Amelia Opie

Born Amelia Alderson in Norwich in 1769, she grew up in an educated household and published early, first anonymously. She later married the painter John Opie and became part of a lively London circle that included major writers and thinkers of the Romantic era.

Her best-known book, Father and Daughter (1801), brought her wide success, and she went on to publish novels, poems, and other writing through the 1820s. Her work is often remembered for its feeling, moral tension, and close attention to family life and social conduct.

In later life, she joined the Society of Friends, or Quakers, and devoted much of her energy to abolitionist work. She died in Norwich in 1853, leaving behind a career that links Romantic literature with reform, conscience, and public life.