Ann Yearsley (1753–1806, née Cromartie) was one of the most prominent laboring-class poets of the Romantic period. Beginning life as a Bristol milkseller who endured harsh poverty, Yearsley came to the notice of Hannah More, whose patronage enabled the publication of Yearsley’s Poems, on Several Occasions (1785). When More kept the proceeds in trust, supposedly to safeguard them for Yearsley’s children, Yearsley’s resentment sparked a public split between the two. Yearsley published her account of the split as a preface to the fourth edition of Poems, on Several Occasions (1786) and, with the support of new patrons, went on to enjoy a successful literary career. Further poetry publications included Poems on Various Subjects (1787), A Poem on the Inhumanity of the Slave Trade (1788), Stanzas of Woe (1790), and The Rural Lyre (1796). She wrote several plays, only one of which survives, Earl Goodwin (performed 1789; published 1791); and a four-volume novel, The Royal Captives (1795).