Author: Battier, Henrietta
Biography:
BATTIER, Henrietta (fl 1783-99) pseudonyms Patt. Pindar, Pat. Pindar, Pat. T. Pindar
The dates 1751-1813 that are often given for her stand on shaky ground. Little is known about her beyond what can be gleaned from her books, particularly the dedication and preface to Protected Fugitives. O’Donoghue, DIB, and ODNB identify her as the daughter of John Fleming of Staholmock, Meath. That much seems certain. As ODNB correctly says, she did not, as is sometimes claimed, marry Major John Gaspard Battier at Carnarvon. The date of the Fleming-Battier marriage at Carnarvon was 5 Nov. 1789 and by then Henrietta Battier was already married with children and had spent time in London. Orlando gives the first name of her husband as William, son of a Huguenot banker in Dublin. In about 1783 she met with Samuel Johnson to appeal for a subscription to Protected Fugitives. Although Johnson seems likely to have helped her secure subscriptions in England, the list of Irish subscribers and the poems themselves establish her as well-connected in Ireland. Her poems and books record that she lived in Dublin and she was an Irish nationalist. Her poem “To Mr Samuel Whyte of Grafton Street” in Whyte’s 1792 Collection is dated from Fade Street. (It was at Fade Street that she met Thomas Moore [q.v.].) Her husband died in about 1794 and she struggled financially. She moved to nearby 60 Stephen Street where some of her books were available for sale. She had at least four children but a son and a daughter both died. The date and place of her death are given by O’Donoghue as Sandymount, Dublin, in 1813. No records confirming this have been located. Also attributed to her is [An] Irregular Ode To Edward Byrne, Esq. of Mullinahack (Dublin, 1797) but this book is just 8 pages and not included in the database. A more doubtful attribution is The Mousiad (1787) which was issued as by “Polly Pindar.” Although this bawdy poem was published in both England and Ireland, the preface is dated 1787 from Ipswich and there is no evidence that Battier ever lived there. The Lemon is generally accepted to be by her. Her Protected Fugitives includes at the end an exchange of poems with Eliza Ryan (q.v.). (ODNB 9 Jan. 2021; DIB 9 Jan. 2021; O’Donoghue; Orlando)