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At the Circulating Library

A Database of Victorian Fiction, 1837–1901

A Database of Victorian Fiction, 1837–1901

Author: Sophia Kelly

Author: Sophia Kelly (1815–1899)

Alternate Name(s): Sherwood (maiden name); Streeten (married name)

Biography: Sophia Kelly was born in 1815 in India, the youngest child of army officer Captain Henry Sherwood and novelist Mary Martha Sherwood (née Butt) (1775–1851). Within a year of her birth, the family moved back to England, settling in Worcester. As a teen, Kelly began assisting her mother in writing numerous children's books and novels, such as the later The De Cliffords: An Historical Tale (1847), and daughter soon struck out on her own account. In addition to a memoir about her mother, Kelly wrote a handful of historical or religious-themed novels. In 1836, she married physician Robert I. N. Streeten. After his death, she married another physician Hubert Edmund Charles Kelly in 1851. She died on 12 March 1899 in London.

Author Tags:

References: Allibone; DNB (Mary Martha Sherwood); Hereford Times (6 August 1836); Morning Post (14 March 1899); Probate; Worcestershire Chronicle (5 November 1851)

Fiction Titles:

  1. The Fortescue Family: A Tale for Young Persons.  1 vol.  London: Houlston and Co., 1840.
  2. The Red Hand of the Ford of the Dee: A Tale of Old Cambria.  1 vol.  London: Darton and Co., 1860.
  3. The Anchoret of Montserrat: A Tale.  3 vol.  London: T. C. Newby, 1861.
  4. Jessie's Bible: or, The Italian Priest.  1 vol.  London: Book Society, 1875.