HATTON, ANN JULIA ('Ann of Swansea', 1764 - 1838), poet and novelist
Pseudonym: Ann Of Swansea
Date of birth: 1764
Date of death: 1838
Spouse: William Hatton
Spouse: C. Curtis
Parent: Sarah Kemble (née Ward)
Parent: Roger Kemble
Gender: Female
Occupation: poet and novelist
Area of activity: Literature and Writing; Poetry
Author: Cecil John Layton Price
Born 29 April 1764 at Worcester, the seventh child of Roger Kemble (see Siddons, Sarah) and Sarah Ward. Lameness prevented her from following the family theatrical tradition and, before she was nineteen, she was unlucky enough to marry and be forsaken by an adventurer named Curtis. She published by subscription, Poems on Miscellaneous Subjects (London, 1783). She married William Hatton in 1792 and accompanied him to America. They took a lease of Swansea Bathing House in 1799. On his death in 1806, she moved to Kidwelly where she kept a dancing-school. In 1809 she returned to Swansea and devoted herself to writing, being maintained by an annuity granted her by J. P. Kemble and Sarah Siddons. She wrote a play ('Zaffine') for the young Edmund Kean, and her Poetic Trifles (Waterford, 1811), shows some lyric power. Between 1815 and 1831, she produced at least a dozen novels. She died 26 December 1838.
Author
- Cecil John Layton Price, (1915 - 1991)
- Swansea Corporation Hall Day Minute Book, 1783-1821, 286
- T. Campbell, Life of Mrs. Siddons (London 1834), 1834, 8
- British Museum. Catalogue of Printed Books (1882)
- 'Ann of Swansea', Cymru Fu, 12 October 1889
- Yr Herald Cymraeg, 26 January 1935
Sources
- NLW Archives: NLW MS 23958C: Ann of Swansea manuscript
- Jim Henderson, 'Ann of Swansea: a life on the edge', The National Library of Wales Journal, Cyf. 34, rh. 1 (2006), pp. 1-47
- Ivor J. Bromham, '"Ann of Swansea" (Ann Julia Hatton: 1764–1838)', The Glamorgan Historian, 7 (1971), pp. 173-86
- Moira Dearnley, 'Condem'd to wither on a foreign strand': Moira Dearnley on the 1833-34 manuscript poems of Ann of Swansea', New Welsh Review, 41 (1998), pp. 56-9
- Ivor J. Bromham, 'Ann of Swansea - poet and actress', Country Quest, 26/11 (1986), pp. 24-5
- Steve Chambers, 'The forgotten Kemble!: remembering the little-known sister of famous actress Sarah Siddons', Country Quest, (April 1998), pp. 10-11
- Ann Julia Hatton, Cambrian pictures (Aberystwyth 2021)
- Swansea Council: Ann of Swansea (Ann Julia Hatton née Kemble)
- Wikipedia Article: Ann Hatton
Further Reading
- ArtUK: Ann of Swansea (1764–1838)
Images
Published date: 1959
Article Copyright: http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/
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