Biography
By Cristine Cruz
The Female Genius Behind The Female Geniad
The Female Geniad (1791) is an exemplary celebratory poem for women of the 1700’s and prior, offers an insight into early feminism. To this day, the "depth and detail" of the praises for women in this literary work remains unparalleled (Orlando). The Female Geniad celebrates women from various professions, such as early female scientists, female novelists, and female comedy writers (Orlando). However, Benger does not share the position of high status or wealth that many of the women she celebrates has. Elizabeth Ogilvy Benger was just a little girl who lost her father at a young age and was left poor for the rest of her life with only a passion for literature (Rogers). While she started from standing outside the window of book shops, looking in to read the pages of the displayed books, her drive would connect her to the big literary names of her time, and through patronage she would gain the ability to publish (Aikin v). Even in death, she would bear an amiable reputation. Her father, who desired to support her learning (Humphreys), may have been gone, but Benger did not allow her circumstances to become roadblocks in her career. She died penniless and unmarried, but rich in knowledge and full of love for and from her friends. Benger was truly a woman dedicated to her passions, resilient in adversity while remaining full of humility, and therefore, deserving of the same level of praise she bestowed upon other women in her poem The Female Geniad (1791).
Elizabeth Benger was born in 1778 in Somerset, England (Rogers). Her middle-class parents, John and Mary Benger, saw her genuine desire for knowledge and enrolled her in a boys’ school (Aikin iv). Here, she learned Latin under the direction of Rev. Mr. Alexander (Porter). During her time at the boys’ school, (and perhaps, influenced by her experience in it) thirteen-year-old Benger wrote the feministic poem, The Female Geniad (1791). It was not the first of its kind. Earlier examples include George Ballard’s Memoirs of Eminent Ladies (1752), and Mary Scott’s Female Advocate (1774) (Orlando). But there’s no doubt that it is quite an achievement for Benger to have written such a remarkable poem at the age that she did. The poem is about 40 pages long divided into three cantos, and “imperfect as it necessarily was, marks of opening genius were discovered” (Aikin). Her uncle, David Ogilvy Benger, introduced her to Mary, Lady Champion de Crespigny who is a diarist, novelist, poet, and “patron of writers” (Orlando). The esteemed woman gave patronage for the publication of The Female Geniad (Humphreys). Full of pride, John Benger distributed the publication to Timothy Stevens’ bookshop which sold 9 copies by 1794 (Orlando). Benger’s promising career was struck by misfortune when her father passed away while working away from home as a naval purser (Humphreys). Poverty stricken Elizabeth and her mother stayed in their neighbourhood in Devizes, Wiltshire for several years but Benger convinced her mother to move to London at the beginning of the 1800’s (Orlando) where she would continue to pursue her writing career.
Despite this adversity, Benger persevered through her financial situation which allowed her to continue publishing her work. The Female Geniad put her in the literary scene with the help of Lady de Crespigny whom she praises in the inscription; “Accept the tribute of an humble lay,” the second stanza of the poem reads (Benger a2). This humility and geniality are consistently visible in her work and even in her correspondence. In a hand-written letter to an unknown recipient from William Upcott’s Album of Letters by Eminent Women, Benger writes “I am always benefitted by your welcoming letters” (Upcott). In another letter contained in the same collection, she writes to the British Museum Library keeper Mr. Smith requesting for his help to discern the meaning of an illegible word. Here, she also mentions that someone has “suggested…to apply to the Herald’s office” for help (Upcott). Rather than attending to the suggestion, Benger takes a posture of humility and turns to her connections for help with her publication.
Benger exhibits the kind of humility that doesn’t trample on her confidence. Though she knows her poverty, she successfully strives to be acquainted with the high society of literary circles in London. Benger once “dressed herself as a servant” just to “take up tea to” Elizabeth Inchbald, whom she admired (Humphreys). She later became acquainted with Inchbald. She also developed ties with many women writers such as Sarah Wesley, Letitia Barbauld, Lucy Aikin, and Elizabeth Hamilton. She also became friends with painter Robert Smirke who was responsible for the images in Poems on the Abolition of the Slave Trade (1809) which she published with James Montgomery and James Grahame (Archive.org). As well, lawyer and diarist Henry Crabb Robinson was known to have enjoyed the Literary hostess’s company along with other women writers (Orlando). Though her gatherings served tea rather than wine, Benger was “acting on a serious belief in the power of female patronage” (Orlando) which successfully formed her social networks.
This intense female admiration was evident from the very start. Benger’s early work of The Female Geniad was divided into three cantos, which alluded to a plethora of women from different professions. She confidently attributes work to author names such as Lady Pakington as the author of The Whole Duty of a Man, praises Lady Mary Wortley Montagu “whom previous collectors of women’s lives had mentioned with moral disapproval,” and includes women from before her time like Lady Jane Grey and Mary Queen of Scots (Orlando). The second canto focuses on female Scientists, and the third on female novelists and writers of comedy. Though the work was “imperfect” (Aikin iv), such as when she confused Elizabeth Burnet and Anne Wharton’s work (Orlando) many took notice of young Benger’s genius. Much of Benger’s work is female focused including Memoirs of the Late Mrs. Elizabeth Hamilton (1818), Memoirs of the Life of Anne Boleyn (1821), Memoirs of the Life of Mary, Queen of Scots (1822), as well as Memoirs of Elizabeth Stuart, Queen of Bohemia (1825) which she did in-depth research of at the British Museum Library. She included in the Memoirs of Elizabeth Stuart, Queen of Bohemia (1825) “sketches of the state of society in Holland and in Germany, in the 17th Century” (Orlando) a testament to her commitment to truly paint a picture of these women’s lives. These Memoirs delineate the women’s “moral qualities,” “importance to the history of religion,” “Renaissance achievements in women’s education,” and promotes “patronage from contemporary women of social rank and literary culture” (Orlando).
