Mary Robinson was a novelist, poet, actress, and notable personality in British fashionable society. Married at fifteen after her father became insolvent in a whaling venture, Mary lived a fashionable life in London until the gambling and financial incompetence of her husband Thomas Robinson forced them into exile in Wales. Soon after, the Robinsons arranged publication of Mary's Poems (1775) as a means of raising money to satisfy creditors. Nevertheless, Thomas Robinson was arrested for debt and Mary and her infant daughter joined him for ten months in King's Bench Prison. Inspired by the experience, she composed Captivity, a Poem, and Celadon and Lydia, a Tale (1777). Having earlier attracted the attention of the celebrated actor David Garrick, Mary Robinson made her acting debut late in 1776. Three years later, King George III, Queen Charlotte, and their eldest son attended a performance of Shakespeare's A Winter's Tale with Robinson playing Perdita. Thus began a widely known but relatively short-lived relationship with the Prince of Wales that, because of the scandal, ended Robinson's acting career but resulted in an irregularly paid £500 annuity. After this affair ended, she began a long-time relationship with Colonel Banastre Tarleton. In 1783, Robinson miscarried Tarleton's child, and the subsequent complications left her legs almost completely paralyzed. After a sojourn in France to escape Tarleton's creditors, the couple returned to London in 1788, where Robinson began, under the pseudonym "Laura Marie," composing sentimentally delicate Della Cruscan poetry for the World. These pieces were collected in Poems (1791), with numerous other publications following, including Sappho and Phaon (1796). The preface of this volume, outlining the current place of the sonnet in English literature, helped inaugurate the sonnet revival during the romantic period. Though primarily a poet, Robinson authored numerous novels, the most noteworthy of which include Vancenza (1792), The Widow (1794), Angelina (1796), Hubert de Sevrac (1796), Walsingham (1797), The False Friend (1799), and The Natural Daughter (1799), and these did the most toward improving her financial stability. Her operetta, The Lucky Escape (1778) and her satirical drama, Nobody (1794) were produced, while her tragedy The Sicilian Lover (1796) appeared in print. Under the names "Tabitha Bramble" and "Laura", she contributed poetry and for a time edited the poetry section of The Morning Post. A Letter to the Women of England, on the Cruelties of Mental Subordination (1799, later Thoughts on the Condition of Women), published under the pseudonym "Anne Frances Randall," champions the woman writer. Lyrical Tales (1800), the last volume published in her lifetime, appeared only a few days before her death in December, 1800.