Harriet Lee (1757–1851)

Harriet Lee and her older sister Sophia Lee were born in London into a theatrical family, the daughters of actor John Lee and his wife Margaret. Sophia helped raise her siblings after the death of their mother in 1770. The two sisters ran a school for young ladies at Belvidere House in Bath for more than 20 years. Their social life in Bath was very active and they made the acquaintance of Hester Thrale (Mrs. Piozzi) and Sir Thomas Lawrence, among others. They eventually gave up the school in 1803. Harriet Lee wrote several novels, her first being the epistolary novel The Errors of Innocence (1786), and comic plays such as The New Peerage, or Our Eyes May Decieve Us (1787), but is best remembered for The Canterbury Tales (1797–1805), which she co-wrote with Sophia. In her preface to the revised 1832 edition, Harriet called the tales "gossiping long stories," and they can be viewed now as a precursor to the modern short story. It is believed that William Godwin wished to marry Harriet, but she ultimately refused because of their differences on the matter of religion. She remained unmarried and survived her sister by 27 years.