Judith Lomax

Judith Lomax (September 25, 1774 – January 19, 1828) was an American poet and religious writer. She was the first woman in Virginia to publish a volume of poetry entirely her own.

Early years Little is known of Lomax's early life save that she was a member of a prominent Virginia family, the daughter of Thomas and Anne Lomax of Portobago, and lived on her father's plantation until his death in 1816. Her mother was a member of the prominent Tayloe family. the couple were her aunt and uncle by marriage. She was a self-declared admirer of the works of Ossian. Her book of verse, Notes of an American Lyre, was published in Richmond, Virginia in 1813, with a dedication to Thomas Jefferson. She is known to have visited Jefferson, a former acquaintance of her father's, at Monticello and written verse about the house during her career. Eleven of her poems were sent by her father to St. George Tucker for criticism; they are today held in the special collections library of the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg.