Dorothy Wordsworth

Dorothy Wordsworth (1771—1855), the only sister of William Wordsworth contributed to English literature in two ways, firstly through her influence on William, and the material she provided for his poetry, and secondly, as a writer of vivid journals and letters, none of which were published in her lifetime. The contribution she made to her brother's achievement was acknowledged by him and by contemporaries.

William was the second son of four, with Dorothy being the third child. The affection between them was probably established while the family still lived together in Cockermouth. Following the death of her mother in 1778, she spent the rest of her childhood with a cousin of her mother in Halifax, Yorkshire. In 1787, contact with William was renewed and continued sporadically until 1795 when she was permanently reunited with him, when she went to live with him, first at Racedown in Dorset, then at Alfoxden in Somerset (near Nether Stowey where Coleridge had settled) and afterwards in all of his later homes. Although a great walker, she was seldom in perfect health. In 1829 and again in 1833 she was dangerously ill, and in 1835 she developed a condition which has been identified as dementia. She died five years after William.