The following chronology is based on the one in The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Poems of Felicia Hemans, reformatted for our website, with explanatory details, links and illustrations added by Jacqueline Banerjee.
Hemans, frontispiece.
1793. 25 September: Felicia Dorothea Browne, born in Duke Street, Liverpool into the family of a merchant, George Browne, and his wife Felicity, née Wagner.
1800. Aged seven, moves with family from Liverpool to Gwrych, near Abergele, Denbighshire.
1802. Aged 8, composes "On My Mother’s Birthday" in May.
1804. Aged 11, spends winter in London. — Writes a letter in rhyme to her brother and sister in Wales.
1808. Aged 15, has a collection of poems printed in quarto. — England and Spain; or Valour and Patriotism written. — Becomes acquainted with Captain Hemans.
1809. Aged 16, moves with family to Bronwylfa in Flintshire. — Pursues her studies in French, Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese. — Acquires the elements of German; and shows a taste for drawing and music.
1812. Aged 19, publishes Domestic Affections and other poems. — Marries Captain Hemans. — Takes up residence at Daventry, Northamptonshire.
1813. Aged 20, gives birth to their first son, Arthur. — Returns to Bronwylfa.
1816. Aged 23, publishes The Restoration of the Works of Art to Italy; also "Modern Greece."
1818. Aged 25, makes Translations from Camoens and other Poets. — Publishes "Stanzas on the Death of Princess Charlotte" in Blackwood’s Magazine in April.
1819. Aged 26, publishes Tales and Historic Scenes. — Gains prize for best poem on the meeting of Wallace and Bruce: "Wallace's Invocation to Bruce." — Captain Hemans takes up residence in Italy. — Family now consists of five sons.
1820. Aged 27, publishes poem entitled "The Sceptic." — Becomes acquainted with Bishop Heber and his brother Richard. — Corresponds with William Gifford (the critic, and editor of Quarterly Review). — Contributes papers on Foreign Literature to Blackwood's. — Publishes "Stanzas to the Memory of George the Third." — Visits Wavertree Lodge, near Liverpool, (October).
1821. Aged 28, wins prize from Royal Society of Literature for poem entitled "Dartmoor." — Corresponds with the critic Henry Hart Milman, appointed Professor of Poetry at Oxford this year, who encouraged her in writing Vespers of Palermo, and the Irish poet and cleric, George Croly. — Writes the verse play Vespers of Palermo. — Extends her German studies. Writes Welsh Melodies.
1822. Aged 29, writes "Siege of Valencia" and "Songs of the Cid written"; — also the dramatic fragment of "Don Sebastian."
1823. Aged 30, contributes to Thomas Campbell’s New Monthly Magazine. — "Voice of Spring" written, in March. — "Siege of Valencia" published, along with "Last Constantine" and "Belshazzar’s Feast." — Vespers of Palermo performed at Covent Garden on 12 December.
1824. Aged 31, composes De Chatillon, revised MS. of which unfortunately lost. — Writes Lays of Many Lands. — Removes with family from Bronwylfa to Rhyllon.
Felicia Hemans's Home at Rhyllon (Hall 367).
1825. Aged 32, writes "Treasures of the Deep," "The Hebrew Mother," "The Hour of Death," "Graves of a Household," "The Cross in the Wilderness," and many other of her best lyrics.
1826. Aged 33, publishes "The Forest Sanctuary," together with Lays of Many Lands. — Commences correspondence with Professor Norton of Boston, U.S., who republishes her works there.
1827. Aged 34, loses her mother on 11 January. — Writes Hymns on the Works of Nature, for the Use of Children, first published in America. — Corresponds with Joanna Baillie, Anne Grant, Mary Mitford, Caroline Bowles, Mary Howitt, and M. J. Jewsbury. — Writes "Körner to his Sister," "Homes of England," "An Hour of Romance," "The Palm-Tree," and many other lyrics. — Health deteriorates.
1828. Aged 35, publishes with Blackwood Records of Woman: With Other Poems in May.— Contributes regularly to Blackwood’s Magazine. — Visits Wavertree Lodge early in summer. — Removes to village of Wavertree with family in September.
Index of Blackwood's for June 1829, listing three
poems from "Songs of the Affections" by Hemans.
1829. Aged 36, writes "Lady of Provence," "To a Wandering Female Singer," "The Child’s First Grief," "The Better Land," and "Miscellanies.—Voyages to Scotland" in June, and visits (among other well-known authors) Henry McKenzie, who wrote The Man of Feeling; the Rev. Archibald Alison, an Anglican priest and essay-writer; Lord Francis Jeffrey, editor of the Edinburgh Review; Sir Walter Scott; and the travel-writer Captain Basil Hall, who served in the Napoleonic Wars and in 1817 met Napoleon on St Helena. — Returns to England in September. — A Spirit’s Return composed.
1830. Aged 37, publishes Songs of the Affections. — Visits the Lakes and Wordsworth. — Spends part of summer at Dove’s Nest, near Ambleside. — Revisits Scotland, August. — Returns by Dublin and Holyhead to Wales.
1831. Aged 38, in poor health. — Quits England for last time in April and proceeds to Dublin. — Visits the Hermitage, near Kilkenny, and Woodstock. — Returns to Dublin, August. — Writes various lyrics.
1832. Aged 39, her health continues to deteriorate. — Writes "Miscellaneous Lyrics," "Songs of Spain," and "Songs of a Guardian Spirit."
1833. Aged 40, feels better during spring. — Writes "Songs of Captivity," "Songs for Summer Hours," and many of Scenes and Hymns of Life. — Composes Sonnets Devotional and Memorial. — Commences translation of Scenes and Passages from German Authors in December.
1834. Aged 41, publishes Hymns for Childhood in March; also National Lyrics, and Songs for Music. — Paper on Tasso, published in New Monthly Magazine in May. — Writes "Fragment of Paper on Iphigenia." — Records of Spring, 1834 written in April, May, June. — Is seized with fever; during convalescence retires into county of Wicklow. — Returns to Dublin in autumn, and has attack of ague. — Composes "Records of Autumn, 1834." — Writes "Despondency and Aspiration," October and November. — "The Huguenot’s Farewell" and "Antique Greek Lament," November. — "Thoughts during Sickness" written, November and December. — Retires during convalescence to Redesdale, a country seat of the Archbishop of Dublin.
At Ann's, Dawson Street. Photo: DXR at Mapcarta, reproduced on the Creative Commons licence (CC BY-SA 4.0), https://mapcarta.com/W230612993
1835. Aged 42, returns to Dublin in March. — Debility gradually increases. — Corresponds regarding Sir Robert Peel’s appointment of her son Henry. — Dictates "Sabbath Sonnet" on 26 April. — Dies on 16 May. — Remains interred in vault beneath St Anne’s Church, Dublin. She is commemorated there by a mural tablet in the south aisle; there is also a memorial tablet at St Asaph's, Denbighshire, in North Wales.
Bibliography
Chitham, Edward. Liverpool Tigress: The Life of Felicia Hemans. York: Chitham, 2024. [Review]
Hall, Samuel Carter. A Book of Memories: Great Men and Women of the Age, from Personal Acquaintance. London: Virtue & Co., 1877. Internet Archive, from a copy in Cornell University Library. Web. 3 December 2024. [Relevant account on the Victorian Web]
Shattock, Joanne. The Oxford Guide to British Women Writers. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1993.
Created 2 December 2024