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Life as Mrs. Eliza Clarke in Ipswich
November 1790 - April 1791
Title page of Elizabeth's novel The Sword from Special Collections
Eliza married her friend William Clarke in November of 1790. Clarke was a wealthy salt merchant and former mayor of Ipswich. Although she was the youngest of three sisters, she was the first to be married at the age of 25. Clarke was 61 years old and in poor health. He died in April of 1791, 6 months after their marriage. Despite their over 30-year age difference, it appears that Eliza had genuine affection for her first husband. She dedicated a poem “Matlock” to Clarke and wrote him a touching Valentine:
A Wife send a Valentine! Lord, what a whim!
And then of all people to send it to him!
Make love to her husband! my stars, how romantic!
The Girl must be certainly foolish or frantic;
But I always have thought so, else what could engage
Her to marry a man who is twice her own age?
While the tabbies are thus on my motives enlarging,
My sentiments William may read in the margin.
It was during her marriage to Clarke that Eliza published The Sword; or, Father Bertrand’s History of his own Times from the Original Manuscript. The adventure novel was published in two volumes and funded by a length list of subscribers across Britain, including many friends from Liverpool, London, and Ipswich.