Elizabeth Hamilton

Although born in Belfast in 1756 (the date is uncertain), Elizabeth Hamilton spent most of her life in Scotland. The daughter of a Scottish merchant who died when she was less than a year old, she moved to Stirlingshire aged just six. Hamilton was an essayist, poet, satirist and novelist. Her works ranged from orientalist studies, to historical, educational and domestic subjects. She is best known for her novel The Cottagers of Glenburnie, a popular satire of Scottish peasant life, and she wrote a number of essays on more and educational reforms. Although considered an anti-Jacobean conservative in her time, she was a proponent of equal education for women.

Elizabeth Hamilton lived for a time in London, and later in Edinburgh. In 1804 she was awarded a pension from King George III for her contribution to “religion and virtue”. She died in Harrogate in 1816 after a short illness. Her novel The Cottagers of Glenburnie has recently been republished by the ASLS, along with a number of her essays on education.