ABSTRACT
Amelia Opie Alderson (1769–1853) was born into a prosperous Unitarian family in Norwich, one of the principal centres of the reform movement of the 1790s. She was the only child of Amelia Briggs and the physician James Alderson, both of whom held liberal political views. Amelia Alderson first met Godwin in June 1794 during one of his regular visits to Norwich when he came to dinner at her father’s house. Towards the end of 1794 she went to stay with relatives in Southgate, outside London, in order to attend the treason trials of Thomas Hardy, John Thelwall and John Horne Tooke. This chapter presents extracts from Amelia Opie’s authorised biography, written by the etcher Cecilia Lucy Brightwell. In her accompanying commentary, Brightwell is keen to emphasise the moderation of Amelia Alderson’s early political views and to distance her from her London radical associates. After marriage, Amelia Alderson devoted herself to a career as an author of poems, novels, and tales.
