Amelia Opie (1769-1853)

Amelia was born Amelia Alderson on November 12th, 1769 in Norwich and was the only child of physician James Alderson and his wife, Amelia Briggs. Her mother instilled in her the belief of caring for those less privileged from an early age. Her mother died on December 31st 1784, after which Amelia became her father’s housekeeper and hostess.

During her life she associated with controversial literary and political figures such as William Godwin and Mary Wollstonecraft, while being friends with the likes of Sarah Siddons and John Philip Kemble. She was also an ardent admirer of politician and philologist John Horne Tooke.

At the age of eighteen Amelia wrote “The Dangers of Coquetry”, published in 1790 that garnered little acclaim. This was followed by “The Father and Daughter” (1801) which covered issues of misled virtues and family reconciliation.

In 1798, she married John Opie, a divorced painter, who did not share her love of high society. He did encourage her writing; this resulted in the publication of “Adeline Mowbray” (also known as “The Mother and Daughter”) in 1804, a novel influenced by the life of women’s rights advocate and fellow writer, Mary Wollstonecraft. John Opie died in 1807 and Amelia did not marry again nor did she have any children.

Amelia joined the Society of Friends in 1825, a decision influenced by the Gurney family, who were long-time family friends and neighbours. In 1826 she published an anti-slavery poem called “The Black Man’s Lament” and later a collection of poems “Lays for the Dead” in 1834. With Anna Gurney, she founded the “Ladies Anti-Slavery Society” in Norwich and organised a petition of 187,000 names to be presented to Parliament to push towards the abolishment of slavery and the slave trade. The first two names on the petition were Amelia herself and fellow Norfolk-born abolitionist, Priscilla Buxton. In 1840, Amelia attended the World Anti-Slavery Convention in London representing Norwich and was one of the few women to be included in the commemorative painting.

Throughout her life she wrote an estimated seventeen novels, two biographies and eight collections of poems.

Amelia died on December 2nd 1853 and was buried at Gildencroft Quaker Cemetery in Norwich.

List of (known) publications by Amelia Opie:

Dangerous of Coquetry (1790)
The Father and Daughter (1801)
Adeline Mowbray (1804)
Simple Tales (1806)
Memoir of John Opie (1809)
Temper, or, Domestic Scenes (1812)
Tales of Real Life (1813)
Sketch of Mrs. Roberts (1814)
Valentine’s Eye (1816)
New Tales (1818)
Tales of the Heat (1820)
The Only Child (1821)
Madeline, A Tale (1822)
Illustrations of Lying (1824)
Tales of the Pemberton Family for Children (1825)
The Last Voyage (1828)
Detraction Displayed (1828)

List of known collections of poems:
Maid of Corinth (1801)
Elegy to the Memory of the Duke of Bedford (1802)
Poems (1802)
Lines to General Kosciusko (1803)
Song to Stella (1803)
The Warrior’s Return and other poems (1808)
The Black Man’s Lament (1826)
Lays for the Dead (1834)

References:

Image 1: Portrait of Amelia Opie (1855), artist unknown – part of the Norfolk Museum Services collection

Image 2: Bust of Amelia Opie (marble), Jean-Pierre David d’Angers (1836) – part of the Norfolk Museum collection

Image 3: The Anti-Slavery Convention 1840, Benjamin Robert Haydon (1841) – available at the National Portrait Gallery