Anne, Viscountess Irvine ( – 2 December 1764), was a British court official. She was a poet and close friend of

Horace Walpole Horatio Walpole (), 4th Earl of Orford (24 September 1717 – 2 March 1797), better known as Horace Walpole, was an English writer, art historian, man of letters, antiquarian, and Whigs (British political party), Whig politician. He had Strawb ...

Early life

Anne was born and was raised in

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...

. Her father was Charles Howard, 3rd Earl of Carlisle and her mother was Anne Capel. Her maternal grandparents were Arthur Capell, 1st Earl of Essex and Lady Elizabeth Percy.Greenblatt, Stephen, ed. "Anne Ingram, Viscountess Irwin." ''The Norton Anthology of English Literature''. New York: W. W. Norton & Co., 2012. 2780-83. Print.Ingram ée Howard; other married name Douglas Anne, Viscountess Irwin rvine(c.1696–1764), poet, by Richard Quaintance By 1712, her parents were irretreviably separated, and Anne seems to have remained close to her father; some of her letters to him survive. She wrote a poem that was a tribute to her father, "Castle Howard" in 1732.

"An Epistle to Mr. Pope"

One of Ingram's most renowned poems is "An Epistle to Mr. Pope, Occasioned by his Characters of Women" that she wrote in response to

Alexander Pope Alexander Pope (21 May 1688 O.S. – 30 May 1744) was an English poet, translator, and satirist of the Enlightenment era who is considered one of the most prominent English poets of the early 18th century. An exponent of Augustan literature, ...

’s poem "Epistle 2. To a Lady" and his other poems where he addresses women. To argue against Pope's differentiation, she creatively alters the rhyming couplet form Pope used to emphasize what both sexes have in common: the love of power. Many lines in this poem are slightly altered from Pope or exactly quoted in a different context, "For love of power is still the love of fame" ("Epistle 2. To a Lady," lines 207–10; "An Epistle to Mr. Pope," line 22). Her poetry defended women from the usual accusations of being manipulative and inferior.

Personal life

Around December 1717, Lady Anne was married to

Rich Ingram, 5th Viscount of Irvine Colonel Rich Ingram, 5th Viscount of Irvine (6 January 1688 – 10 April 1721), was an English peer and politician. Early life Ingram was born on 6 January 1688. He was the second of nine sons born to Isabella Machell (1670–1764) and Arthur In ...

. Lord Irvine served as Governor of Kingston-upon-Hull from 1715 until his death from

smallpox Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by variola virus (often called smallpox virus) which belongs to the genus Orthopoxvirus. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (WHO) c ...

in 1721, four years after their marriage. Anne, who had no children with her first husband, traveled by herself to the Netherlands and France in 1730, and in 1736, she became an attendant of the Princess of Wales,

Augusta of Saxe-Gotha Princess Augusta of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg ( – 8 February 1772) was Princess of Wales by marriage to Frederick, Prince of Wales, eldest son and heir apparent of King George II. She never became queen consort, as Frederick predeceased his father ...

, wife of

Frederick, Prince of Wales Frederick, Prince of Wales, (Frederick Louis, ; 31 January 170731 March 1751), was the eldest son and heir apparent of King George II of Great Britain. He grew estranged from his parents, King George and Queen Caroline. Frederick was the fath ...

and, later, mother of King

George III George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of the two kingdoms on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Br ...

. It was not until 1737 that Anne remarried, after sixteen years of widowhood. She married Colonel William Douglas of Kirkness an MP for

Kinross-shire The County of Kinross or Kinross-shire is a historic county and registration county in eastern Scotland, administered as part of Perth and Kinross since 1930. Surrounding its largest settlement and county town of Kinross, the county borders Per ...

, despite the disapproval of her family. Douglas died on 5 August 1747. Anne died 2 December 1764, and is buried near her second husband at Kew.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ingram, Anne 1696 births 1764 deaths 18th-century British women writers 18th-century English nobility

Irvine Irvine may refer to: Places On Earth Antarctica *Irvine Glacier *Mount Irvine (Antarctica) Australia *Irvine Island *Mount Irvine, New South Wales Canada *Irvine, Alberta * Irvine Inlet, Nunavut United Kingdom *Irvine, North Ayrshire, Scotla ...

English women poets Daughters of British earls Anne Ladies of the Bedchamber Household of Augusta of Saxe-Gotha