Sophia Catherine Chichester was an English patron of religious and political unorthodoxy.
12 Facts About Sophia Chichester
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Sophia Chichester supported the work of reformers including Robert Owen and Richard Carlile, and was president of the British and Foreign Society for the Promotion of Humanity and Abstinence from Animal Food.
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Sophia Chichester was appointed a baronet in 1793 after being elected to parliament for Newcastle under Lyme.
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Sophia Chichester's mother, was the daughter of George Anson of Shugborough, Staffordshire, and Mary, the daughter of the first Lord Vernon.
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In 1822, she married Colonel John Palmer Sophia Chichester, who owned the Arlington Court estate in north Devon.
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Sophia Chichester's husband died the following year, leaving Sophia wealthy and independent.
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Sophia Chichester joined her sister, Georgina Welch, at Ebworth Park, an estate owned by Georgina's husband.
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Sophia Chichester remained a major benefactor of the community until her death in 1847.
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From 1837, Sophia Chichester entered into a correspondence with radical publisher Richard Carlile, offering friendship and financial support.
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In 1839, Sophia Chichester fell in love with and became engaged to John Westland Marston, a 19-year-old poet.
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In 1841, Sophia Chichester translated Le Phalanstere, a work by Belgian Fourierist Zoe de Gamond.
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Sophia Chichester died on 29 April 1847 from tuberculosis at Syndale House in Ospringe, Kent, the residence of her younger sister and brother-in-law.