Eliza Haywood (née Elizabeth Fowler; c. 1693 – 25 February 1756), was an English writer, actress and publisher. Described as "prolific even by the standards of a prolific age", Haywood wrote and published over 70 works in her lifetime, including fiction, drama, translations, poetry, conduct literature and periodicals. Haywood today is studied primarily as one of the 18th-century founders of the novel in English. She is especially famous for her novel Love in Excess (1719–20).
Biography
Scholars of Eliza Haywood universally agree upon only one thing: the exact date of her death. Haywood gave conflicting accounts of her own life; her origins remain unclear, and there are presently contending versions of her biography. For example, it was once mistakenly believed that she married the Rev. Valentine Haywood. According to report, Haywood took pains to keep her personal life private, asking the one (unnamed) person with knowledge of her private life to remain silent for fear that such facts may be misrepresented in print. Apparently, that person felt loyal enough to Haywood to honour her request.
The early life of Eliza Haywood is somewhat of a mystery to scholars. While Haywood was born "Elizabeth Fowler", the exact date of Haywood's birth is unknown due to the lack of surviving records. Although scholars believe that she was most likely born near Shropshire or London, England, in or around 1693, her birth date is extrapolated from a combination of her death date and her stated age at the time of her death (Haywood died on 25 February 1756 and obituaries notices list her age as sixty years).
