Amelia Opie was born to physician James and Amelia Alderson on November 12, 1769, in Norwich. She was already a published poet when she met and married painter John Opie on May 8, 1798. There were married only nine short years before he died unexpectedly in 1807. Amelia returned to her father's home where she continued to write and became a philanthropist, supporting those in workhouses, hospitals, and prisons as well as the poor and former prostitutes, among other charities and organizations. She became a Quaker in 1825 and gave up writing fiction though not poetry. She died on December 2, 1853, in Norwich.
Sources: Poetry Foundation, Norfolk Record Office
Artist: John Opie
Temper, or Domestic Scenes
Tales of Real Life
Valentine's Eve
New Tales