| Elizabeth Bentley | |
| Birth Date: | 1767 |
| Birth Place: | Norwich, England, UK |
| Death Place: | Norwich, England, UK |
| Resting Place: | St Stephen's, Norwich |
| Occupation: | Poet |
| Nationality: | British |
| Period: | 1791–1821 |
| Subject: | Pastoral, Abolitionism, Animal welfare |
Elizabeth Bentley (1767–1839) was an English poet, one of a small wave of British and Irish writers from the labouring classes in the eighteenth century. She was a local poet who was nonetheless engaged with larger political and social issues.
She was born in Norwich, the only child[1] of Elizabeth Lawrence and Daniel Bentley. The latter, a journeyman cordwainer who had himself received a good education, educated Elizabeth, his only child. The family faced financial difficulties after he suffered a stroke in 1777 and was unable to work at his usual trade. He died in 1783 when his daughter was sixteen.
Two years later, Bentley reported a new-found desire to write poetry "which [she] had no thought or desire of being seen."[2] However, in 1790 the following notice was published:
Speedily will be published, price two shillings and sixpence, The poetical compositions of Elizabeth Bentley; who, unimproved by education, Has given Proof of a strong Natural Genius; and Uses her best Endeavours to obtain a Livelihood by honest Industry, Living irreproachably with her aged Mother, near St. Stephen's gates, Norwich. The encouragers of indigent merit are entreated to favor the authoress with their names and subscriptions; Which will be taken by W. Stevenson, at the Norfolk Arms; and all the Booksellers in Norwich. Norwich, GB: printed by Crouse and Stevenson, 1790.[3]The resulting publication, Genuine Poetical Compositions (1791), had an impressive 1,935 subscribers, including literary notables Elizabeth Carter, Elizabeth Montagu, William Cowper, and Hester Chapone. As a labouring-class poet, Bentley—"content to be the last and lowest of the tuneful train"[4] —adopted a humble stance towards her readers and let it be known that the venture was intended to establish an annuity for her mother and herself. Both her collections contained portraits of the author and accounts of her life "designed to raise patrons"; the account written in 1790 and published in the first volume is the source of most that is known of her. Her poetry celebrates the countryside and engages in public debates on topics such as abolitionism and cruelty to animals. Cowper compared her favourably with Mary Leapor, a labouring-class poet of the previous generation, citing her "strong natural genius."[5] Modern critics note that Bentley's "submissive" tone no doubt played a part in her acceptance among middle-class readers.
After the publication of her first volume, Bentley kept a small boarding school and did not publish much – some poems for children which she co-authored with the prolific Ellenor Fenn; an ode on the Battle of Trafalgar (1805) – for three decades. This hiatus ended with the publication, by subscription, of her Poems in 1821.
She died on 13 April 1839, in an almshouse.