Elizabeth was born on 6th March 1806 at Coxhoe Hall, Durham, the oldest of 12 children, to Edward Moulton Barrett and his wife Mary Graham Clarke.

In 1809, the family bought the Hope End Estate which included land in Wellington Heath.

Edward Barrett turned the original Georgian house into stables and built a new palatial house of Turkish design.

Elizabeth was educated at home, a studious and precocious child who loved books. She began writing verses at age 4 and wrote a longer poem, ‘The Battle of Marathon’ by age 11.

She also enjoyed riding her pony, taking walks and picnics with the family and other local social activities.

The family attended the Dissenting Chapel in Ledbury, now the Burgage Hall. Their carriage took them along the track through Frith Wood.

Edward Barrett was influential in the life of Wellington Heath and the county and was High Sheriff of Herefordshire in 1812.

During the sale of land in Wellington Heath under the Enclosure Act of 1813, Edward instructed his solicitor not to bid on lots against the current occupiers so they were able to buy them at a reasonable price.

The Barrett and Clarke family fortunes were based on plantations in Jamaica. With the abolition of slavery, lawsuits and other financial woes, the Hope End Estate was auctioned off and the family left in September 1832. They first went to Sidmouth, Devon, and then to Wimpole Street in London.

Elizabeth’s mother had died in 1828 and was buried in St Michael’s Church in Ledbury, next to her 3 year old daughter Mary. Edward was also buried there on his death in 1857.

Elizabeth’s health was frail by now but she was a prolific writer of poetry. In 1842, she wrote ‘The Cry of the Children’ condemning child labour and she also wrote the anti-slavery poems, ‘The Runaway Slave’ and ‘A Curse for a Nation’.

Elizabeth began a correspondence with the poet Robert Browning and, after a secret courtship, they were married in London in 1846. Her father disapproved and disinherited her.

Elizabeth and Robert moved to Italy, settling in Florence. ‘Sonnets from the Portuguese’, including the famous ‘How Do I Love Thee’, was published in 1850 and her lengthy poem ‘Aurora Leigh’, which was partly based on her life at Hope End, was published in 1857.

Elizabeth’s health deteriorated further and she died on 29th June 1861 in Florence and was buried in the English Cemetery there. She was survived by Robert and their son ‘Pen’.

Elizabeth’s poems continue to be read today.