Anne Southwell
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Anne Southwell | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1574 |
| Died | 2 October 1636 (aged 61–62) |
| Nationality | British |
| Genre | Poet |
Anne Southwell (1574[1] – 1636) [née Harris], later called Anne, Lady Southwell, was a poet.[2][3] Her commonplace book includes a variety of works including political poems, sonnets, occasional verse, and letters to friends.[4]
Southwell was born to Thomas and Elizabeth Harris of Cornworthy, Devon, where she was christened on 22 August 1574.[1] Her brother was the prominent Irish judge Sir Edward Harris.[1] Anne and her first husband moved to Ireland in the early seventeenth century, but little is known of their life there.[5]
On 24 June 1594, she married Thomas Southwell of Norfolk at St Clement Danes in London; they had two daughters.[6] She travelled to Berwick-upon-Tweed at the Union of the Crowns in 1603, hoping to meet Anne of Denmark.[7] She became Anne, Lady Southwell, when Thomas was knighted in 1603.[8] Her work suggests that she had some familiarity with the Court of James I of England, but apart from the knighthood, her husband received no preferment there.[9]
Some time after her first husband's death in 1626, she married Captain Henry Sibthorpe, who was an army officer then serving in Ireland.[10] For social reasons, she retained the name Southwell for the remainder of her life. They went to live at Clerkenwell in London and then moved in 1631 to a house they rented from the composer Robert Johnson. They both worked together to create a book that contained Anne's works and examples of texts by other writers.[8] Southwell died in Acton in 1636.[8] She has a monument in St Mary's Church, Acton.[11]
