Ann Batten Cristall (1769–1848) was an English poet and schoolteacher on friendly terms with

Mary Wollstonecraft Mary Wollstonecraft (, ; 27 April 1759 – 10 September 1797) was a British writer, philosopher, and advocate of women's rights. Until the late 20th century, Wollstonecraft's life, which encompassed several unconventional personal relationsh ...

Anna Letitia 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 ...

and several other writers of her period. A recent critic has noted in her work "technical virtuosity, masked by claims of metrical irregularity, and a profound questioning of Romantic values."Richard C. Sha: "Cristall, Ann Batten" in: Frederick Burwick, ed.: ''Encyclopedia of Romantic Literature'' (Oxford, UK: Blackwell, 2012
Retrieved 19 October 2015
/ref>

Early life and education

Ann Batten Cristall's date of birth is not known, but she was baptised in

Penzance Penzance ( ; kw, Pennsans) is a town, civil parish and port in the Penwith district of Cornwall, United Kingdom. It is the most westerly major town in Cornwall and is about west-southwest of Plymouth and west-southwest of London. Situ ...

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a Historic counties of England, historic county and Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people ...

, on 7 December 1769 as the second of the four children of Alexander Cristall (1718 or 1719–1802), a mariner and later a sailmaker, originally from

Monifieth Monifieth is a town and former police burgh in the council area of Angus, Scotland. It is situated on the north bank of the Firth of Tay on the east coast. In 2016, the population of Monifieth was estimated at 8,110, making it the fifth larges ...

, near

Dundee Dundee (; sco, Dundee; gd, Dùn Dè or ) is Scotland's fourth-largest city and the 51st-most-populous built-up area in the United Kingdom. The mid-year population estimate for 2016 was , giving Dundee a population density of 2,478/km2 or ...

, Scotland, by his second wife Elizabeth (1745–1801), the daughter of the Penzance merchant John Batten. She also had two half-brothers through her father's first marriage. The family moved to London during her childhood, and then to

Rotherhithe Rotherhithe () is a district of south-east London, England, and part of the London Borough of Southwark. It is on a peninsula on the south bank of the Thames, facing Wapping, Shadwell and Limehouse on the north bank, as well as the Isle of D ...

and Blackheath. Her father is said to have had "a dread of the arts", but her mother was a "woman of education and taste". Partly educated by her mother, Ann was then sent to school in London with her brother

Joshua Cristall Joshua Cristall (1767–1847) was an English painter. For a time he was president of the Society of Painters in Water-Colours, a medium in which he showed a pleasing freedom and simplicity of style. Life Cristall was born at Camborne in Cornwa ...

(baptised 1768–1847), who became a noted water-colourist.Richard Greene: "Cristall, Ann Batten (bap. 1769, d. 1848)", rev. Leya Landau. ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (Oxford, UK: OUP, 2004)
Retrieved 19 October 2015. Pay-walled
/ref>

Career

Cristall became a schoolteacher but seems to have remained dependent financially on her brother Joshua. There are several references to her in the correspondence of Mary Wollstonecraft, who wrote to Joshua in March 1790 that Ann's "comfort very much depends on you." In a further letter to Joshua on 9 December 1790 she noted, "I fear her situation is very uncomfortable. I wish she could obtain a little more strength of mind." Wollstonecraft, along with Barbauld,

John Aikin John Aikin (15 January 1747 – 7 December 1822) was an English medical doctor and surgeon. Later in life he devoted himself wholly to biography and writing in periodicals. Life He was born at Kibworth Harcourt, Leicestershire, England, son of ...

, Mary Hays,

Ann Jebb Ann Jebb (''née'' Torkington; 1735–1812) was an English political reformer and radical writer. She was born at Ripton-Kings, Huntingdonshire, to Dorothy Sherard (herself daughter of Philip Sherard, 2nd Earl of Harborough) and James Torkin ...

and other literary figures, features in the subscription list for Christall's ''Poetical Sketches'', which was published in 1795 by Joseph Johnson.Paula R. Feldman: ''British Women Poets of the Romantic Era. An Anthology'' (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins UP, 1997), p. 213 ff. This contains seven extracts from the book. It includes a self-deprecating preface by the poet. Cristall's longer narrative poems and her verse pastoral sketches tend to be melancholy and inclined towards the uncanny or even horrific. Critics at the time noted some imperfections, but praised her "genius and Warmth of imagination". They include some nature description and laments for dying genius.''The Feminist Companion to Literature in English'', eds Virginia Blain, Patricia Clements and Isobel Grundy (London: Batsford, 1990), p. 248. A recent critic discerned in her work "technical virtuosity, masked by claims of metrical irregularity, and a profound questioning of Romantic values." Another modern commentator has called her book of poems "a remarkable text of women's Romanticism".Orlando projec
Retrieved 25 November 2016.
/ref> A suggestion by the poet George Dyer for Cristall to collaborate with Mary Hays on a "poetical novel" was not followed through. She was introduced in 1797 to

Robert Southey Robert Southey ( or ; 12 August 1774 – 21 March 1843) was an English poet of the Romantic school, and Poet Laureate from 1813 until his death. Like the other Lake Poets, William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Southey began as a ra ...

, who praised her genius in a letter of 13 March 1797 to the publisher

Joseph Cottle Joseph Cottle (1770–1853) was an English publisher and author. Cottle started business in Bristol. He published the works of Samuel Taylor Coleridge and Robert Southey on generous terms. He then wrote in his ''Early Recollections'' an exposur ...

Later life and death

Little is known of Cristall's later life. She appears to have dropped out of the literary social scene after the 1790s and to have remained unmarried. She may have lived latterly with a younger sister, Elizabeth, an engraver, serving as an assistant at Lewisham Hill Grammar School in Kent. She died on 9 February 1848, four months after her brother. There is a memorial inscription in her maiden name in St Mary's Church,

Lewisham Lewisham () is an area of southeast London, England, south of Charing Cross. It is the principal area of the London Borough of Lewisham, and was within the historic county of Kent until 1889. It is identified in the London Plan as one ...

, where she was buried.

External links

Ann Batten Cristall
at th
Eighteenth-Century Poetry Archive (ECPA)
* The text of ''Poetical Sketches''

* An analysis of ''Poetical Sketches'' and its context
Retrieved 19 October 2015

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cristall, Ann Batten 1769 births 1848 deaths 18th-century British women writers English women poets 18th-century English poets Schoolteachers from Cornwall People from Penzance 18th-century English women 18th-century English people