Maria Banks Riddell (née Woodley; 1772–1808) was a

West Indies The West Indies is an island subregion of the Americas, surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, which comprises 13 independent island country, island countries and 19 dependent territory, dependencies in thr ...

-born poet, anthologist, naturalist, editor and travel writer, who was resident in Scotland and Wales.

Robert Burns Robert Burns (25 January 1759 – 21 July 1796), also known familiarly as Rabbie Burns, was a Scottish poet and lyricist. He is widely regarded as the List of national poets, national poet of Scotland and is celebrated worldwide. He is the be ...

paid tribute to her as "a votary of the Muses". Riddel was born Maria Woodley, daughter of a Governor of the Leeward Islands. In 1791, she married her first husband Walter Riddell. The couple settled in an estate in

Kirkcudbrightshire Kirkcudbrightshire ( ) or the County of Kirkcudbright or the Stewartry of Kirkcudbright is one of the Counties of Scotland, historic counties of Scotland, covering an area in the south-west of the country. Until 1975, Kirkcudbrightshire was an ...

, Scotland. Her husband was the brother to a patron of Robert Burns. Burns became a close friend of Maria, and wrote love songs for her. From 1794 to 1795, she and Burns quarrelled over his behavior towards her when drunk. Following the death of her first husband, Riddell married the Welsh landowner Phillips Lloyd Fletcher. She was buried in a family vault located in

Chester Chester is a cathedral city in Cheshire, England, on the River Dee, Wales, River Dee, close to the England–Wales border. With a built-up area population of 92,760 in 2021, it is the most populous settlement in the borough of Cheshire West an ...

Life

Maria Woodley was the daughter of William Woodley, Governor of the Leeward Islands for the terms 1768–1771 and 1791–1793). She accompanied him on a visit to the islands in 1788 and wrote an account of it. The book also included a

natural history Natural history is a domain of inquiry involving organisms, including animals, fungi, and plants, in their natural environment, leaning more towards observational than experimental methods of study. A person who studies natural history is cal ...

of the

Leeward Islands The Leeward Islands () are a group of islands situated where the northeastern Caribbean Sea meets the western Atlantic Ocean. Starting with the Virgin Islands east of Puerto Rico, they extend southeast to Guadeloupe and its dependencies. In Engl ...

written by her.''Voyages to Madeira and the Leeward and Caribbean Islands'' (Edinburgh 1792). In 1791 she married Walter Riddell of Glenriddell,

Dumfriesshire Dumfriesshire or the County of Dumfries or Shire of Dumfries () is a Counties of Scotland, historic county and registration county in southern Scotland. The Dumfries lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area covers a similar area to the hi ...

, younger brother of

's patron

Robert Riddell Captain Robert Riddell (1755–1794), Laird of Friar's Carse, near Dumfries. A friend of Robert Burns, who made him a collection of his poems which later became famous, and wrote a poem 'Sonnet On The Death Of Robert Riddell' in memory of him ...

, and the pair set up house at an estate called Woodley Park (now known as Goldielea) in the historical county of

. Burns, a guest at literary parties there, became a close friend and critic of Maria Riddell, writing several love songs for her. In early 1794, he made a drunken overture to her, which resulted in them quarrelling and Burns losing the support of his patron, who died that year. Maria and her husband were reconciled with Burns in 1795, when she sent a poem of appeasement.''The Feminist Companion to Literature in English'', eds Virginia Blain, Patricia Clements and Isobel Grundy (London: Batsford, 1990), pp. 246–247. When Burns died in 1796, Maria wrote an admired account of him for the ''Dumfries Journal''. She was also a friend of the novelist and poet

Helen Craik Helen Craik (c. 1751 – 11 June 1825) was a Scottish poet and novelist. She has been known as a correspondent of the Scottish poet Robert Burns, whom she praised for being a "native genius, gay, unique and strong" in an introductory poem she ins ...

, another admirer of Burns. She included some poems by

Anna Laetitia 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 prominent member of the Blue Stockings ...

Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire Georgiana Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire (née Spencer; ; 7 June 1757 – 30 March 1806), was an English aristocrat, socialite, political organiser, author, and activist. Born into the Spencer family, married into the Cavendish family, she wa ...

and Mary Darwall in her 1802 anthology, ''The Metrical Miscellany''. Her husband lost Woodley Park and another property and died at the end of the century. Maria Riddell and her two children moved to

Hampton Court Hampton Court Palace is a Listed building, Grade I listed royal palace in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, southwest and upstream of central London on the River Thames. Opened to the public, the palace is managed by Historic Royal ...

as pensioners. In 1807, she married a Welsh landowner, Phillips Lloyd Fletcher, and is buried in the Fletcher family vault at

Works

*''Voyage to the Madeira and Leeward and Caribbean Isles, with Sketches of the Natural History of these Islands'', Edinburgh, 1792 *''The Metrical Miscellany, consisting chiefly of poems hitherto unpublished'', 1802 (as editor), 2nd ed., 1803

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Riddell, Maria 1772 births 1808 deaths People from the British West Indies 18th-century naturalists 18th-century Scottish writers 18th-century Scottish women writers 19th-century Scottish writers 19th-century Scottish women writers 18th-century Scottish scientists 18th-century Scottish women scientists 19th-century Scottish scientists 19th-century Scottish women scientists 18th-century Scottish botanists British Leeward Islands people Scottish travel writers Caribbean writers British women travel writers Scottish women poets People associated with Dumfries and Galloway British anthologists British women anthologists Women naturalists Scottish naturalists

Life

Works

See also

References