Esther Johnson

Esther Johnson (March 13, 1681 – January 28, 1728) was the English friend of Jonathan Swift, known as "Stella". Whether or not she and Swift were secretly married, and if so why the marriage was never made public, remains a subject of intense debate.

She was born in Richmond, Surrey, and spent her early years at Moor Park, Farnham, home of Sir William Temple, 1st Baronet. Here, when she was about eight, she met Swift, who was Temple's secretary: he took a friendly interest in her from the beginning and apparently supervised her education.

Her parentage has been the subject of much speculation. The weight of evidence is that her mother acted as companion to Temple's sister, Lady Giffard, and that both Stella and her mother were regarded as part of the family. Stella's father was said to have been a merchant who died young: gossip that she was Temple's illegitimate daughter seems to rest on nothing more solid than the friendly interest he showed in her (there were similar rumours about his supposed relationship to Swift).

When Swift saw her again in 1696 he considered that she had grown into the "most beautiful, graceful and agreeable young woman in London". Temple at his death in 1699 left her some property in Ireland; it was at Swift's suggestion that she move to Ireland in 1702 to protect her interests, but her long residence there, like Vanessa's, was probably due to a desire to be close to Swift. She generally lived in Swift's house, though always with female companions like Rebecca Dingley, a Temple relative whom she had known since childhood. Esther became extremely popular in Dublin and an intellectual circle grew up around her, although it was said that she found other women tedious and only enjoyed the conversation of men.

In 1704 their mutual friend the Reverend William Tisdall told Swift that he wished to marry Stella, much to Swift's private disgust, although his letter to Tisdall, which outlined his objections to the marriage, was courteous enough, making the practical point that Tisdall was not in a position to support a wife financially. Little is known about this episode, other than Swift's letter to Tisdall. It is unclear if Tisdall actually proposed to Stella : if he did he seems to have met with a firm rejection, and he married Eleanor Morgan two years later. He and Swift, after a long estrangement, became friends once more after Stella's death.

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