
6 Th e Female Spectator 111
7 Th e Parrot 133
8 Epistles for the Ladies 155
9 Was Haywood a Jacobite? 177
Epilogue: Th e Invisible Spy 193
Notes 203
Works Cited 243
Index 259
Page Intentionally Left Blank
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Th anks are due fi rst to Alan Downie for welcoming Eliza Haywood into the
Eighteenth-Century Political Biographies series and for inviting me to contrib-
ute the volume. I am grateful as well to the many scholars who over the years
have answered queries, read and critiqued my work, invited me to speak, shared
unpublished work and the wealth of their databases, and supplied me with leads,
dinners and sometimes living quarters. Th ey are so many that I regret I can do no
more than name them here: Paula Backscheider, Ros Ballaster, Katherine Bin-
hammer, Christine Blouch, Susan Carlile, Rachel Carnell, Norma Clarke, Gillian
Dow, Patsy Fowler, Christine Gerrard, Michael Harris, Alecksondra Hultquist,
Paul Hunter, Catherine Ingrassia, Susan Lanser, Bob Markley, Jean Marsden,
Chris Mounsey, Niall MacKenzie, Leah Orr, Alex Pettit, Laura Rosenthal, Laura
Runge, Betty Schellenberg, Norbert Schürer, the late Hans Turley, Cynthia Wall.
Generous grants from the American Council of Learned Societies and the
American Philosophical Society provided me with sustained time in the British
Library. Financial (and other) support from the University of Montevallo enabled
me to keep the project moving during times of heavy teaching and administrative
responsibilities. I must thank especially Terry Roberson and Mary Beth Arm-
strong for their support and encouragement. I was fortunate enough to spend two
weeks at Chawton House Library and cannot speak highly enough of the warmth
and helpfulness of the staff and the sheer gloriousness of the Stables.
Th is book could not have been written without the assistance of the Interli-
brary Loan team at the University of Montevallo. I honour them all by naming
just one, the late Mary Seagle, the ILL goddess, whose raucous laughter was as
welcome as the books she never failed to locate.
Portions of earlier stages of this book were read by Paula Backscheider, Alan
Downie and Vida Muse and I am grateful for their suggestions. Karen Ruther-
ford and Joe Walsh gave valuable assistance in the fi nal stages; Tonja Battle was
always available for consultation. A special shout-out to Sarah Creel for read-
ing every word and cheering me down the home stretch. Her enthusiasm for
Haywood and strong arm carried me through. My students are always teaching
me new things about Haywood; I thank them all and bow in admiration to the
– vii –
viii A Political Biography of Eliza Haywood
graduate student who now bears a tattoo of the famous frontispiece portrait on
her arm. Portions of this book were written in South Africa and for sustenance
of many kinds I must thank my friends in Agulhas, especially Peta Van Gass,
Chris Van Gass and Cairen Hackney.
One of my greatest debts is to Tom Lockwood. For many years he has read my
work and listened to my thinking about Eliza Haywood and he always asks the
right questions. His wit, curiosity, and sardonic intelligence have inspired and
shaped much of what I like best about this book. Another debt not easily repaid
is owing to those who have reminded me that there is life outside the Haywood
cave: especially Stephen Collins, Joe Walsh (again), and of course Ruth Looper.
My proud mother read the biography of Jane Barker I published some years
ago but admitted to being frustrated by its academic vocabulary. Write something
I can enjoy, she said. She did not live to read A Political Biography of Eliza Hay-
wood but I know she would have appreciated its feisty subject and hope she would
have taken pleasure in parts of the story. To Mary M. King this book is dedicated.
ABBREVIATIONS
Baker D. E. Baker, Th e Companion to the Play-House; or An Historical Account of All the
Dramatic Writers (and their Works) that have Appeared in Great Britain and Ireland
… in the Form of a Dictionary (London, 1764). A new edition, revised by Isaac Reed
appeared in 1782 as Biographia Dramatica, or, A Companion to the Play House …
Continued fr om 1764 to 1782 (London, 1782)
BL British Library
Corr. Horace Walpole’s Correspondence with Sir Horace Mann, ed. W. S. Lewis, W. H. Smith
and G. L. Lam, Series: Th e Yale Edition of Horace Walpole’s Correspondence (New
Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1953)
DNB Dictionary of National Biography
ECF Eighteenth-Century Fiction
ECS Eighteenth-Century Studies
ELH English Literary History
FS Female Spectator
GM Gentleman’s Magazine
LEP London Evening Post
MR Monthly Review
N&Q Notes and Queries
ODNB Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
OEJ Old England, or, Th e Constitutional Journal
RES Review of English Studies
SEL Studies in English Literature
WEP Whitehall Evening Post
Works Selected Works of Eliza Haywood, ed. A. Pettit, 6 vols (London: Pickering & Chatto,
2000–1)
– ix –