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Hester Chapone
Hester Chapone
Courtesy of
National Photo Gallery (1812)
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Hester
Chapone was born in 1727 in Twywell,
Northamptonshire to Hester and Thomas
Mulso. Her upper-middle class family included
many male siblings who garnered
her mother’s favor and attention.
Hester’s nickname was “Hecky”,
but later she was known as the “Bluest
of the blue” with regards to her status
as a writer and Bluestocking.
Hester educated herself in
French, Italian, music and drawing; like
many of her contemporaries, her education
was marked by extensive reading. She exemplified
the idea that women need
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to educate themselves to have satisfying lives.
In 1760, Hester married lawyer John Chapone, who
died tragically ten months later. Her status as
a widow marked her life’s vision and work;
without a husband, she became even more interested
in aiding the movement towards gender equality.
Hester argued that women’s domestic lives
could be intellectually and emotionally healthy,
and suggested that Christian ideals were essentially
important in rectifying their grievances.
Hester was a frequent attendee of Bluestocking meetings.
Her association and writing circle includes Elizabeth
Carter, Mary Delaney, William Duncombe, Thomas
Edward, Susanna Highmore, Mary Prescott, and Samuel
Richardson. Despite her mother’s disapproval,
Hester proved herself as a writer, completing poems,
essays, and educational pieces that addressed religion,
education, friendship, and female accomplishments.
Unlike many other Bluestockings, Hester published
to support herself, and was happily met with the
success of many of her works, including The
Story of Fidelia (1753) and Miscellanies
in Prose and Verse (1775).
Hester was responsible for the most noteworthy
and widely read work of the first generation Bluestockings
- Letters on the Improvement of the Mind:
Addressed to a Young Lady (1773). Originally
an outline of positive life choices for her niece,
Letters was wildly popular, providing
Hester with status as an expert on women’s
education and socialization. In addition, Hester
provided methods on how to properly take care
of a household economy, choose female friends,
and abstain from intimacy.
After many years of ill health, Hester died in
1801 in Hadley, Middlesex.
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