Maria Banks Riddell (née Woodley; 1772–1808) was a

West Indies The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greater A ...

-born poet, anthologist, naturalist, editor and travel writer, who was resident in Scotland and Wales.

Robert Burns Robert Burns (25 January 175921 July 1796), also known familiarly as Rabbie Burns, was a Scottish poet and lyricist. He is widely regarded as the national poet of Scotland and is celebrated worldwide. He is the best known of the poets who hav ...

paid tribute to her as "a votary of the Muses". Riddel was born Maria Woodley, daughter of a Governor of the Leeward Islands. In 1791, she married her first husband Walter Riddell. The couple settled in an estate in

Kirkcudbrightshire Kirkcudbrightshire ( ), or the County of Kirkcudbright or the Stewartry of Kirkcudbright is one of the historic counties of Scotland, covering an area in the south-west of the country. Until 1975, Kirkcudbrightshire was an administrative county ...

, Scotland. Her husband was brother to a patron of Robert Burns. Burns became a close friend of Maria, and wrote love songs for her. From 1794 to 1795, she and Burns quarrelled over his behavior towards her when drunk. Following the death of her first husband, Riddell married the Welsh landowner Phillips Lloyd Fletcher. She was buried in a family vault located in

Chester Chester is a cathedral city and the county town of Cheshire, England. It is located on the River Dee, close to the English–Welsh border. With a population of 79,645 in 2011,"2011 Census results: People and Population Profile: Chester Loca ...

Life

Maria Woodley was the daughter of William Woodley, Governor of the Leeward Islands for the terms 1768–1771 and 1791–1793). She accompanied him on a visit to the islands in 1788 and wrote an account of it. The book also included a natural history of the

Leeward Islands french: Îles-Sous-le-Vent , image_name = , image_caption = ''Political'' Leeward Islands. Clockwise: Antigua and Barbuda, Guadeloupe, Saint kitts and Nevis. , image_alt = , locator_map = , location = Caribbean SeaNorth Atlantic Ocean , coor ...

written by her. ''Voyages to Madeira and the Leeward and Caribbean Islands'' (Edinburgh 1792). In 1791 she married Walter Riddell of Glenriddell,

Dumfriesshire Dumfriesshire or the County of Dumfries or Shire of Dumfries (''Siorrachd Dhùn Phris'' in Gaelic) is a historic county and registration county in southern Scotland. The Dumfries lieutenancy area covers a similar area to the historic county. I ...

, younger brother of

's patron

Robert Riddell Captain Robert Riddell (1755–1794), Laird of Friar's Carse, near Dumfries. A friend of Robert Burns, who made him a collection of his poems which later became famous, and wrote a poem 'Sonnet On The Death Of Robert Riddell' in memory of him ...

, and the pair set up house at an estate called Woodley Park (now known as Goldielea) in the historical county of

. Burns, a guest at literary parties there, became a close friend and critic of Maria Riddell, writing several love songs for her. In early 1794, he made a drunken overture to her, which resulted in them quarrelling and Burns losing the support of his patron, who died that year. Maria and her husband were reconciled with Burns in 1795, when she sent a poem of appeasement.''The Feminist Companion to Literature in English'', eds Virginia Blain, Patricia Clements and Isobel Grundy (London: Batsford, 1990), pp. 246–247. When Burns died in 1796, Maria wrote an admired account of him for the ''Dumfries Journal''. She was also a friend of the novelist and poet

Helen Craik Helen Craik (c. 1751 – 11 June 1825) was a Scottish poet and novelist, and a correspondent of Robert Burns. She praised him for being a "native genius, gay, unique and strong" in an introductory poem to his Glenriddell Manuscripts. Early life ...

, another admirer of Burns. She included some poems by

Anna Laetitia Barbauld Anna Laetitia Barbauld (, by herself possibly , as in French, Aikin; 20 June 1743 – 9 March 1825) was a prominent English poet, essayist, literary critic, editor, and author of children's literature. A " woman of letters" who published in mu ...

Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire Georgiana Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire (née Spencer; ; 7 June 1757 – 30 March 1806), was an English aristocrat, socialite, political organiser, author, and activist. Born into the Spencer family, married into the Cavendish family, she wa ...

and Mary Darwall in her 1802 anthology, ''The Metrical Miscellany''. Her husband lost Woodley Park and another property and died at the end of the century. Maria Riddell and her two children moved to

Hampton Court Hampton Court Palace is a Grade I listed royal palace in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, southwest and upstream of central London on the River Thames. The building of the palace began in 1514 for Cardinal Thomas Wolsey, the chief ...

as pensioners. In 1807, she married a Welsh landowner, Phillips Lloyd Fletcher, and is buried in the Fletcher family vault at

Works

*''Voyage to the Madeira and Leeward and Caribbean Isles, with Sketches of the Natural History of these Islands'', Edinburgh, 1792 *''The Metrical Miscellany, consisting chiefly of poems hitherto unpublished'', 1802 (as editor), 2nd ed., 1803

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Riddell, Maria 1772 births 1808 deaths 18th-century naturalists 18th-century Scottish writers 18th-century Scottish women writers 19th-century Scottish writers 19th-century Scottish women writers 18th-century women scientists British Leeward Islands people Scottish travel writers Caribbean writers British women travel writers Scottish women poets People associated with Dumfries and Galloway Anthologists Women anthologists Women naturalists Scottish naturalists

Life

Works

See also

References