Susanna Elizabeth Burney, later known as Susan Phillips (January 1755 – 6 January 1800), was an English letter and journal writer. She wrote 650,000 words and her letters are said to be "the most important source on opera in the period".

Life

Burney was born in

King's Lynn King's Lynn, known until 1537 as Bishop's Lynn and colloquially as Lynn, is a port and market town in the borough of King's Lynn and West Norfolk in the county of Norfolk, England. It is located north of London, north-east of Peterborough, no ...

on a day in January 1755 which was either the 4th or the 7th. She was the fourth child of a talented and influential family. Her father's children included the seafarer

James Burney James Burney (13 June 1750 – 17 November 1821) was an English rear-admiral, who accompanied Captain Cook on his last two voyages. He later wrote two books on naval voyages and a third on the game of whist. Family Burney was born in London, ...

, the writer Frances "Fanny" Burney, the scholar Charles Burney and the writer Sarah Harriet Burney. Her elder sister Esther went with her in 1764 when their father took them to France to improve their French. Burney was in France until 1766, learning the language which was thought likely to improve her prospects of employment as a governess. At some point, she also gained a good knowledge of Italian. She was the child in the Burney family who was most interested in music, which was her father's expertise. He was an organist who became known for his writing after he published books on the music of France, the Netherlands, Italy and Germany. She and her sister Fanny were very close: the singer

Gaspare Pacchierotti Gaspare Pacchierotti (21 May 1740 – 28 October 1821) was a mezzo-soprano castrato, and one of the most famous singers of his time. Training and first appearances Details of his early life are scarce. It is possible that he studied with Mario Bi ...

said they had "one mind", although it was Susanna who loved his "divine"

castrato A castrato (Italian, plural: ''castrati'') is a type of classical male singing voice equivalent to that of a soprano, mezzo-soprano, or contralto. The voice is produced by castration of the singer before puberty, or it occurs in one who, due to ...

singing and as usual recorded these thoughts in her journal letters. Her letters were all addressed to Fanny, and Fanny wrote all her journal letters to her. Susan's letters have proved to be a valuable source about society and music, and also history – including her eye-witness account of the

Gordon Riots The Gordon Riots of 1780 were several days of rioting in London motivated by anti-Catholic sentiment. They began with a large and orderly protest against the Papists Act 1778, which was intended to reduce official discrimination against British ...

.Philip Olleson, ''The Journals and Letters of Susan Burney: Music and Society in Late Eighteenth-Century England''. Ashgate, 2012. When Fanny secretly wrote and published her first novel

Evelina ''Evelina, or the History of a Young Lady's Entrance into the World'' is a novel written by English author Fanny Burney and first published in 1778. Although published anonymously, its authorship was revealed by the poet George Huddesford in ...

, they were both involved in the cover-up. She married Molesworth Phillips in 1782. He was a marine who had sailed with her brother, James. Her brother and her new husband had sailed with Captain

James Cook James Cook (7 November 1728 Old Style date: 27 October – 14 February 1779) was a British explorer, navigator, cartographer, and captain in the British Royal Navy, famous for his three voyages between 1768 and 1779 in the Pacific Ocean an ...

to Hawaii and had witnessed his death. Her husband had been injured in the squabble with islanders when Cook had been killed. The newly married couple lived in Ipswich until they returned for the birth of their daughter in October. She was named after her favourite sister, Fanny. The three of them lived at Chessington Hall with a dramatist friend of their fathers,

Samuel Crisp Samuel Crisp (1707 – 24 April 1783) was an English dramatist. He is known for the play ''Virginia'', produced at Drury Lane in 1754. Life He was baptised on 14 November 1707. His father Samuel Crisp, a London merchant, was a grandson of the the ...

, until he died in the following year. Her third child, William (Willy), was born in 1791. In 1796 she travelled to Ireland to see her son and her estranged husband. His affair with Burney's cousin was not a secret, and Burney's health was affected by the situation.

Death and legacy

Burney died at Parkgate near Chester, having recently sailed to England to escape mistreatment by her husband. Her letters and journals survive. She is estimated to have written 650,000 words in her lifetime. There is a Susan Burney Letters Project at the

University of Nottingham The University of Nottingham is a public university, public research university in Nottingham, United Kingdom. It was founded as University College Nottingham in 1881, and was granted a royal charter in 1948. The University of Nottingham belongs t ...

and her writings are held by the

New York Public Library The New York Public Library (NYPL) is a public library system in New York City. With nearly 53 million items and 92 locations, the New York Public Library is the second largest public library in the United States (behind the Library of Congress ...

, the

British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...

and

Yale University Library The Yale University Library is the library system of Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. Originating in 1701 with the gift of several dozen books to a new "Collegiate School," the library's collection now contains approximately 14.9 mill ...

. Her letters are said to be "by far the most important source on opera in the period" especially as they were not used by later historians. After her death, her sister Fanny stopped writing her journal letters to her, but encouraged by her husband she persevered and addressed new letters to her son.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Phillips, Susanna 1755 births 1800 deaths People from King's Lynn Reporters and correspondents