13 Facts About Sarah Scott

Sarah Scott was an English novelist, translator, social reformer, and member of the Bluestockings.

Sarah's father, Matthew Robinson, and her mother, Elizabeth Drake, were both from distinguished families, and Sarah was the youngest of nine children.

All but one of her brothers would go on to a highly accomplished career, yet her elder sister, who would later become the writer and social activist Elizabeth Montagu, became the most accomplished, earning fame in literary circles as a critic of Shakespeare and founder of the Bluestockings, of which Sarah Scott became a member.

Sarah Scott stayed home to tend to her mother, who was dying of cancer.

Sarah Scott chose to stay and care for the invalid Lady Barbara Montagu, or Lady Bab, with whom she developed a very close friendship.

Sarah Scott wrote her first novel before her marriage, The History of Cornelia, a portrait of an ideal and pious young woman.

In 1761, with the accession of George III, Sarah Scott wrote a political history about Gustav I of Sweden, The History of Gustavus Ericson, King of Sweden; it emphasized the concept of the "patriot king," or the selfless ruler acting for the greater good of the country.

Sarah Scott succeeded this with The History of Mecklenburgh in 1762 to capitalize on the public's interest in George III's wife, Charlotte.

Also in 1762, Sarah Scott published her most successful novel, A Description of Millenium Hall and the Country Adjacent.

Sarah Scott published in that same year her final novel, The Test of Filial Duty, which was an epistolary novel addressing the rights of a daughter to choose her husband.

In 1778, Sarah Scott's father died, which gave her more money.

Sarah Scott produced no more published works in her lifetime.

Per instructions Sarah Scott left, most of her letters were destroyed by executor of her estate.