LUCY AIKIN BIOGRAPHY

AIKIN, LUCY (1781-1864). —Historical and miscellaneous writer, dau. of above and niece of Mrs. Barbauld ( q.v. ). After pub. a poem, Epistles on Women , and a novel, Lorimer , she began the historical works on which her reputation chiefly rests, viz., Memoirs of the Courts of Elizabeth, James I., and Charles I. (1818-33) and a Life of Addison . She also wrote lives of her father and of Mrs. Barbauld. She was remarkable for her conversational powers, and was also an admirable letter-writer. Like the rest of her family she was a Unitarian.