Mary “Polly” Catlett

Mary Catlett, commonly called Polly in accounts of Newton’s youth, belonged to a family connected with Newton’s mother. He became attached to her while still a teenager and repeatedly returned to thoughts of marriage during years of naval service, captivity and Atlantic voyages.

They married at Chatham in February 1750 and remained together until her death in 1790. Newton’s surviving letters and later grief testify to the importance of the marriage, although comparatively little independent evidence survives about Mary’s own views and daily life.