Charlotte Lennox
born 1729/30, probably Gibraltar
died Jan. 4, 1804, London, Eng.
English novelist whose work, especially
The Female Quixote, was much admired by
leading literary figures of her time, including
Samuel Johnson and the novelists Henry Fielding
and Samuel Richardson.
Charlotte Ramsay was the daughter of a
British army officer who was said to have been
lieutenant governor of the colony of New York.
This claim has been dismissed, however, in light
of evidence that she went to live in or near
Albany, New York, in 1739, when her father was
posted there as captain of a company of foot
soldiers. In 1743, after her father’s death, she
returned to England, apparently to live with
relatives. She attempted to earn a living as an
actress but was not successful and is said to
have turned to literary work. Her Poems on
Several Occasions was published in 1747, and
that same year she married Alexander Lennox. She
made the first comparative study of William
Shakespeare’s source material, called Shakespear
Illustrated; . . . (1753–54), a project in which
she may have been assisted by Dr. Johnson. The
book takes Shakespeare to task for his plot
adaptations and his lack of morality.
Lennox’s first novel was The Life of Harriot
Stuart (1751). The Female Quixote (1752) and
Henrietta (1758) followed. She attempted to
write for the stage as well but met with only
slight success.
Despite the friendship of Johnson and
Richardson and the approbation of Fielding,
Lennox made little from the sale of her books.
She died in poverty.
