Born in Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, early on she formed an enduring friendship with Martha Ferrar, a fellow poet who became the chief beneficiary of her will.
Her three poems that survive were posthumously published: 'Ode to a Thrush', 'Ode to Morning' and 'The Copper Farthing'.
All three became anthology pieces, and were published in collections such as Specimens of British Poetesses (1798) and Poems of Eminent Ladies (1780).
Her poetry makes effective use of the burlesque mode, and shows the influence of John Philips's The Splendid Shilling.
[2] Her entry in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography notes that her 'ability to write in a learned and heroic style, despite her limited opportunity for education, is remarkable'.