MS 681 06

MS 681 06

Moulton-Barrett family papers: Papers of Elizabeth (Ba) Barrett Moulton-Barrett (1806-1861)

Series

MS 681/01/1 Box ‘X Elizabeth Moulton-Barrett’

Elizabeth Barrett Moulton-Barrett (1806-1861) was the eldest child of Edward Moulton-Barrett (1785-1857) and Mary Graham-Clarke (1781-1828). Known to family and close friends as ‘Ba’, she was born in March 1806 at Coxhoe Hall, County Durham. She spent her childhood at Hope End in Herefordshire until the family moved to Sidmouth in 1832, following her mother’s death, and later settled at 50 Wimpole Street, in London.

A highly intelligent child, Elizabeth was educated alongside her brother Edward (‘Bro’) by a private tutor until he was sent for formal schooling. She taught herself extensively, reading Shakespeare, Milton, Homer, Virgil, Locke, Hooker, and Pope. By eleven she was writing poetry; by fourteen her father had her work privately printed. She formed a close literary friendship with Mary Russell Mitford, whom she met in 1836, and who became a mentor and regular correspondent. This introduction came via John Kenyon, a wealthy cousin of her father with shared literary interests and family ties to Jamaica.

Elizabeth suffered from chronic illnesses from her early teens and relied on pain relief for the remainder of her life.

Her interest in politics was influenced by her uncle Samuel Barrett, MP for Richmond, Yorkshire (1820–1828), who later managed the family’s Jamaican estates. His death in 1837 left her a substantial legacy, including shares in the ship David Lyon, which carried the Barrett estates’ produce from Jamaica to England. Combined with an inheritance from her grandmother in 1830, this gave her a degree of financial independence.

Between 1838 and 1841, she lived in Torquay to escape London’s polluted air, which had worsened her condition. The deaths of her brothers Sam and Bro in 1840 deeply affected her. After returning to London in 1841, she regained strength and maintained correspondence with leading literary figures, producing significant new poetry. She began writing to the poet Robert Browning in 1845; they soon developed a close relationship. Knowing her father would never allow it and would disown and disinherit her, they married secretly in September 1846 and left for Europe, settling in Florence, Italy. Some of her siblings supported her decision, though others remained loyal to their father until after his death in 1857, when family ties were largely restored.

From 1848, the Brownings lived at Casa Guidi in Florence, though they travelled within Europe and visited England occasionally. Elizabeth's literary reputation grew, and she became one of the most acclaimed poets of the Victorian era. Their son, Robert (Pen) Wiedeman Barrett Browning, was born in 1849. Elizabeth’s health declined in her final years, and she died in Florence in June 1861.

1810-1859

5 files, 19 items

The papers chiefly date from before Elizabeth Moulton-Barrett’s marriage to Robert Browning and comprise correspondence with family and friends. They also include some early writing, financial papers, some of her drawings and images and portraits of her.

Papers of Elizabeth Moulton-Barrett have been arranged into 6 sub-series:

01 Correspondence
02 Early writings
03 Financial papers
04 Portraits, drawings and sketches of Elizabeth Moulton-Barrett
05 Drawings and sketches by Elizabeth Moulton-Barrett
06 Photographs of Elizabeth Moulton-Barrett

See some related Browning material collected by the Moulton-Barrett family in MS 681 22 and also two other important Eton College Library collections focusing on the period after her marriage to Robert Browning: MS 682 Robert and Elizabeth Barrett Browning collection which includes the Eton Meredith Collection.

There are two then unpublished Sonnets by EBB - 'Life' and 'The Prospect', written in manuscript in Poems of Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1833), held in ECL - Id3.4.11(01)

These papers have been published or cited in Kelley, Hudson et al.: The Brownings’ Correspondence Vols 1-31, 1809-1865 - as Letter numbers or ‘Supporting Documents’ (SDs) Nos. Also, transcripts of some letters and documents have been published online at www.browningscorrespondence.com