Catharine Trotter Cockburn

From Philosopedia

Catharine Trotter Cockburn (16 August 1679 - 11 May 1749)

Trotter, a playwright who wrote about philosophy, was the daughter of Captain David Trotter and his wife Sarah. Her father died of the plague while aboard his ship and, the purser took his holdings, and his goldsmith, claiming bankruptcy, did not return his gold.

Growing up poor, she engaged in a literary career and wrote about philosophy. Her essay, "A Defence of Mr. Locke's 'Essay of Human Understanding' " resulted in the philosopher's giving her some money, some books, and a letter of appreciation. She also defended Lady Masham against Thomas Burnet's charge that Masham's essays were Locke's work.

In 1708 she married a clergyman, and the Cockburns had two daughters and a son. She and her husband both died in 1749, 4 months apart.

(See Linda L. McAlister's Hypatia's Daughters: Fifteen Hundred Years of Women Philosophers (Indiana University Press, 1996.)