Mary Robinson (poet)

Mary Robinson, nee Darby (1756 or 1758-1800) the English poet, was also known for her role as Perdita (heroine of Shakespeare's A Winter's Tale) in 1779. It was during this performance that she attracted the notice of the young Prince of Wales, later King George IV of Great Britain and Ireland. Her affair with him ended relatively early (circa 1781), and "Perdita" Robinson was left to support herself through an annuity granted by the Crown (in return for some letters written by the Prince) in 1783 and through her writings. Today, she is remembered both as the first public mistress of George IV, and as a woman writer of the late 1700s.

External links

Mary Darby Robinson biography

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• http://digital.library.upenn.edu/women/robinson/biography.html

Mary Robinson profile

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• http://www.regency-town-house.org.uk/Main/History/regency_period/figures/Perdita.html

Mary Robinson profile (from a site dedicated to Tarleton)

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• http://home.golden.net/~marg/bansite/friends/robinson.html

Contemporary obituaries and death notices (from the Tarleton site)

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• http://home.golden.net/~marg/bansite/friends/mr_obit.html

Mary Robinson memoirs

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• http://digital.library.upenn.edu/women/robinson/memoirs/memoirs.html

Mary Robinson portrait, by Gainsborough

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• http://www.guardian.co.uk/arts/portrait/story/0,11109,739723,00.html