Elizabeth Frances Amherst (poet) facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Elizabeth Amherst Thomas
Lutraria magna from Emanuel Mendes da Costa's Historia naturalis testaceorum Britanniæ (London, 1778: pl.17, fig.4). Da Costa was one of Amherst's scientific correspondents.
Born	Elizabeth Amherst c. 1716
Died	1779 Newbold, Warwickshire
Occupation	poet and naturalist
Language	English
Spouse	John Thomas
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Elizabeth Frances Amherst (who later became Elizabeth Thomas; born around 1716 – died 1779) was an English poet and a naturalist who loved studying nature. Even though most of her writings weren't published when she was alive, people in recent times have found her work very interesting.

Discovering Elizabeth Amherst Thomas

Elizabeth Amherst was born around 1716 in Kent, England. Her parents were Elizabeth Kerrill and Jeffrey Amherst. She was one of nine children, with two girls and seven boys in the family.

Family Life and Connections

Elizabeth married John Thomas. He was from Welford, Gloucestershire, and was also a church leader (a rector) in Notgrove, Cotswolds. They did not have their own children but adopted a son, who was the child of one of John's brothers.

One of Elizabeth's brothers was Jeffery Amherst. He became a very important military leader. In 1776, he was given the title Baron Amherst. He later became a field-marshal in the British Army. He was the Commander-in-Chief when the British forces captured Montreal in 1760.

A Passion for Nature and Words

Elizabeth Amherst was very keen on collecting fossils. She wrote many letters about this hobby to other scientists, both before and after she got married. This shows her deep interest in the natural world.

Her poems were often written in a lively style. They used octosyllabics (lines with eight syllables) and ballad metres. Her poems were mostly shared as handwritten copies among her friends and family. A few of her poems were printed without her name on them in the 1760s.

Rediscovering Her Work

For a long time, Elizabeth Amherst's writings were not well known. However, in 1989, a writer named Roger Lonsdale included her work in his book. Since then, many experts have become interested in her poems.

Lonsdale described her poems as "sprightly," meaning lively and cheerful. Another expert noted her "tone of tolerant amusement" when she wrote about people in her village, especially in her poem "The Welford wedding." Her poem "A prize riddle on herself when 24" is seen as a clever and honest self-portrait. Another commentator said her writing was "often whimsical, witty, resisting stereotypes about women." This means her poems were often playful, smart, and didn't follow common ideas about what women should write.

Her Writings

Most of Elizabeth Amherst's known writings come from a special book kept at the Bodleian Library. This book is called "The Whims of E.A./afterwards Mrs. Thomas." Some of her other works are found in different collections of handwritten papers, and a few were printed.

Poems by Elizabeth Amherst

Here are some of the poems she wrote:

• "A prize riddle on herself when 24"
• "A song for the single table on New Year's Day"
• "From a young woman to an old officer who courted her"
• "The Welford wedding"
• "Verses designed to be sent to Mr. Adams"
• "To William Shenstone, Esq; the Production of half an hour's leisure. By Cotswouldia."
• The first lines of the forty-six (46) poems in "The Whims of E.A./afterwards Mrs. Thomas"

Play by Elizabeth Amherst

She also wrote a play:

• A Dramatic Pastoral. By a Lady. (Published in Gloucester, 1762)