Still, Benger was not immune to criticism. Some names that were quick to judge the writer were Essayist and Poet, Charles Lamb, and Novelist, William Thomas Beckford. In a letter to English Poet and Literary Critic, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Lamb expressed relief that he was able to interrupt before his sister, Mary, could exchange “vows of eternal friendship” (Winckles) with Elizabeth Benger. It is important to note, however, that he describes Benger as “a friend of this Miss Wesley, one Miss Benje, or Benjey” (Winckles) which indicates that he does not know her personally. Lamb’s disdain for Benger may have been entirely influenced by her association with the Sarah Wesley and the Bluestockings, nonetheless, she was unsuccessful in forming a friendship with him (Corvey). William Beckford on the other hand was not a fan of her work at all. He harshly annotated a copy of Benger’s Memoirs of the Life of Anne Boleyn (1821) and suggested that women “would pass a little more of their time at cross stitch” (Orlando). In the end, these criticisms were minor inconveniences to her career in comparison to the loss of her father and financial stability.
In fact, these criticisms did not affect how Elizabeth Benger will be remembered. Upon her death from an illness on January 9, 1827, Benger received many heartfelt praises from her contemporaries. Germaine de Staël described Benger as “the most interesting woman she had met in England” (Orlando) and Lucy Aikin shared her affection for Benger in “Memoir of Miss Benger” a kind of obituary included in a later edition of Memoirs of the Life of Anne Boleyn, published after Benger’s death. In this short memoir, Aikin talked about Benger as “a companion, whether for the graver or the gayer hour” with a “constant forgetfulness of self, and unfailing sympathy for others” (Aikin viii). Even though she had a strong admiration for women, Benger was still a “friend, and favourite, and confidant, of persons of both sexes, all classes and all ages” (Aikin viii). An intimate friend from before Benger moved to London, Jane Porter, also wrote an Obituary for her which was published in The Literary Magnet titled “Some Particulars Respecting the Life and Character of the Late Miss Benger” (1827). Porter described her how conversations were “always worthy of herself, and honorable to those to whom she addressed herself” (Porter). Benger was someone who had a “noble simplicity”, and she was “worthy of her esteem to her latest day” (Particulars). Many of Benger’s literary friends keep a positive outlook on her passing; Her death was seen as “a release from struggles and poverty” (Humphreys).
Benger’s life had not been the most gratifying in terms of societal status nor financially, but her perseverance allowed her to build a social network with literary women who truly value her literary contributions and friendship. In addition, though she has not been the most skillful or educated, her hospitality, benevolence, and dedication rewarded her a reputable image. Her poem The Female Geniad (1791) though published prematurely served as the launching pad for her to gain recognition. She leaves behind poetry, a work of translation, and several memoirs, many of which display her desire to advocate for female solidarity. Elizabeth Benger was a poet, novelist, biographer, and perhaps, most noteworthy of all titles, a commendable example of female strength and zeal.
References
Aikin L. (1854). "Memoir of Miss Benger". Memoirs of the Life of Anne Boleyn Queen of Henry VIII with the Memoir of the Author by Miss Aikin. https://archive.org/details/memoirslifeanne03benggoog/page/n10/mode/2up?ref=ol&view=theater
Benger E.O. (1791) The Female Geniad. https://go-gale-com.proxy.lib.sfu.ca/ps/i.do?p=ECCO&u=sfu_z39&id=GALE%7CCW0113790651&v=2.1&it=r&sid=primo
Elizabeth Ogilvy Benger entry: Life and Writing Screen. (2006-2021). Orlando. Retrieved October 15, 2021, from
Humphreys J. (2020) Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/ Benger, Elizabeth Ogilvy. WikiSource. Retrieved October 15, 2021, from en.wikisource.org/wiki/Dictionary_of_National_Biography,_1885-1900/Benger,_Elizabeth_Ogilvy
Jane Porter entry: Writing Screen. (2006-2021). Orlando. Retrieved October 15, 2021, from http://orlando.cambridge.org.proxy.lib.sfu.ca/protected/svPeople?formname=r&person_id=portja&people_tab=2&t=2:71#scrollPosition
Montgomery J., Grahame J., & Benger E. Poems on the Abolition of the Slave Trade. Bowyer R., & Bensley T. 1809, London, archive.org/details/poemsonabolition00bowyrich/page/n7/mode/2up p. 8. Accessed 15 Oct. 2021
Porter, J., “Some Particulars Respecting The Life and Character of Miss Benger”. The New – England Galaxy and United States Literary Advertiser (1830-1836); Mar 7 1828; 11, 543; American Periodicals. www.proquest.com/docview/127883365/fulltextPDF/396A94BC48F94F1DPQ/1?accountid=13800. Accessed 31 Oct. 2021
Rogers, S. “Corvey: Adopt an Author | Elizabeth Ogilvy Benger”. The Corvey Project at Sheffield Hallam University. https://extra.shu.ac.uk/corvey/corinne/Corinne%20authors/1Benger/BioBenger.html#. Accessed 15 Oct. 2021
Upcott W. (1824) Original Letters collected by William Upcott vol. Xxx Eminent Women.
Winckles, A.O., & Rehbein, A. "Introduction: “A Tribe of Authoresses”." Women's Literary Networks and Romanticism: "A Tribe of Authoresses". Liverpool University Press, 24. Liverpool Scholarship Online. liverpool.universitypressscholarship.com/view/10.5949/liverpool/9781786940605.001.0001/upso-9781786940605-chapter-001 Date Accessed 31 Oct. 2021
