Sophia, Lady Burrell (1753–1802) was an English poet and dramatist.

Biography

She was born Sophia Raymond, eldest daughter of Charles Raymond of

Valentines Valentine's Day, also called Saint Valentine's Day or the Feast of Saint Valentine, is celebrated annually on February 14. It originated as a Christian feast day honoring one or two early Christian martyrs named Saint Valentine and, thro ...

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

, on 11 April 1753.Rev. ODNB On 13 April 1773 she married William Burrell, Member of Parliament for

Haslemere The town of Haslemere () and the villages of Shottermill and Grayswood are in south west Surrey, England, around south west of London. Together with the settlements of Hindhead and Beacon Hill, they comprise the civil parish of Haslemere i ...

and came into possession, it is said, of 100,000 pounds, then an exorbitant amount of money. A

baronetcy A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14th ...

was granted to her father in 1774, the year after her marriage, with remainder to her husband and her male issue by him.

Writings

From 1773 to 1782 Lady Burrell's pen was employed on ''

vers de société ''Vers de société'', a term for social or familiar poetry, which was originally borrowed from the French, came to rank as an English expression.Fennell, ''The Stamford Dictionary of Anglicised Words'' History In France The use of the phrase ...

'', varied by such heavier matter as ''Comala'', from

Ossian Ossian (; Irish Gaelic/Scottish Gaelic: ''Oisean'') is the narrator and purported author of a cycle of epic poems published by the Scottish poet James Macpherson, originally as ''Fingal'' (1761) and ''Temora'' (1763), and later combined under t ...

, in 1784. Lady Burrell published two volumes of collected poems in 1793, and also the ''Thymriad'' from Xenophon, and ''Telemachus''. In 1800 Lady Burrell wrote two tragedies. The first was ''Maximian'', dedicated to

William Lock William Lock (1 May 1858 – 20 July 1940) was Mayor of Nelson, New Zealand, from 1913 to 1915 and again from 1921 to 1927. Lock was an auctioneer, and a grain and produce merchant for 40 years. During his term as mayor, HMS ''New Zealand'' ...

, the second ''Theodora'', dedicated by permission to

Georgiana Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire Georgiana Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire (née Spencer; ; 7 June 1757 – 30 March 1806), was an English aristocrat, socialite, political organiser, author, and activist. Born into the Spencer family, married into the Cavendish family, she wa ...

. In 1814 Lady Burrell's tragedy ''Theodora'' was reprinted in '' The New British Theatre'' (vol. i.), a collection of rejected dramas.

Later life

In 1787 her husband's health failed, and they retired to a seat at Deepdene. In 1796 William Burrell died, Lady Burrell having had two sons and two daughters by him. On 23 May 1797 she was remarried at Marylebone Church to the Reverend William Clay, a son of Richard Augustus Clay of

Southwell, Nottinghamshire Southwell (, ) is a minster and market town in the district of Newark and Sherwood in Nottinghamshire, England. It is home to the grade-I listed Southwell Minster, the cathedral of the Anglican Diocese of Southwell and Nottingham. The populatio ...

. Lady Burrell and William Clay retired to

Cowes Cowes () is an English seaport town and civil parish on the Isle of Wight. Cowes is located on the west bank of the estuary of the River Medina, facing the smaller town of East Cowes on the east bank. The two towns are linked by the Cowes Floa ...

Isle of Wight The Isle of Wight ( ) is a county in the English Channel, off the coast of Hampshire, from which it is separated by the Solent. It is the largest and second-most populous island of England. Referred to as 'The Island' by residents, the Isle of ...

, where she died on 20 June 1802, aged 52.DNB, Burrell, Sophia, Jennett Humphreys, volume 07

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Burrell, Sophia 1753 births 1802 deaths 18th-century British women writers English women poets English dramatists and playwrights Daughters of baronets 18th-century English women 18th-century English people