Hymn Writers of the Church

Barbauld, Anna Letitia, was a daughter of the Rev. John Aikin, D.D., an English Dissenting minister. She was born June 20, 1743, and early in life gave evidence of poetic talent. She had a great desire for a classical education, to which her father strongly objected. At length she prevailed in some measure, and was permitted to read Latin and Greek. She published her first volume of poems in 1773. In 1774 she married the Rev. Rochemont Barbauld, a young man of French descent, who attended a school at Warrington, where her father was a classical Instructor. Mr. Barbauld had charge of a Dissenting congregation at Palgrave. They also opened a boarding school, which they carried on successfully for eleven years. Mr. Barbauld afterwards held other pastoral relations, and died in 1808. Mrs. Barbauld occupied her time and mind in literary pursuits, editing various works and contributing to the press. She died March 9, 1825.