Sophia Burrell (1753–1802)

Sophia Burrell, née Raymond, was the eldest daughter of the wealthy banker Charles Raymond, later Sir Charles, and his wife Sarah Webster. She grew up on the family estate at Valentines Mansion in Redbridge, Essex, now a borough of London, England. In 1773, she married William Burrell, Member of Parliament for Haslemere, a close relative, with whom she had four children. Her father received a baronetcy the year after her marriage, which later passed to her husband. The couple also inherited considerable wealth and property. In 1793, Lady Burrell published two volumes of collected poems, The Thymbriad from Xenophon, and Telemachus. She also wrote two tragedies published in 1800, Maximian and Theodora. As her husband's health failed in 1787, they retired to an estate at Deepdene. In 1797, following the death of Sir William the year before, she remarried to the Rev. William Clay, and lived with him in Cowes on the Isle of Wight. Her tragedy Theodora was reprinted posthumously in 1814 in The New British Theatre (volume I), a collection of rejected plays.