Woman's Labour

Mary Collier (c.1688–1762) was an English poet and labourer. Born in Midhurst, West Sussex to poor parents, she was educated at home, and went on to become a washerwoman, brewer and manual labourer. She is best known today for her stinging riposte to Stephen Duck's portrayal of working-class women in his The Thresher's Labour, which she had published herself as The Woman's Labour.

'Collier’s writing… represents an instance of resistance to oppression both gendered and class-based.' (Donna Landry, The Muses of Resistance)

• 'The Woman’s Labour' by Mary Collier: 'Advertisement', 'The Woman’s Labour', 'The Three Wise Sentences Taken fromThe First Book of Esdras'; 'The Thresher’s Labour' by Stephen Duck; 'An Elegy Upon Stephen Duck' by Mary Collier; 'An Epistolary Answer to an Exciseman Who Doubted Her Being the Author' by Mary Collier; Notes; Note on the Text