Charlotte Caroline Richardson facts for kids

Charlotte Caroline Richardson (born May 15, 1796 – died March 29, 1854) was a British writer and poet. She lived a long time ago, in the 1800s. A big part of her life was connected to a special magazine called The Ladies' Diary.

How Her Parents Met

Betty Smales and R. Richardson in the Ladies Diary Almanack, for the Year of Our Lord 1786

Charlotte's father, Robert Richardson, often wrote for a magazine called The Ladies' Diary. He really admired another writer for the magazine, Elizabeth Smales. She wrote clever riddles in poems. Robert was so interested in "Betty Smales" that he wrote her letters. From these letters, they started talking and later got married!

The magazine actually encouraged this kind of connection. It mixed poetry with math puzzles, like an almanac. They even offered prizes for solving charades, poem riddles, and math problems. The story of how Charlotte's parents met through poetry was even put into a poem later on. This poem, called "Jonah Tink," was published in 1823. It said:

Charlotte's Early Life

Charlotte Richardson was born in Lambeth, England, on May 15, 1796. She was the youngest of three daughters. Charlotte went to school at the Grey Coat School in York.

When her father died in 1804, her mother decided to open a boarding school. This helped her earn money and also allowed her two oldest daughters to get an education. However, her mother sent young Charlotte to live with an aunt. For reasons we don't know, her aunt kept Charlotte for ten years! Charlotte did not plan to spend her childhood in Hinderwell, Yorkshire. Her mother didn't plan it either.

Reconnecting with Family

To try and find her family again, Charlotte wrote a poem in The Ladies' Diary in 1815. In the poem, she clearly mentioned her mother. A year later, her mother replied in a poem! After this, Charlotte finally reunited with her family in London.

It turns out that everyone in Charlotte's immediate family – her mother and both of her older sisters – regularly wrote for the Ladies' Diary. In 1841, her mother passed away. Five years later, Charlotte and her sister Elizabeth created a book called Poems. This book was a collection of their mother's writings from The Ladies' Diary.

Charlotte's Published Works

Charlotte Richardson started publishing her own works in 1817. Her first books were Waterloo, a Poem on the Late Victory and Isaac and Rebecca. The next year, in 1818, she published Harvest, a Poem, in Two Parts: with other Poetical Pieces. She dedicated this book to the editor of The Ladies' Diary, a mathematician named Charles Hutton.

In 1823, Charlotte published a Gothic novel called The Soldier's Child, or, Virtue Triumphant. She also published another poem that year, Ludolph, or, The Light of Nature, a Poem.

In 1827, Charlotte married a man named John Richardson, who worked at a wharf (a place where ships load and unload goods). Charlotte Richardson died in Vauxhall, England, on March 29, 1854.

Her Books and Poems

Here are some of the works Charlotte Caroline Richardson published:

Poetry

• Waterloo, a Poem on the Late Victory (1817)
• Isaac and Rebecca (1817)
• Harvest, a Poem, in Two Parts: with other Poetical Pieces (1818)
• Ludolph, or, The Light of Nature, a Poem (1823)

Novels

• The Soldier's Child, or, Virtue Triumphant (1823)