Amelia Opie | |
|---|---|
 1798Portrait of Amelia Opie by her husband, John Opie | |
| Born | Amelia Alderson 12 November 1769 |
| Died | 2 December 1853(1853-12-02) (aged 84) Norwich, Norfolk |
| Resting place | Gildencroft Quaker Cemetery, Norwich |
| Occupation(s) | Novelist, poet |
| Spouse | John Opie |
Amelia Opie (bornAmelia Alderson; 12 November 1769 – 2 December 1853) was an English author and abolitionist who published numerous novels in theRomantic period up to 1828. AWhig supporter andBluestocking,[1][2] Opie was also a leadingabolitionist inNorwich. Hers was the first of 187,000 names presented to the British Parliament on a petition from women to stop slavery.
Amelia Alderson was born on 12 November 1769. An only child, she was the daughter of James Alderson, a physician, and Amelia Briggs of Norwich.[3] Her mother also brought her up to care for those who came from less privileged backgrounds.[3] After her mother's death on 31 December 1784, she became her father's housekeeper and hostess, remaining very close to him until his death in 1807.[4]
According to her biographer, Opie "was vivacious, attractive, interested in fine clothes, educated in genteel accomplishments, and had several admirers."[3] She was able to speak French, having learnt fromJohn Bruckner.[5] She was a cousin of the judgeSir Edward Hall Alderson, with whom she corresponded throughout her life, and was also a cousin of the artistHenry Perronet Briggs. Alderson inherited radical principles and was an ardent admirer ofJohn Horne Tooke. She was close to activistsJohn Philip Kemble,Sarah Siddons,William Godwin andMary Wollstonecraft.[6] Along with Wollstonecraft, she was connected with theBlue Stockings Society.[7]
Opie spent her youth writing poetry and plays and organizing amateur theatricals.[3] She wroteThe Dangers of Coquetry when she was 18 years old and by 1800 her "songs" (poems) - along with those ofGeorgiana, Duchess of Devonshire,Mrs Barbauld,Peter Pindar andR.B. Sheridan - were published and advertised widely throughout England.[8]
Between the years 1790-1834, Opie had written 13 different works. In 1801, Opie's most famous novel was completed and titledFather and Daughter. Characterized as showing genuine fancy and pathos,[6] the novel is about misled virtue and family reconciliation. After it came out, Opie began to publish regularly. Her volume ofPoems, published in 1802, went through six editions. Encouraged by her husband to continue writing, she publishedAdeline Mowbray (1804), an exploration of women's education, marriage, and the abolition of slavery. This novel in particular is noted for engaging the history of Opie's former friendMary Wollstonecraft, whose relationship with the AmericanGilbert Imlay outside of marriage caused some scandal, as did her later marriage to the philosopherWilliam Godwin. Godwin had previously argued against marriage as an institution by which women were owned as property, but when Wollstonecraft became pregnant, they married despite his prior beliefs. In the novel, Adeline becomes involved with a philosopher early on, who takes a firm stand against marriage, only to be convinced to marry aWest Indian landowner against her better judgement. The novel also engagesabolitionist sentiment, in the story of amixed-race woman and her family, whom Adeline saves from poverty at some expense to herself.
More novels followed:Simple Tales (1806),Temper (1812),Tales of Real Life (1813),Valentine's Eve (1816),Tales of the Heart (1818), andMadeline (1822).The Warrior's Return and other poems was published in 1808.[9]
In 1825, Opie joined theSociety of Friends, due to the influence ofJoseph John Gurney and his sisters, who were long-time friends and neighbours in Norwich,[6] and despite the objections made by her recently deceased father. Opie had long known theGurneys ofEarlham Hall,Norfolk. Likewise, her future husband, artistJohn Opie, was "an intimate associate of the family" (having painted members of them) and met Amelia at Earlham in 1797. Amelia had been a friend of the Gurney sisters for many years. Alongside Amelia,Prince William Frederick had also been a guest at numerous balls and parties held at Earlham where the guests - both "old and young" - enjoyed "standing around his Princeship and singing - which pleased him amazingly".Harriet Martineau recalled her family's memories of the Gurney girls at this time "dressing in gay riding boots, and riding about the country to balls and gaieties of all sorts."[10][11]
In 1809, Opie published a biography on her husbandJohn which accompanied the lectures he had given at theRoyal Academy of Arts prior to his death in 1807. Hersubscribers includedPrince William Frederick and members of theTaylor,Gurney andMartineau families, all of whom were connected toNorwich, as was Amelia.[13] Her friendship with the Duke of Gloucester remained firm; she stated "...he seemed so glad to see me" when reunited with him at the "African Meeting" at London'sFreemasons' Tavern.[14]
The rest of Opie's life was spent mostly in travel and working with charities. Meanwhile, she published an anti-slavery poem titled,The Black Man's Lament in 1826 and a volume of devotional poems,Lays for the Dead in 1834.[15] Opie worked withAnna Gurney to create a Ladies Anti-Slavery Society in Norwich.[16] This anti-slavery society organised a petition of 187,000 names that was presented to parliament. The first two names on the petition were Amelia Opie andPriscilla Buxton.[17] Opie went to theWorld Anti-Slavery Convention in London in 1840 where she was one of the few women included in the commemorative painting.
