Ann Yearsley and Hannah More, patronage and poetry: the story of a literary relationship

Hannah More and Ann Yearsley experienced a long-standing relationship that lasted far beyond their roles as patron and protégée. More had originally come to prominence as a playwright under the patronage of celebrated actor/manager David Garrick. When an established writer herself, she was able to assist Yearsley, bringing the young poet’s rustic voice to the attention of an eighteenth-century society hungry for the fashionable phenomenon of the ‘rural genius’.
Andrews offers a timely and necessary reassessment of the careers of both Yearsley and More. Making use of newly discovered letters and poems, she provides a full analysis of the breakdown of the two writers’ affiliation and compares it to other labouring-class relationships based on patronage.