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Myers Literary Guide:
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The North-East
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ELIZABETH BARRETT BROWNING (1806 - 1861) Elizabeth Barrett was born at Coxhoe Hall (now demolished) in County Durham, where her father Edward (Moulton) Barrett had leased the house. She was christened in Kelloe church, where a plaque describes her as 'a great poetess, a noble woman, a devoted wife'. She spent the first three years of her life at Coxhoe. Her mother Mary was the daughter of John Graham-Clarke of Kenton Lodge, and later Fenham Hall on Newcastle, a merchant with extensive interests throughout the North East of England. The family also had a house at 92 Pilgrim Street. While at school in England, after arriving from Jamaica, young Edward spent many jolly family holidays with the Graham-Clarkes and eventually married Mary in St Nicholas, Church Road, South Gosforth (now close to the Metro station) in May 1805. The family lived in various parts of the country and did not become the 'Barretts of Wimpole Street' until 1835, seven years after Mary Barrett's death. Elizabeth was an admirer of Harriet Martineau (q.v) as a journalist and political economist, and also shared her detestation of slavery. As an invalid herself, she was thrilled to read of Harriet's recovery through mesmerism - Harriet's maid mesmerised her twice a day - but feared to give control of herself to another person. Margaret Forster's novel Lady's Maid shows the Brownings through the eyes of Mary Wilson, a girl from Newcastle or nearby, who worked in the Pilgrim Street house and played a significant role in Elizabeth Barrett Browning's life both in England and Italy.
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