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=Mary Locke= Mary Locke, later Mary Mister, (1768 -1816) was an English poet and children's author known primarily for her poem "Eugenius, or, Virtue in Retirement". She was the youngest of four children, having two older brothers and one older sister. By 1786, both of Locke's parents had passed away and she moved in with her uncle, Edward Taylor. Taylor, son of a cleric and the grandchild of the Bishop of Salisbury, attended Eton College and Trinity College, Cambridge in his youth and was a well travelled man, who decided to settle down in Steeple Aston, Oxfordshire.

In Mary Locke's "Eugenius, or, the Virtue of Retirement" (1791), the author explains how she had led 'a Life of Retirement' and how she was 'young, uneducated, and inexperienced'. In the poem, she goes on to mourn over lacking the ability to acquire a proper education in her formative years, but say she is now on 'a soil more kind'. Edward Taylor, was about forty at the time and is thought to have encouraged Mary Locke to pursue literature more fully. After Locke published "Eugenius, or, the Virtue of Retirement", she began to contribute verses, particularly gloomier sonnets, to the Gentleman's Magazine.

Taylor died a few years later on December 6, 1797, and left Mary Locke estates in Steeple Aston and Middle Barton. Shortly, thereafter, in 1798, she married William Mister, who was a surgeon and apothecary, and the two of them sold the estates she had inherited and moved to Wales. Although little is known about the marriage itself, William and Mary Mister had at least one child, who is referenced in "Mungo, or, the little traveller: to which is annexed, the seven wonders of the world"

Another important shift occurs in her literary career around the time she gets married to William Mister, which is that she no longer dedicates her time writing melancholic sonnets, but instead is devotes that time to writing children's literature. Indeed all the known work by her after she gets married is children's literature published exclusively by Darton, Harvey, and Darton, a publishing house that specializes primarily in juvenile literature.

Poetry

 * "Eugenius,or,Virtue in Retirement" (1791)

Children's Literature

 * "Mungo, or, the little traveller: to which is annexed, the seven wonders of the world" (1810)
 * "Tales from the Mountain..." (1814)
 * "The Adventures of a Doll: compiled with the hope of affording amusement and instruction" (1816)
 * "Little Anecdotes for Little People" (1830, published posthumously)