Introduction

Biography

Daughter of ar­my of­fi­cer Charles Will­iams, He­len pub­lished her first po­em, Ed­win and El­tru­da, a le­gend­a­ry tale, in 1782. This was fol­lowed by An Ode on Peace, 1783, and Pern, a Poem. These were all in­clud­ed in her Po­ems, pub­lished in two vol­umes in 1786 (se­cond edi­tion, 1791).

Connected by her sis­ter’s mar­riage with a French Pro­test­ant fa­mi­ly, Will­iams lived in Pa­ris dur­ing the French Re­vo­lu­tion and Reign of Ter­ror. There she was well known as a po­li­tic­al writ­er of strong re­pub­li­can sym­pa­thies, which led to her tem­po­ra­ry im­pris­on­ment by Robes­pi­erre. She spent the end of her life in Am­ster­dam, in the house of her ne­phew Ath­a­nase Co­quer­el, pas­tor of the Re­formed Church there.

Works

• Letters from France, 1790
• Letters Con­taining a Sketch of the Po­li­tics of France from the 31st May, 1793, till the 28th of Ju­ly, 1794 (two volu­mes), 1795
• Personal Nar­ra­tives of His Tra­vels, 1815 (a trans­la­tion of Hum­boldt)