born June 12, 1802, Norwich, Norfolk, Eng.
died June 27, 1876, near Ambleside, Westmorland
English essayist, novelist, and economic and historical writer.
She became prominent among English intellectuals of her time despite deafness and other disabilities. She first gained a large reading public with a series popularizing classical economics, published in several collections (1832–34). Her chief historical work was The History of the Thirty Years' Peace, A.D. 1816–1846 (1849), a widely read popular treatment. Her most scholarly work is a condensed translation of The Positive Philosophy of Auguste Comte (1853). Her best-regarded novel is Deerbrook (1839).