Sophia Elizabeth De Morgan (née Frend; 10 November 1809–5 January 1892) was an English
spiritualist writer and activist.
Early life
She was the eldest child of
William Frend and his wife Sarah Blackburne. Her upbringing in London was unusual, her father taking her everywhere with him from a young age, and instructing her in philosophy and Hebrew.
George Dyer was a friend of the family, as was
Charles Lamb
Charles Lamb (10 February 1775 – 27 December 1834) was an English essayist, poet, and antiquarian, best known for his '' Essays of Elia'' and for the children's book '' Tales from Shakespeare'', co-authored with his sister, Mary Lamb (1764†...
who wrote Sophia an
acrostic poem
An acrostic is a poem or other word composition in which the ''first'' letter (or syllable, or word) of each new line (or paragraph, or other recurring feature in the text) spells out a word, message or the alphabet. The term comes from the Fre ...
based on her name. In 1820 the family moved from
Blackfriars to
Stoke Newington.
Anna Letitia Barbauld
Anna Laetitia Barbauld (, by herself possibly , as in French, Aikin; 20 June 1743 – 9 March 1825) was a prominent English poet, essayist, literary critic, editor, and author of children's literature. A " woman of letters" who published in mu ...
, in her mid-70s, was a neighbour of the Frends, and Sophia at age 11 took part in some of her taxing games.
Ada Lovelace
In 1828 Sophia began tutoring
Ada Lovelace.
Lady Byron, Ada's mother, took advice on her daughter's education from William Frend, and Ada was tutored also by
William King and
Arabella Lawrence, from about 1830. Sophia had to overcome reservations about Ada, whom she didn't like.
The Frends moved back to central London—
Tavistock Square
Tavistock Square is a public square in Bloomsbury, in the London Borough of Camden.
History
Tavistock Square was built shortly after 1806 by the property developer James Burton and the master builder Thomas Cubitt for Francis Russell, 5th Duke ...
—in 1831. Around 1832, Sophia expressed scepticism about a
phrenological reading of Ada's head, by
James De Ville, that had been arranged by her mother. In June 1833 Ada visited
Charles Babbage and saw his
difference engine, and Sophia reported that she had understood the principle of the machine. Sophia became a confidante of Lady Byron, on family matters.
Activism
Around 1835 Lady Byron brought Sophia onto the committee of the Children's Friend Society. In 1849 she was involved in the "Ladies' College" project of
Elizabeth Jesser Reid. It is thought that she acted as secretary to early meetings of the group, but later withdrew because of bad health.
The De Morgans came to know
Elizabeth Fry
Elizabeth Fry (née Gurney; 21 May 1780 – 12 October 1845), sometimes referred to as Betsy Fry, was an English prison reformer, social reformer, philanthropist and Quaker. Fry was a major driving force behind new legislation to improve the tr ...
, who was under a misapprehension that Augustus was
William Morgan the noted actuary. The introduction was through Lady Byron. Through Fry, Sophia became involved in prison and workhouse reform. She was also an anti-slavery and women's suffrage advocate.
Spiritualist
Her views on spiritualism adapted the philosophy of
Emanuel Swedenborg
Emanuel Swedenborg (, ; born Emanuel Swedberg; 29 March 1772) was a Swedish pluralistic-Christian theologian, scientist, philosopher and mystic. He became best known for his book on the afterlife, ''Heaven and Hell'' (1758).
Swedenborg had a ...
, and influenced in particular
Evelyn Pickering, who married her son William. She was impressed most, in
table-turning
Table-turning (also known as table-tapping, table-tipping or table-tilting) is a type of séance in which participants sit around a table, place their hands on it, and wait for rotations. The table was purportedly made to serve as a means of comm ...
, by the medium
Daniel Dunglas Home
Daniel Dunglas Home (pronounced ''Hume''; 20 March 183321 June 1886) was a Scottish physical medium with the reported ability to levitate to a variety of heights, speak with the dead, and to produce rapping and knocks in houses at will. His bi ...
.
Works
*''From Matter to Spirit: the result of ten years' experience in spirit manifestations'' (1863), as "C.D."
*''Augustus De Morgan'' (1882)
*''Threescore Years and Ten: Reminiscences of the late Sophia Elizabeth De Morgan'' (1895), edited by Mary De Morgan
A play parodying De Morgan's ''Elements of Algebra'' (1835), which was a precursor of the
abstract algebra
In mathematics, more specifically algebra, abstract algebra or modern algebra is the study of algebraic structures. Algebraic structures include group (mathematics), groups, ring (mathematics), rings, field (mathematics), fields, module (mathe ...
approach, survives in manuscript in Sophia's handwriting. It is attributed to her, or her father.
Family
Sophia married
Augustus De Morgan on 3 August 1837, unconventionally for the period at the
registry office
A register office or The General Register Office, much more commonly but erroneously registry office (except in official use), is a British government office where births, deaths, marriages, civil partnership, stillbirths and adoptions in England, ...
in
St Pancras. He had been a neighbour of the Frends in
Upper Gower Street since 1831, but by the time of the marriage had known them for ten years. The couple had seven children, including
William Frend De Morgan,
George Campbell De Morgan the mathematician, and
Mary De Morgan.
There were three sons of the marriage, with Edward who married Ada Margaret Wright, and four daughters, one of whom married:
*Anne Isabella, married
Reginald Edward Thompson, a physician, and was mother of
Reginald Campbell Thompson
Reginald Campbell Thompson (21 August 1876 – 23 May 1941) was a British archaeologist, assyriologist, and cuneiformist. He excavated at Nineveh, Ur, Nebo and Carchemish among many other sites.
Biography
Thompson was born in Kensington, ...
Elizabeth Alice (1853) and Helena Christiana (1870) died of tuberculosis.
Notes
{{DEFAULTSORT:De Morgan, Sophie Elizabeth
1809 births
1892 deaths
English biographers
English spiritualists
Writers from London