Anna Seward (1747 – 1809) was an English Romantic poet, often called the Swan of Lichfield . She spent nearly all her life in Lichfield, beginning at an early age to write poetry partly at the instigation of Erasmus Darwin. Her verses include elegies and sonnets, and she also wrote a poetical novel, Louisa, of which five editions were published. Seward's writings, which include a large number of letters, have been called "commonplace". Horace Walpole said she had "no imagination, no novelty." She was praised, however, by Mary Scott. She wrote her biography of Erasmus Darwin in 1804.
She bequeathed her writing to Sir Walter Scott, and after her death he published a three-volume book on her poetry.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anna_Seward
Erasmus Darwin (1731 – 1802) was an English physician. One of the key thinkers of the Midlands Enlightenment, he was also a natural philosopher, physiologist, slave-trade abolitionist,inventor and poet. His poems included much natural history, including a statement of evolution and the relatedness of all forms of life. He was a member of the Darwin–Wedgwood family, which includes his grandsons Charles Darwin and Francis Galton. Darwin was also a founding member of the Lunar Society of Birmingham, a discussion group of pioneering industrialists and natural philosophers. He turned down George III's invitation to be a physician to the King.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erasmus_Darwin