Lady Sydney Morgan

Sydney, Lady Morgan, born Sydney Owenson (1781?–1859), was an Irish novelist and travel writer. The daughter of an actor, she worked as a governess before her novel The Wild Irish Girl made her famous in 1806 for its romantic portrait of Gaelic Ireland. She married the surgeon Sir Charles Morgan and became a celebrated Dublin and London hostess. Her books on France and Italy were praised by readers and attacked by Tory reviewers for their liberal politics, and she wrote further national tales, including O'Donnel and Florence Macarthy. She was among the first women to receive a government literary pension. The Book of the Boudoir collects her reminiscences.