Joanna Baillie's Life & Times

Birth of Dorothea Hunter, Joanna’s mother.

Birth of Reverend James Baillie, Joanna’s father.

Birth of Agnes Baillie, Joanna’s sister.

Birth of Matthew Baillie, Joanna’s brother.

Birth of Joanna Baillie on Septembre 11th in Bothwell, Scotland.

The family moves from Bothwell to Hamilton.

Joanna goes to Miss McDonald’s boarding-school in Glasgow.

Reverend James Baillie becomes Professor of divinity at Glasgow University.

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.

Death of Dr. William Hunter, Mrs Baillie’s brother. He left Long Calderwood and his house on Windmill Street in London to Matthew Baillie.

Mrs Baillie, Agnes and Joanna moved to Windmill Street, London, to keep house for Matthew.

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.

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.

Anonymous publication of the first volume of Plays on the Passions, containing Basil, The Tryal, and De Montfort.

De Montfort is staged at Drury Lane on April 29th with Mrs. Siddons and John Kemble. It ran for eight representations.

Representation of De Montfort at Park Theatre, in New York City on April 13th.

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.

Publication of Miscellaneous Plays containing Rayner, Constantine Paleologus, and The Country Inn.

Death of Mrs. Baillie.

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.

Representation of De Montfort in Park Theatre, New York City, on November 8th. It ran for three representations.

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

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.

Publication of the third and final volume of Plays on the Passions containing Orra, The Siege, The Dream, and The Beacon.

Representation of The Family Legend at the Theatre Royal in Newscastle on March 24th.

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.

The Election is staged at the English Opera House in London on June 7th. It ran for eleven representations.

Representation of De Montfort in New York City, with Edmund Kean. Representation of Constantine Paleologus in Edingburgh.

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.

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.

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.

Representation of Constantine Paleologus at the Theatre Royal in Dublin on June 30th. It ran for a total of eight representations.

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.

Publication of The Bride.

Publication of the pamphlet A View of the General Tenor of the New Testament regarding the Nature and Dignity of Jesus Christ.

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.

Publication of Fugitive Verses.

Private publication of the poem Ahalya Baee.

Publication of all her collected works. On February, 23, in Hampstead Joanna Baillie dies.

Death of her sister Agnes Baillie.