Ann Hawkshaw (1812–1885) was born into a large family of dissenters in rural Yorkshire and, by the time of her death, she was a titled, affluent poet moving amidst the most influential circles of the age.

Debbie Bark lectures on nineteenth-century studies in the Department of English Literature at the University of Reading. She has published a number of articles on Ann Hawkshaw which focus on situating the poet’s life and work in their literary and cultural context.