Sarah Piers facts for kids

Sarah, Lady Piers was an English writer and supporter of other artists. She was active between 1697 and 1714, and she passed away in 1719. She was known as a poet, a political writer, and someone who helped other writers.

Sarah's father was Matthew Roydon from Yorkshire. She married Sir George Piers (1670–1720), who was an army captain from Kent. He also held an important job as the Clerk of the Privy Seal, which meant he was a key official who helped the King or Queen with important documents. Sarah and Sir George had two sons, but one of them died when he was a child.

Today, Sarah, Lady Piers is mainly remembered for being part of a group called The Nine Muses. She was also a close friend and supporter of another writer named Catherine Trotter. However, she was also made fun of by a writer named Delarivier Manley in her books.

Friendships and Writings

Sarah, Lady Piers and Catherine Trotter were good friends and wrote many letters to each other. They also worked together on some projects. Catherine Trotter asked Sarah to write for The Nine Muses, which was a collection of poems.

Sarah also wrote special poems for Catherine's plays. She wrote a poem for Trotter's play The Fatal Friendship in 1698. She also wrote an introduction poem for Trotter's play The Unhappy Penitent in 1701. In return, Catherine Trotter dedicated her comedy Love at a Loss (1701) to Sarah, Lady Piers. This shows how much they respected each other's work.

Another writer, Delarivier Manley, wrote about both Sarah and Catherine in her book The New Atalantis (1709). Manley made fun of them, suggesting their close friendship was unusual.

In 1708, Sarah, Lady Piers wrote a poem that didn't have a title. In this poem, she praised the strong community of women at Tunbridge Wells. Her last known work was a piece called George for Britain. In this writing, she strongly supported the idea of a king or queen ruling the country, rather than a system where the people govern themselves (a republic).

Published Works

Here are some of the works by Sarah, Lady Piers:

• "To my much Esteemed Friend on her Play call'd Fatal-Friendship." This poem was printed again in a collection called Kissing the Rod: An Anthology of Seventeenth-Century Women's Verse in 1988.
• George for Britain (1714).
• "Urania: The Divine Muse. On the Death of John Dryden, Esq. By the Honourable the Lady P[iers]." This poem was part of The Nine Muses, Or, Poems Written by Nine severall Ladies Upon the death of the late Famous John Dryden, Esq. in 1700. It was also reprinted in Kissing the Rod: An Anthology of Seventeenth-Century Women's Verse in 1988.