Author: Coppinger, Anna Maria de Burgh
Biography:
COPPINGER, Anna Maria de Burgh (d 1802: ODNB)
Pseudonym Mrs. Freeman
Only one copy of A Mock Elegy is known to survive and an inscription in it by William Henry Ireland (q.v.) is the basis of the attribution to Anna Maria de Burgh Coppinger, Ireland’s mother. Her life is shrouded in mystery which is almost certainly an effect she intended. It seems unlikely that de Burgh Coppinger was her real name. Joseph Farington’s diary is the source of some information about her but even it rather obscures than clarifies the facts. Farington recorded on 13 Jan. 1796 that she had come from a good family and had a brother who disowned her. A former mistress of the Earl of Sandwich, she lived with Samuel Ireland (W. H. Ireland’s father) as his housekeeper and adopted the name of Mrs. Freeman. Even at the time she was generally believed to have borne Ireland’s children. She is thought to have died in 1802 although no public record has been located. (ODNB [for W. H. Ireland and Samuel Ireland] 2 Feb. 2024; J. Farington, Diary [1802]; R. Miles, Romantic Misfits [2008])
Other Names:
- Mrs. Freeman