Hazlitt, Margaret, 1770-1841

Margaret Hazlitt (1770-1841) was the daughter of the Rev. William Hazlitt and Grace Loftus Hazlitt. She was sister and middle sibling to her brothers, essayist William Hazlitt and artist John Hazlitt.

The Reverend William Hazlitt attended the University of Glasgow, but departed from the Presbyterian ministry to become a Unitarian minister. In 1783 Hazlitt took his family and sailed for America to begin a three-year stint of preaching Unitarianism from Maryland to Maine. Reverend Hazlitt founded the First Unitarian Church at Boston, but by 1786, Hazlitt returned to England to seek a home for his family. His eldest son, John Hazlitt, began painting portraits in miniature in Boston and became an accomplished artist upon return to England. Son William Hazlitt attended New College at Hackney to study divinity, but withdrew after a spell, feeling unfit for the ministry. He became well known as an English literary and social critic.

Moyne, Ernest J., ed. The Journal of Margaret Hazlitt: Recollections of England, Ireland, and America. Lawrence: University of Kansas Press, 1967. "William Hazlitt." Encyclopedia of World Biography, 2nd ed. reproduced in Biography Resource Center. http://galenet.galegroup.com/ (accessed October 2008).

From the guide to the Recollections, 1835 April 18-1838 October 27, (University of Delaware Library - Special Collections)