Cockburn

CATHARINE COCKBURN (1679 - 1749)

Born Catharine Trotter of Scottish stock, she was initially a dramatist, though she had a novel and verse in print by the time she was fourteen . She wrote moralising tragedies like Agnes de Castro, acted at Drury Lane in 1695 when she was only fifteen, and Fatal Friendship (1698). A didactic comedy Love at a Loss was acted in 1700 (and on Radio 3 in 1995). Catharine published work defending John Locke's philosophy in 1702 (and in 1726) and corresponded with Leibnitz, Congreve and Farquar. She also published a theological discourse in 1707.

In 1708, Catharine married the Rev. Patrick Cockburn and bade 'adieu to the muses', living 'in a manner dead' until her children grew up. Cockburn was episcopal minister in Aberdeen and vicar of Longhorsley in Northumberland from 1726, where the family moved in 1737, and where Catharine is buried. She published ethical treatises in 1743 and 1747, and her collected prose works appeared in 1751.

Myers Literary Guide:	The North-East
CATHARINE COCKBURN (1679 - 1749) Born Catharine Trotter of Scottish stock, she was initially a dramatist, though she had a novel and verse in print by the time she was fourteen . She wrote moralising tragedies like Agnes de Castro, acted at Drury Lane in 1695 when she was only fifteen, and Fatal Friendship (1698). A didactic comedy Love at a Loss was acted in 1700 (and on Radio 3 in 1995). Catharine published work defending John Locke's philosophy in 1702 (and in 1726) and corresponded with Leibnitz, Congreve and Farquar. She also published a theological discourse in 1707. In 1708, Catharine married the Rev. Patrick Cockburn and bade 'adieu to the muses', living 'in a manner dead' until her children grew up. Cockburn was episcopal minister in Aberdeen and vicar of Longhorsley in Northumberland from 1726, where the family moved in 1737, and where Catharine is buried. She published ethical treatises in 1743 and 1747, and her collected prose works appeared in 1751.
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