Elizabeth Barrett Browning was born on March 6, 1806 in Coxhoe Hall, Durham, England. She was the eldest of eleven children born to Edward and Mary Moulton-Barrett (DISCovering Authors). His father was a “possessive, autocratic man loved by his children even though he rigidly controlled their lives” (Encyclopedia of World Biography). Although he forbade his daughters from marrying, he still managed to encourage their studies (DISCovering Authors). His mother, Mary Graham-Clarke, was a prosperous woman who earned her fortune on a sugar plantation in Jamaica (EXPLORING Poetry). When Elizabeth was "three years old, the family moved to Hope End in Herefordshire, and she spent the next twenty-three years of her life in this minaret country house overlooking a lake" (Hayter). From an early age, Barrett Browning had shown considerable interest in poetry and literature. At the age of four, she had begun to read and write verse. “She was educated at home and learned classical Greek, Latin, and several modern languages” (Shilstone 646). For being self-taught, his dedication to poetry, literature, and classical studies was exceptional (EXPLORING Poetry). “Elizabeth could read Homer in the original at age 8” (Greer). “She completed an epic poem, 'Battle of Marathon.' when she was thirteen, and her father had it printed privately” (Greer). In 1821, Barrett Browning began suffering from a nervous disorder that caused headaches, weakness, and fainting spells that would affect him for the rest of his life (EXPLORING Poetry). Additionally, around the age of fourteen, she injured her spine while trying to saddle her pony, thus condemning herself to a life of deprivation and solitude (DISCovering Author...... middle of paper ...... rare heroine fleeing tyrannical father to poet-lover” (DISCovering Authors). “Elizabeth Barrett Browning”. Student Resources in Context. February 27, 2011. “Elizabeth Barrett Browning.” EXPLORING Poetry 2003. Gale Student Resources InContext. Women in English, New York: Cambridge University Press, 1999. 96. Print. Hayter, Alethea. “Encyclopedia of British Writers. Ed. Ian Scott-Kilvert. 310-312. Elizabeth Barrett”. The World Book Encyclopedia 2010 ed.646..