.jpg){kind=link}
Rebecca Hey (1835-1859 fl.). Painting by Josiah Gilbert (1814-1892). Courtesy Bearnes, Hampton, & Littlewood.
Rebecca Hey (baptized 21 April 1797 - 28 January 1867) was an English poet.[1]
Life[]
Hey was born Rebecca Roberts,[2] the 3rd daughter of Esther Lucy (died 1824) and merchant Thomas Roberts (died 1826), in Leeds.[1]
In 1821 she married William Hey III (1796-1875),[2] a Leeds apothecary-surgeon and pediatrician and a recognized authority on surgery,[3] who became principal surgeon at Leeds General Infirmary in 1830, and was a founder of the Leeds School of Medicine in 1831.[4]
The Heys lived at Albion Place, in Leeds, but later moved to a mansion at Gledhow Wood, on the outskirts of the city. They apparently had no children, but Rebecca's elder sister Lucy lived with them from at least 1841 until her death in 1874.[1]
Rebecca Hey died on 28 January 1867 at Gledhow Wood and was buried at St. John the Baptist, Adel, on 1 February.[1]
Rebecca Hey The Moral of Flowers, 1837. Courtesy ABeBooks.com.
Writing[]
Hey made her reputation with her debut volume, The Moral of Flowers. The book was an encyclopedia of English flowers, in which each article (written by her) was preceded by a 4-color engraving of a painting of the flower by artist William Clark, and followed by a poem by Hey featuring the flower.[5] Published by London publisher Longman's in 1833, the book was a success, and was reprinted by the firm in 1835 and 1849.[6]
After her initial book's success, Hey wrote a similar but longer encyclopedia of trees, Sylvan Musings; or, The spirit of the woods, this time featuring her own paintings as well as her poems.[7] Longman's printed the book in 1837, and reprinted it in 1841 and 1849.[6]
Her 3rd volume, Recollections of the Lakes (1841), contains interesting topographical poems and a 2nd section on religious subjects.[1]
Her final book, Holy Places, and other poems (1859), was entirely devoted to religion, and she planned to donate the profits from it to Special Missions in India.[1]
Publications[]
Poetry[]
- The Moral of Flowers (illustrated by William Clark). London: Rees, Orme, Brown, Green & Longman / J. Hatchard / Leeds, UK: M. Robinson, 1833; London: Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown, Green, & Longman, 1835
- also published as The Moral of Flowers; or, Thoughts gathered from the field and garden. London, 1849.
- Sylvan Musings; or, The spirit of the woods. London: Printed for Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown, Green & Longman, 1837; London: Longman, Brown, Green, & Longmans, 1841, 1849.
- Recollections of the Lake, and other poems. London: Tilt & Bogue, 1841.
- Holy Places, and other poems. London: J. Hatchard, 1859.
Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy WorldCat.[6]
See also[]
References[]
Notes[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 Hey, Rebecca, Jackson Bibliography of Romantic Poetry, University of Toronto. Web, May 25, 2022.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 William Hey (1796-1875), William Hey, Family Trees, MyHeritage.com. Web, Mar. 1, 2020.
- ↑ N. Leadbetter & J W L Puntis, "Images in paediatrics: William Hey (1736–1819) and child patient," Disease in Childhood 89:10, BMJ Journals. Web, Mar. 2, 2020.
- ↑ Hey Family Collection, Library, University of Leeds. Web, Mar. 2, 2020.
- ↑ Maria Popova, "The Moral of Flowers: An Illustrated Victorian Encyclopedia of Poetic Lessons from the Garden," Brain Pickings, February 7, 2020. Web, Mar. 1, 2020.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Search results = au:Rebecca Hey, WorldCat, OCLC, Online Computer Library Center Inc. Web, Dec. 28, 2019.
- ↑ Maria Popova, "The Spirit of the Woods: Poet and Painter Rebecca Hey’s Gorgeous 19th-Century Illustrations for the World’s First Encyclopedia of Trees," Brain Pickings, January 6, 2020. Web, Mar. 1, 2020.
External links[]
- Poems
- 11 sonnets by Hey: "January," "February," "March," "April," "May," "June," "July," "August," "September," "October," "December"
- Books
- Rebecca Hey at the Online Books Page
- Rebecca Hey at Amazon.com
- About
- Rebecca Hey at the University of Toronto
- William Hey III at Royal College of Surgeons
| Original Penny's Poetry Pages article, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike License 3.0. |
- This is a signed article by User:George Dance. It may be edited for spelling errors or typos, but not for substantive content except by its author. If you have created a user name and verified your identity, provided you have set forth your credentials on your user page, you can add comments to the bottom of this article as peer review.
|