Sarah Harriet Burney

-
SHB was an early nineteenth-century novelist and letter-writer (though she began to publish before the end of the eighteenth century). Her achievements in both these genres have been obscured by those of her sister Frances. She wrote from financial necessity—I must scribble, or I cannot live
Burney, Sarah Harriet. The Letters of Sarah Harriet Burney. Editor Clark, Lorna J., University of Georgia Press, 1997.
197
—but her later works especially rank high for quality and interest.
  • BirthName: Sarah Harriotte
    She was baptised under this spelling, which was also used on her gravestone.
    “Sarah Harriet Burney Plaque Unveiling in Bath, 11 June 2016”. Burney Letter, Vol.
    22
    , No. 1, 1 Mar.–31 May 2016, p. 16.
    Burney, Sarah Harriet. “Editor’s Introduction”. The Letters of Sarah Harriet Burney, edited by Lorna J. Clark, Georgia University Press, 1997.
    xxxiii
    Burney
  • Nickname: Sally
  • Indexed: Sarah Harriet Burney

Milestones

29 August 1772

SHB was born, at the tail end of a large family of siblings and half-siblings from both her mother's and father's side.
Burney, Sarah Harriet. “Editor’s Introduction”. The Letters of Sarah Harriet Burney, edited by Lorna J. Clark, Georgia University Press, 1997.
xxxiii

7 July 1796

SHB published, anonymously, her first book: Clarentine. A Novel.
Burney, Sarah Harriet. The Letters of Sarah Harriet Burney. Editor Clark, Lorna J., University of Georgia Press, 1997.
29n2
Critical Review. W. Simpkin and R. Marshall, 5 series.
23 (1798): 471

13 September 1839

SHB 's The Romance of Private Life (paired short novels, The Hermitage and The Renunciation) was published after irritating delay.
Burney, Sarah Harriet. The Letters of Sarah Harriet Burney. Editor Clark, Lorna J., University of Georgia Press, 1997.
423, 425n8

8 February 1844

SHB died at Belgrave House, a Cheltenham boarding-house, suddenly and without pain.
“Sarah Harriet Burney Plaque Unveiling in Bath, 11 June 2016”. Burney Letter, Vol.
22
, No. 1, 1 Mar.–31 May 2016, p. 16.
qtd. in
Burney, Sarah Harriet. “Editor’s Introduction”. The Letters of Sarah Harriet Burney, edited by Lorna J. Clark, Georgia University Press, 1997.
lv

Biography

The Burney Family

29 August 1772

SHB was born, at the tail end of a large family of siblings and half-siblings from both her mother's and father's side.
Burney, Sarah Harriet. “Editor’s Introduction”. The Letters of Sarah Harriet Burney, edited by Lorna J. Clark, Georgia University Press, 1997.
xxxiii