Sarah Scott

Sarah Scott (née Robinson; 21 September 1720 – 3 November 1795) was an English novelist, translator, social reformer, and member of the Bluestockings.

Her most famous work was her utopian novel A Description of Millenium Hall and the Country Adjacent, followed closely by the sequel The History of Sir George Ellison.

"[2] Sarah's letters also revealed an early love of literature, especially the works of Spenser, Sidney, Milton, Swift, and Voltaire.

"[1] Scholars have traced the impact that smallpox left on Scott literary output: "Scott's pronounced concern [with deformity...] was motivated by her own experience of being left marked by a severe bout of smallpox [...], a trauma which had played a key role in redirecting her away from emulating the social success of her equally beautiful sister Elizabeth (Robinson), towards a life dedicated to writing, domestic female friendship and Christian philanthropy.

A year after Sarah's illness, her sister Elizabeth, after being befriended by Lady Margaret Harley and introduced to the highest circles of London life, married the wealthy 50-year-old Edward Montagu, grandson of the Earl of Sandwich.

[1] In the late 1740s, Sarah contracted to marry George Lewis Scott, a friend of the family from Canterbury who was twelve years older than she.

Regardless of the reason, the scandal if made public would have damaged George Scott's career; he agreed to pay Sarah a settlement of £100 a year.

Later that same year, she wrote A Journey through every Stage of Life, which is an Arabian Nights-styled series of tales told by a young servant girl to her mistress, a princess exiled by her brother.

In the late 1750s, Sarah and Lady Barbara followed their earlier endeavors to educate poor children by writing a series of cards that concentrated on teaching history and geography.

[1] In 1763, Lady Barbara gained a pension of £300, which floated the household finances sufficiently, and Sarah did not write for a couple of years.

[1] The next year, Sarah attempted to create a real Millennium Hall in Buckinghamshire, a "communal household" that would include "a school and other charitable institutions for the impoverished community.

[1] Even though the project began with success, "financial difficulties, ill health, and quarrels between the members of the community led to the eventual dissolution of this real-life Millenium Hall.

As a response to emerging populism this work was about the life of a Protestant who fought against both mob rule and the absolute monarchy of the king.

Frontispiece of Millenium Hall