KATHERINE PHILIPS

KATHERINE PHILIPS (1631-1664), poetess, born in London; was the daughter of a London merchant and the wife of a Welsh squire, a highly sentimental but worthy woman; the Society of Friendship, in which the members bore fancy names - hers, which also served her for a nom de plume, was Orinda - had some fame in its day, and brought her, as the foundress, the honour of a dedication from Jeremy Taylor; her work was admired by Cowley and Keats; she was a staunch royalist.