Anne Penny

Anne Penny (née Hughes; 6 January 1729 – 17 March 1784) was a British poet and translator, born in Wales to a vicar and his wife. She married a privateer who owned an estate in Oxford, but was left widowed at the age of 22 with a son, Hugh Cloberry Christian. She then started writing poetry. She married a French customs officer, again with a maritime history, and the couple moved to London. There she published a number of works, including her most significant poem An Invocation to the Genius of Britain, a patriotic piece written at the start of the Anglo-French War. She also published a number of translations of Welsh poems.

Penny was an adherent of Welsh nationalism, and wrote a number of nationalistic poems. Though her work was criticised for its poor grammar, it attracted prominent subscribers, such as Samuel Johnson and Horace Walpole.