Joanna Baillie's Life & Times

1721
Birth of Dorothea Hunter, Joanna’s mother.
1722
Birth of Reverend James Baillie, Joanna’s father.
1760
Birth of Agnes Baillie, Joanna’s sister.
1761
Birth of Matthew Baillie, Joanna’s brother.
1762
Birth of Joanna Baillie on Septembre 11th in Bothwell, Scotland.
1769
The family moves from Bothwell to Hamilton.
1772
Joanna goes to Miss McDonald’s boarding-school in Glasgow.
1776
Reverend James Baillie becomes Professor of divinity at Glasgow University.
1778
Death of Reverend James Baillie. Mrs Baillie, Agnes and Joanna retire at Long Calderwood, property of Dr. William Hunter in Lanark in Scotland. Matthew Baillie goes to Balliol College, Oxford.
1783
Death of Dr. William Hunter, Mrs Baillie’s brother. He left Long Calderwood and his house on Windmill Street in London to Matthew Baillie.
1784
Mrs Baillie, Agnes and Joanna moved to Windmill Street, London, to keep house for Matthew.
1790
Publication of Poems: Wherein it is Attempted to Describe Certain Views of Nature and of Rustic Manners. She also works on a play, Arnold which is never published, and on Rayner.
1791
Matthew Baillie marries Sophia Denman and settles in Grosvenor Street. Mrs. Baillie, Agnes and Joanna move to Colchester, Essex, after some successive moves. It is there that Joanna begins working on Plays on the Passions.
1798
Anonymous publication of the first volume of Plays on the Passions, containing Basil, The Tryal, and De Montfort.
1800
De Montfort is staged at Drury Lane on April 29th with Mrs. Siddons and John Kemble. It ran for eight representations.
1801
Representation of De Montfort at Park Theatre, in New York City on April 13th.
1802
Publication of the second volume of the Plays on the Passions, containing The Election, Ethwald, and The Second Marriage. Joanna moves from Colchester to Hampstead, near London.
1804
Publication of Miscellaneous Plays containing Rayner, Constantine Paleologus, and The Country Inn.
1806
Death of Mrs. Baillie.
1808
Constantine Paleologus is staged at the Theatre Royal in Liverpool on November 7th and in London at the Surrey Theatre as a melodrama under the name Constantine and Valeria.
1809
Representation of De Montfort in Park Theatre, New York City, on November 8th. It ran for three representations.
1810
Publication of The Family Legend. The Family Legend is produced at Edingburgh on January 29th. It ran for fourteen representations. The success of the play enticed the producers to revive De Montfort. The actual date of the representation is unknown but is between March 24th and March 30th.1
1811
Representation of De Montfort at the Chestnut Street Theatre, in Philadelphia on February 8th. Representation of The Family Legend at the Theatre Royal in Newscastle on March 4th. It was also staged in Bath on March 19th.
1812
Publication of the third and final volume of Plays on the Passions containing Orra, The Siege, The Dream, and The Beacon.
1813
Representation of The Family Legend at the Theatre Royal in Newscastle on March 24th.
1815
The Family Legend is staged at Drury Lane on May 29th.
1816
Representation of The Family Legend in Philadelphia on March 22nd and 27th. It was also staged in Baltimore on June 7th at the Baltimore Theatre.
1817
The Election is staged at the English Opera House in London on June 7th. It ran for eleven representations.
1820
Representation of De Montfort in New York City, with Edmund Kean. Representation of Constantine Paleologus in Edingburgh.
1821
Metrical Legends of Exalted Characters is published. De Montfort is staged at Drury Lane on November 27th with Edmund Kean. It ran for 4 representations.
1822
Representation of De Montfort at the Chestnut Street Theatre in Philadelphia on January 14th. It is also staged in Bath on June 19th with Edmund Kean and at the Royal Theatre in Birmingham on July 4th.
1823
Death of Matthew Baillie on September 23rd. Baillie edited and published A Collection of Poems, chiefly Manuscript and from Living Authors, Edited for the Benefit of a Friend by Joanna Baillie. It was available only by subscription.
1825
Representation of Constantine Paleologus at the Theatre Royal in Dublin on June 30th. It ran for a total of eight representations.
1826
Representation of De Montfort at Park Theatre in New York City on December 6th. Publication of The Martyr, a tragedy that Baillie intended only for reading as its religious subject was not appropriate for the stage.
1828
Publication of The Bride.
1831
Publication of the pamphlet A View of the General Tenor of the New Testament regarding the Nature and Dignity of Jesus Christ.
1836
Publication of Miscellaneous Plays, in three volumes. The first volume contains, Romiero, The Alienated Manor, Henriquez, and The Martyr, which is republished. The second volume contains The Separation, The Stripling, The Phantom, and Enthusiasm. The last volume contains Witchcraft, Homicide, The Bride which is republished, and The Match. The Separation is staged at Covent Garden on February 25th. Henriquez is staged at Drury Lane on March 19th.
1840
Publication of Fugitive Verses.
1849
Private publication of the poem Ahalya Baee.
1851
Publication of all her collected works. On February, 23, in Hampstead Joanna Baillie dies.
1861
Death of her sister Agnes Baillie.