Author: Candler, Ann (1740-1814)
Title: Poetical Attempts
Date: 1803
Biographical Information
Candler, Ann. Poetical Attempts, By Ann Candler, A Suffolk Cottager; With a Short Narrative Of Her Life. Ipswich: Printed and Sold by J. Raw, Also Sold by T. Hurst, Paternoster, 1803. (pp. xiii + 69).
Ann Candler was born on November 18th, 1740. Candler was the daughter of William More of Yoxford, Suffolk, a working glover; her mother was the daughter of Thomas Holder, formerly a surveyor of window lights in Woodbridge. Her mother, used to a life of luxury, asked that their family move to Ipswich, Suffolk. However, not long after the move, her mother passed away, leaving Candler, at the age of eleven, in the sole care of her father. During her time with her father, Candler fell in love with reading and greatly desired to learn how to write. Her father always supported her writing, but she would never allow him to pay for lessons in case it would take too much of a financial toll. So, Candler simply learned from the “amusing” books her acquaintances would lend her, in addition to fervently watching and imitating her father’s writing; through this, Ann Candler became able to write legibly.
Although Candler despised poetry, whenever she wrote she would find herself inclined to write in verse. Her first poem was addressed to Rev. Dr. J____n as a letter of gratitude for generously giving to her and her family. Following this poem, Candler wrote a letter to two women who had greatly impacted her, and her career as a published poet. In this letter, we discover much more about the life of Ann Candler through her own narrative.
Candler had nine children, five sons and four daughters; of these nine, three boys died as infants. Candler’s relationships with her children varied as she had not heard from the eldest son or daughter in many years, yet kept in close contact with her daughters, Lucy and Clara. Candler was very proud of Lucy and Clara, describing Lucy as a “contented Happy Cottager,” and associating Clara, her youngest, with “an unblemish’d character.”
Candler’s husband, on the other hand, was no source of joy. After less than a year of marriage, Candler’s husband enlisted in the recruiting party of the Guards in Ipswich. Upon hearing this news from a friend, Candler, with the help of his family and friends, quickly decided he should enlist in the Militia in order to escape this commitment. After three years of serving in the Militia, during which he only saw his family 28 days in the summer, Candler’s husband had become a drunk. However, through the graces of Candler’s aunt, as well as the Rev. Dr. J____n, Candler and her family survived incredibly hard financial times.
Upon the visit of her husband’s brother, her husband yet again joined the Guards, leaving Candler alone with her children. Candler’s neighbors and friends guided her through this time, advising her to not only let her husband go, but also to put four of her children in a home (keeping the eldest and youngest). Candler followed this advice to an extent and spent the next few years living off of financial and medical help, sponsored by many of her friends. Eventually, Candler’s husband did return home; working to convince Candler that he had not only changed but that they should move to the city (London) as well, he tried to instill this hope for a new life. Despite the warnings of many of her friends, Candler packed up, took her youngest, Clara, and left. However, Candler’s husband, who had not changed, instantly demanded money upon Candler’s arrival, quickly proving to be the same drunk as before. Following the same previous patterns, he left with the army, leaving Candler, yet again, utterly poor. When he returned home, though, Candler broke the trend and accepted his uncle’s offer to pay for her and Clara’s departure back to Suffolk, as well as his assistance with other financial costs. Candler’s husband did eventually return and convince her to move in with him, but this was then followed by the return of his addiction, as well his final departure.
From this point on Candler relied upon money from the church, a shelter at the “Tattingstone House of Industry,” and support from her longtime, loyal friend. This was not her final state of life, since a few of Candler’s poems had been read and approved. Accordingly, Candler’s friends encouraged her to publish a small volume of her own and thus be able to support herself. Candler eventually took their advice, and with the money gained, as well as some initial help from friends, she moved to a home in Copbrook near her daughter, Lucy. Here Candler happily finished out her life, until she died on the 6th of September, in 1814, at the age of 74.
Prepared by Rachel Shaw, University of Nebraska, April 2018.
© Rachel Shaw, 2018.
Sources
Dictionary of National Biography. (n.d.). Retrieved April 17, 2018, from https://books.google.com/books/about/Dictionary_of_National_Biography.html?id=EyoJAAAAIAAJ
(city, England)." "Ipswich. "Ipswich (city, England)." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th Ed. 2018. Accessed April 17, 2018. https://www.encyclopedia.com/places/united-states-and-canada/us-political-geography/ipswich.
Candler, Ann. Poetical Attempts, By Ann Candler, A Suffolk Cottager; With A Short Narrative Of Her Life. Ipswich: Printed and Sold by J. Raw, Also Sold by T. Hurst, Paternoster, 1803. (pp. xiii + 69)