Introduction
Lady Hesther Pulter (née Ley), who was probably born in Westbury, Wiltshire, and was married in 1627 to Arthur Pulter (1603-89), of Broadfield, Hertfordshire, is known as a writer, of strong Royalist sympathies, only from a single manuscript of her poems, together with a prose romance, both of which came to light in a sale in 1975. Comprising fair copies evidently made by members of her family, the principal manuscript bears corrections or revisions quite possibly in her own hand. However, until further examples of her handwriting, such as letters by her, come to light, her hand cannot be identified with any certainty. Her writings were never published in her lifetime and most of them remain currently unedited.
Peter Beal