Laetitia Pilkington

Laetitia Pilkington (born Laetitia van Lewen) (c. 1709 – 29 July 1750) was a celebrated Anglo-Irish poet. Her Memoirs are the source of much of what is known of the personalities and habits of Jonathan Swift and others.

Laetitia was born of two distinguished families. Her father was a physician and obstetrician, eventually the president of the College of Physicians for Ireland, and her mother was the niece of Sir John Meade. She was born either in Cork, where her parents lived at their marriage, or Dublin, where they moved by 1711. She married Matthew Pilkington in 1725, a rising priest in the Church of Ireland, and the couple were introduced to Jonathan Swift at St. Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin in 1725. Swift enjoyed their company immensely, and he sought to benefit them in 1730 with the monies from a Miscellany of Irish wit that was never published. At that point, Swift already noted the literary skill of both Pilkingtons, calling them "a little young poetical parson, who has a littler young poetical wife" (Elias 322). Swift continued to try to help the Pilkingtons, and he got Matthew a position as chaplain to the Lord Mayor of London for 1732–1733.

The assignment to London was a turning point for the couple. When Laetitia visited in 1733, she found her husband in love with a Drury Lane Theatre actress and involved in numerous political schemes. Matthew sent her to spend time, instead, with James Worsdale, a painter and rake. Her correspondence shows that she was introduced to the Grub Street hacks who made up the political and fashionable journalistic literary world, and she noted that Worsdale employed a number of worthy wits to furnish him with poetry that he could claim, including Henry Carey. In 1734, Matthew was arrested for his politically maladroit actions and sent back to Dublin. Three years later, it was Laetitia's turn to be unfaithful. Matthew found her alone in her bedroom with a young surgeon, Robert Adair (who would later be surgeon general of England). The two divorced in great bitterness, and the divorce cost Laetitia money as well as the friendship of Jonathan Swift.

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