Author: Chapone, Hester
Biography:
CHAPONE, Hester, formerly Mulso (1727-1801: ODNB)
She was born in Twywell, Northamptonshire, daughter of Thomas Mulso, a gentleman farmer, and his wife, a former Miss Thomas. Her mother is said to have discouraged her early literary promise, but her father and three brothers encouraged her and she was better educated than was usual for girls of her class. In her twenties, she was active in literary circles: Johnson and Richardson both enjoyed her company, she contributed in a small way to the Rambler and the Adventurer, and she made lasting friends among the most illustrious of the Bluestockings. In 1760, after a long engagement, she married a lawyer, John Chapone, but he died less than a year later. She had a small income which she supplemented by writing. Her best-known works are letters, notably Letters on the Improvement of the Mind (1773), addressed to young women, which went through many editions and were cited by Mary Wollstonecraft, and her letters to Richardson, which circulated in manuscript in the 1750s and were published posthumously. (RPW; ODNB 6 Mar. 2018) HJ
Other Names:
- Mrs. Chapone
- Mrs. Hester Chapone
- Mrs. [Hester] Chapone