Stella (1681‒1728)

Stella, the name under which Swift has immortalised Hester Johnson, the story of whose life is inseparably entwined with that of the great Dean; was the daughter of a lady-companion of Lady Gifford, the sister of Sir William Temple, who, it is conjectured, was her father. Swift first met her, a child of seven, when he assumed the duties of amanuensis to Sir William Temple in 1688, and during his subsequent residence with Sir William (1696-1699) stood to her in the progressive relationship of tutor, friend, and lover; but for some unaccountable reason it would seem they never married, although their mutual affection and intimacy endured till her death; to her was addressed, without thought of publication, the immortal “Journal to Stella,” “the most faithful and fascinating diary the world has ever seen,” which throws an invaluable flood of light on the character of Swift, revealing unsuspected tendernesses and affections in the great satirist (1681‒1728).

Definition taken from The Nuttall Encyclopædia, edited by the Reverend James Wood (1907)