Burrell, Lady Sophia

(?1750-1802)

   The daughter of Charles Raymond (knighted in 1774) of Valentines, Essex, she married William Burrell, member of Parliament for Haslemere in 1773. In 1787 her husband's health failed and they retired to Deepdene, Sussex, where she concentrated on her writing. Sir William died in 1796 and Lady Sophia married the Rev. William Clay in 1797. They retired to West Cowes, Isle of Wight, where she died. Her major publications: Comala, 1784. Thymriad, 1794. Telemachus, 1794. Maximian, 1800 (tragedy). Theodora, 1800 (tragedy). Some of her poems: "Chloe and Myra," "Epigram on Two Ladies," "The Picture of a Fine Gentleman," "The School for Satire," "Verses to a Lady, on Her Saying She Preferred Commonalty to an Irish Peerage."

   Sources: Dictionary of National Biography. Electronic Edition 1.1. Oxford University Press, 1997. Eighteenth Century Women Poets: An Oxford Anthology. Roger Lonsdale, ed. Oxford University Press, 1989. The Columbia Granger's Index to Poetry. 11th ed. The Columbia Granger's World of Poetry, Columbia University Press, 2005 (http://www.columbiagrangers.org).