Mary Robinson (poet) with her, since they feared to receive a bad reputation sympathizing with Mary Robinson. Mary Robinson (poet) Mary Robinson (née Darby; 27 November 1757? – 26 December 1800) was an English actress, poet, dramatist, novelist, and celebrity figure. During her lifetime she was known as "the English Sappho". She earned her nickname "Perdita" for her role as Perdita (heroine of Shakespeare's "The Winter's Tale") in 1779. She was the first public mistress of King George IV while he was still Prince of Wales. Robinson was born in Bristol, England to Nicholas Darby, a naval captain, and his wife Hester (née
Mary Frances Billington Mary Frances Billington Mary Frances Billington (6 September 1862 – 27 August 1925) was an English journalist and writer, whose collected articles on women were published as "Woman in India" (1895), "The Red Cross in War" (1914) and "The Roll-Call of Serving Women" (1915). Mary Frances Billington was born at Chalbury Rectory, in Chalbury, Dorset. Her father, George Henry Billington, was a clergyman, the rector at Chalbury; her mother Frances Anne Barber Billington was a clergyman's daughter before she was a clergyman's wife. Mary Frances Billington helped establish the "Southern Echo" newspaper in 1888, and was recruited from there to