Catherine Jemmat

Catherine Jemmat (bap. 1714 – 1766) was an English writer who published in The Gentleman's Magazine and produced two collections of her own.

Life She was born Catherine Yeo. Her father, the Royal Navy captain John Yeo (d. 1756), was at sea for long periods. She was left to the care of an immature and neglectful stepmother. Catherine was educated for a while at a boarding school. She eventually sought escape from her father in a hasty marriage to a Plymouth silk mercer called Jemmat. Jemmat proved a drunkard who was deep in debt and who was soon bankrupt.

Catherine struck out on her own and made a living by getting the wealthy to sponsor publications of her own and collected works by friends. The works were often ribald and many of the sponsors listed are anonymous.

Works Her main work is Memoirs (2 vols, 1762). She also published Miscellanies in Prose and Verse (1766). She freely admitted that the volumes also contained the work of others and it is unclear which are her own and which by others.