On 8 May 1798 she married artistJohn Opie at theChurch of St Marylebone,Westminster, London. She had met Opie at a parties and balls in London[18] and inNorfolk including atHolkham Hall where he had come to carry out some commissions forThomas Coke.[19] They lived at 8Berners Street,London where Opie had moved in 1791.[20] The couple spent nine years happily married, although her husband did not share her love of society, until his death in 1807. She divided her time between London and Norwich. She was a friend of writersWalter Scott,Richard Brinsley Sheridan andGermaine de Staël. Opie's concern for the well-being of writers is evident in a letter dated 12 December 1800 in which she wishes to hear fromSusannah Taylor about the death ofDame Sarah Martineau whom Opie had met through their mutual friendAnna Laetitia Barbauld.[21]
Even late in life, Opie maintained an interest and connections with writers, for instance receivingGeorge Borrow as a guest. After a visit toCromer, a seaside resort on theNorth Norfolk coast, she caught a chill and retired to her bedroom. A year later on 2 December 1853, she died at Norwich and was said to have retained her vivacity to the last. She was buried at theGildencroft Quaker Cemetery, Norwich.
A somewhat sanitised biography of Opie, entitledA Life, byCecilia Lucy Brightwell, was published in 1854.
One of her husband's portraits of her was copied by his friendHenry Bone who created an enamelportrait miniature of her "in 1798 or after". Bone's drawing for the miniature is held in London'sNational Portrait Gallery.[22]
Mrs. Opie, an inveterate hero - worshipper, had an immense admiration for Charles James Fox [a Whig]. Her last sight of ... Whig party mourned his loss as...
She has been variously (and often simultaneously) identified as a radical Whig, conservative reactionary, flirtatious bluestocking, pious Quaker
He made a good income by teaching French. Mrs. Opie was among his pupils
One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Opie, Amelia".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 20 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 129.....Amelia Opie and Mary Wollstonecraft herself...
Songs [by] ...Her Grace, The Duchess of Devonshire, Mrs. Opie, Mrs. Goldsmith, Mrs. Robinson, Mrs. Barbauld, Peter Pindar, esq. G. M. Lewis, esq. Mr. R. B. Sheridan,...
To the Earlham sisters, Mrs. Opie's musical talents gave her an especial charm ...she [Amelia] had first met at Earlham in 1797 [her future husband John Opie]... She would practise for hours with Rachel Gurney and her younger sisters, whom Miss Martineau describes as- " A set of dashing young people, dressing ..."...[page 72] January 12, 1798...the Prince has been here again...[December 29, 1798]...Everybody looked cheerful, and we eleven stood round His Princeship, and sang the Chapter of Kings, which pleased him amazingly ....[page 73] After the Prince was gone, we had a dance...all joined, single and married, old and young...[page 94] December 29, 1798 - Yesterday we had a great deal of company - Amelia Alderson,..the Prince...
Painting named "A Fortune Teller" - Opie painted the Gurney family [late 18th century]
..."African Meeting" at Freemasons' Tavern...he [the Duke] seemed so glad to see me...
...Opie...London...
It is strange I should have written so far, without naming the subject on which I wanted particularly to talk to you — I suppose you attended poor Mrs. Martineau's deathbed and I feel a great curiosity to know some particulars of her last moments — were her children with her? and had she her senses to the last ?
Dositej Obradović...The Unitarian Sarah Meadows Martineau (ca 1725-1800), who sent her children to Anna Laetitia Barbauld's school in Palgrave, also lived in Norwich. Martineau was a relative of the Taylors, and thanks to her Anna Laetitia Barbauld was able to meet Susannah Taylor...important of these was TheBlue Stockings Society, founded in the early...The women that he met within the Scottish community and among the Unitarians such as Mrs Livie and her sister Mrs Taylor, transferred to Obradović the knowledge they had gained from frequenting the feminist circles ofElizabeth Carter, Anna Laetitia Barbauld, Elizabeth Montagu, Elizabeth Vessey, Margaret Cavendish Bentinck Sarah Fielding, Hannah More, Clara Reeve, Amelia Opie, Sarah Meadows Martineau. Their knowledge of the then current literary and cultural scene enabled Obradović to supply the works that he took from England and translated and adapted for the Serbian nation.
Susannah Taylor - Friends, Associates Anna Letitia Barbauld - Pupils who acknowledged her [Barbauld's] influence included (Judge) Thomas Denman, who later drafted the 1832 Reform Act. Friends from this period of her [Barbauld's] life included Susannah Taylor (mother of the translator and editor Sarah Austin)...
Amelia Opie was one who fell: I was lamenting to Mrs. Barbauld ... that Miss M. did not seem to have any taste for reading. 'So much the better,' was [Barbauld's] answer [to Opie], 'I do not think such a taste desirable. Reading is an indolent way of...
...Dame Sarah Martineau...
