Author: Lee, Sophia
Biography:
Lee, Sophia (1750-1824: WBIS)
Sophia Priscilla Lee was the second of the five surviving children of peripatetic and often impoverished actors, John and Anna Sophia Lee. Her mother died about 1776, and her father in 1781. During his final illness, she began publishing in order to support the family. Her first comedy, The Chapter of Accidents, was so profitable that she and her three sisters were able to establish a school for girls in Bath, which they ran successfully for 23 years. Later writings include historical fiction (The Recess, 1783-5), poetry (A Hermit's Tale, 1787), and verse tragedy (Almeyda, Queen of Carthage, 1796). She also contributed to her sister Harriet's (q.v.) Canterbury Tales (1797-1805). She never married, but adopted Elizabeth Tickell in 1793. She died in Clifton and was buried there. (ODNB 7 Nov. 2019; Blain)