Lucy Hutchinson (; 29 January 1620 – October 1681) was an English translator, poet, and biographer, and the first person to translate the complete text of Lucretius's De rerum natura (On the Nature of Things) into English verse, during the years of the Interregnum (1649–1660). Biography Lucy Apsley was born on 29 January 1620 in the Tower of London, where her father, Sir Allen Apsley, was Lieutenant. She was named after her mother, Lady Lucy St John, and was the second of ten children. Lucy was married on 3 July 1638 in St. Andrew Holborn to Colonel John Hutchinson (1615–1664). She claimed that he was in part attracted to her intellectual and poetic accomplishments. In 1649, John Hutchinson was one of the signatories of King Charles's death-warrant, but he later protested against the assumption of supreme power by Oliver Cromwell. After the Restoration of the monarchy in 1660, her husband was arrested for his part in the regicide and imprisoned in Sandown Castle, Kent. However, he was not tried. Lucy went before the House of Lords to gain his release, but to no avail. In 1664, John Hutchinson died in prison. His death deeply affected her and her writing, as attested by her "Elegies" series of poems. Lucy was an ardent Puritan, and she held fast to her Calvinist convictions. She died at Owthorpe in October 1681, and was buried in her husband's tomb. Literary works Lucy Hutchinson has a place in literary history for her biography of her husband, Memoirs of the Life of Colonel Hutchinson, in addition to her works in poetry and translation. Biography Memoirs of the Life of Colonel Hutchinson throws light upon the characteristics and conditions of the life of Puritans during the English Civil War. Intended for her family only, it was printed by a descendant in 1806, and became a popular and influential account of that period. In the book, she records that John Hutchinson had many notable victories in the Civil War, including at Shelford Manor on 27 October 1645. In this battle he defeated his kin, Colonel Philip Stanhope, the fifth son of the 1st Earl of Chesterfield. Lucy may have even seen the battle, as their estate of Owthorpe in Nottinghamshire was only a few miles away. Translation Lucy Hutchinson is the first named translator of the full text of Lucretius's De Rerum Natura into English verse. She is likely