Margaret Chalmers
Margaret Chalmers’ (1758-1827) book Poems was published in 1813 in Newcastle, a fact which is remarkable because Chalmers lived hundreds of miles away in Lerwick, Shetland. She published the book by subscription in the hope that it might provide some money to support her mother and sisters. The household of women had struggled to make ends meet following the death of Chalmers’ brother William at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805. Although it didn’t bring in the money she had hoped for, Chalmers’ Poems has begun to receive the critical attention it deeply deserves. Her poetry is a rich source of detail about women’s life in early nineteenth-century Shetland told in vivid figurative language.
Bibliography
Isobel Grundy, “Chalmers, Margaret,” Scottish Women Poets of the Romantic Period. https://web.archive.org/web/20070929063050/http://www.alexanderstreet2.com/swrp/bios/S7029-D001.html