Anna Larpent ( Porter) (4 April 1758 – 4 March 1832) was a British diarist. She was the '' de facto'' assistant Examiner of Plays, primarily reviewing the plays that were written in the

Italian language Italian (, , or , ) is a Romance language of the Indo-European language family. It evolved from the colloquial Latin of the Roman Empire. Italian is the least divergent language from Latin, together with Sardinian language, Sardinian. It is ...

. Her seventeen-volume diaries document 47 years of life in the

Georgian era The Georgian era was a period in British history from 1714 to , named after the House of Hanover, Hanoverian kings George I of Great Britain, George I, George II of Great Britain, George II, George III and George IV. The definition of the Geor ...

, covering the period from 1773 to 1830.

Early life

Larpent was born in

Pera Pera may refer to: Places * Pera (Beyoğlu), a district in Istanbul formerly called Pera, now called Beyoğlu ** Galata, a neighbourhood of Beyoğlu, often referred to as Pera in the past * Pêra (Caparica), a Portuguese locality in the district o ...

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

1758 where her father was a British diplomat. She was the eldest of three surviving children born to Clarissa Catherine de Hochepied and James Porter, the British Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire. Her younger brother, Lt.-Gen.

George Porter George Porter, Baron Porter of Luddenham, (6 December 1920 – 31 August 2002) was a British chemist. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1967. Education and early life Porter was born in Stainforth, near Thorne, in the then West ...

, was a Whig MP who married

Henrietta Grosvenor Henrietta de Hochepied, Baroness de Hochepied (née Vernon; formerly Baroness Grosvenor, – 1828) was an English aristocrat, socialite, and courtesan. Early life She was one of four daughters born to Lady Henrietta (née Wentworth) Vernon (th ...

(widow of

Richard Grosvenor, 1st Earl Grosvenor Richard Grosvenor, 1st Earl Grosvenor ( ; 18 June 1731 – 5 August 1802) was an English landowner, Tory politician and peer who sat in the British House of Commons representing the parliamentary constituency of the City of Chester from 1 ...

and mother of the 1st Marquess Grosvenor). Her father was the son of a Captain of Horse named La Roche who had adopted the name of Porter. Her maternal grandparents were Anna Margaretha Boelema and Elbert de Hochepied, 2nd Baron de Hochepied, the Dutch Ambassador to Constantinople). Anna started her diary in 1773 and continued it in seventeen volumes over fifty-seven years to 1830.

Career

When she was eighteen, Larpent published a 32 page account of the

bigamy In a culture where only monogamous relationships are legally recognized, bigamy is the act of entering into a marriage with one person while still legally married to another. A legal or de facto separation of the couple does not alter their mar ...

trial of Elizabeth Pierrepont, Duchess of Kingston-upon-Hull at

Westminster Hall Westminster Hall is a medieval great hall which is part of the Palace of Westminster in London, England. It was erected in 1097 for William II (William Rufus), at which point it was the largest hall in Europe. The building has had various functio ...

that gathered 4,000 spectators. The manuscript that was written by a woman for other women to read has been re-published as a historic source. Her husband,

John Larpent John Larpent (14 November 1741 – 18 January 1824) was an English Examiner of Plays, inspector of plays. Early life Larpent was born on 14 November 1741. He was the second son of John Larpent (1710–1797), who was forty-three years in the For ...

, was the Inspector of Plays serving as the single approver of plays that were to be performed in Britain. Following their marriage, Anna was the ''de facto'' assistant to him. When the plays were written in French or Italian then she had the skills to be comprehend them.A Women's View of Drama
Huntingdon Library, Retrieved 13 April 2017 She was fluent in Italian, where her husband had little knowledge. So she reviewed the plays that were written in Italian. Larpent was interested in her work and she was a fan of Elizabeth Inchbald.

Marriage and children

On 25 April 1782 she married

, a widower who she hoped would care for her and younger sister Clara who she had adopted. From his first marriage, he was a father of Francis Seymour Larpent, who later served as

Judge-Advocate General In the United Kingdom, the Judge Advocate General is a judge responsible for the Court Martial process within the Royal Navy, British Army and Royal Air Force. As such the post has existed since 2006; prior to this date the Judge Advocate General ...

of the

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

. Together, they were the parents of two sons: * John James de Hochepied Larpent (1783–1860), Consul at Antwerp who married Georgiana Frances Reeves, a daughter of Frederick Reeves, Esq. of

East Sheen East Sheen, also known as Sheen, is a suburb in south-west London in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. Its long High Street, high street has shops, offices, restaurants, cafés, pubs and suburban supermarkets and is also the economic ...

. * George Gerard de Hochepied Larpent (1786–1855), an MP for

Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located south-east of Sheffield and nor ...

who was created a baronet in 1841. Her husband died on 18 January 1824. On 25 March 1828, her eldest son succeeded her brother as Baron de Hochepied, the family's Hungarian title (which had been licensed to bear the title in England in 1819).

Death

She died in London in 1832.Lisa Forman Cody, ‘Larpent , Anna Margaretta (1758–1832)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Jan 200
accessed 13 April 2017
/ref> Her diary is held at the Huntington Library.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Larpent, Anna 1758 births 1832 deaths 18th-century British diarists 19th-century British diarists 18th-century British women writers 19th-century British women writers People from Beyoğlu Writers from Istanbul British expatriates in the Ottoman Empire British people of Dutch descent British women diarists British censors