Letitia elizabeth landon biography of michael

English poet and novelist. Name variations: (pen name) better known by her initials L.E.L.; Letitia Elizabeth Maclean. Born Letitia Elizabeth Landon at 25 Hans Place, Chelsea, England, on August 14, 1802; died of poison on October 15, 1838; daughter of John Landon (an army agent) and Catharine Jane (Bishop) Landon; granddaughter of Reverend John Landon (famed for his cause against dissenters); attended a school in Chelsea where she studied under Miss Rowden (a poet and also the teacher of Mary Russell Mitford and Lady Caroline Lamb); married George Maclean (governor of the Gold Coast, Africa), in June 1838.

Letitia Landon's father, an army agent, amassed a large property, which he lost by speculation shortly before his death.

About 1815, the Landons moved to Old Brompton and made the acquaintance of William Jerdan, and Letitia began her contributions to the Literary Gazette and to various Christmas annuals under the initial "L," a