t Moulton Barrett, who assumed the last name on succeeding
to the estates of his grandfather in Jamaica. She was _b._ at Coxhoe
Hall, Durham, but spent her youth at Hope End, near Great Malvern. While
still a child she showed her gift, and her _f._ _pub._ 50 copies of a
juvenile epic, on the Battle of Marathon. She was _ed._ at home, but owed
her profound knowledge of Greek and much mental stimulus to her early
friendship with the blind scholar, Hugh Stuart Boyd, who was a neighbour.
At the age of 15 she met with an injury to her spine which confined her
to a recumbent position for several years, and from the effects of which
she never fully recovered. In 1826 she _pub._ anonymously _An Essay on
Mind and Other Poems_. Shortly afterwards the abolition of slavery, of
which he had been a disinterested supporter, considerably reduced Mr.
B.'s means: he accordingly disposed of his estate and removed with his
family first to Sidmouth and afterwards to London. At the former Miss B.
wrote _Prometheus Bound_ (1835). After her removal to London she fell
into delicate health, her lungs being threatened. This did not, however,
interfere with her literary labours, and she contributed to various
periodicals _The Romaunt of Margaret_, _The Romaunt of the Page_, _The
Poet's Vow_, and other pieces. In 1838 appeared _The Seraphim and Other
Poems_ (including "Cowper's Grave.") Shortly thereafter the death, by
drowning, of her favourite brother gave a serious shock to her already
fragile health, and for a time she hovered between life and death.
Eventually, however, she regained strength, and meanwhile her fame was
growing. The _pub._ about 1841 of _The Cry of the Children_ gave it a
great impulse, and about the same time she contributed some critical
papers in prose to R.H. Horne's _New Spirit of the Age_. In 1844 she
_pub._ two vols. of _Poems_, which comprised "The Drama of Exile,"
"Vision of Poets," and "Lady Geraldine's Courtship." In 1845 she met for
the first time her future husband, Robert Browning (_q.v._). Their
courtship and marriage, owing to her delicate health and the
extraordinary objections entertained by Mr. B. to the marriage of any of
his children, were carried out under somewhat peculiar and romantic
circumstances. After a private marriage and a secret departure from her
home, she accompanied her husband to Italy, which became her home almost
continuously until her death, and with the political aspirations of which
she an