Dorothy Wordsworth was born in Cockermouth, Cumberland, on Christmas Day, 1771. She was the third of five children, Richard (1768), William (1770), John (1772) and Christopher (1774. John Wordsworth, the father of the family, was “law agent” to Sir James Lowther; Dorothy's mother Ann died in 1778 when Dorothy was six and she was then sent to Halifax to live with her aunt Elizabeth Threlkeld who acted as governess to her sister's children.
Dorothy settled happily into her new life among the liberal Dissenters of Halifax and in 1781 she went to Hipperholme Boarding School three miles out of Halifax. but two years later her father's death led to a financial crisis: Lowther owed John Wordsworth in excess of é4,000 but refused to pay the money to his estate and the debt was only to be
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Citation: Williams, John R.. "Dorothy Wordsworth". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 28 October 2000 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=4803, accessed 21 November 2024.]
