Author: Letches, Mrs.
Biography:
LETCHES, Mrs. (fl 1792)
Pseudonym A Lady
The identification of the author of the pseudonymously published Poems on Several Occasions (1792) rests on two facts: the place of publication and a note in a contemporary hand on the title-page of one copy which clearly reads “Mrs. Letches.” The author excuses publication on the usual ground of the urging of friends and dedicates the collection to the inhabitants of Bristol. The contents are mostly pious and gloomy but do contain some clues about her life. There is a birthday poem for her eight-year-old son; a short poem naming her favourite poets as Gray, Shenstone, Young, Hervey, Milton, and especially Pope; “My Own Epitaph”; and, most pathetically, a poem to the memory “of my three infants, who died under a year old, and lie entombed together.” The problem is that no public record can be found of any marriage in Britain between 1752 and 1792 with the surname “Letches” (or any likely variant) and likewise no record of the birth or death of her three infants. Mrs. Letches remains a mystery. (ancestry.com 7 Jan. 2024; findmypast.com 7 Jan. 2024; Google Books)