Sarah Fielding
Sarah Fielding was an English novelist born on November 8, 1710, in East Stour, Dorset. She grew up in a prominent family, with an older brother, Henry Fielding, who became a significant figure in 18th-century literature. After the death of her mother in 1718, Sarah and her siblings were raised by their grandmother, Lady Sarah Gould, while their father was often absent due to military service. Fielding was educated at a boarding school and later moved to London, where she became connected with prominent writers of her time, including Samuel Richardson.
Fielding published her first novel, "The Adventures of David Simple," in 1744, which follows the journey of a kind-hearted man seeking true friendship. She gained further recognition with her 1749 work, "The Governess: Or, The Little Female Academy," regarded as the first novel specifically aimed at young readers and offering moral guidance. Over her career, she authored several other novels, including "The Cry: A New Dramatic Fable," co-written with Jane Collier. Despite health challenges, Fielding's works were commercially successful, allowing her to support herself through her writing. She eventually retired in Bath and passed away in 1788, leaving behind a legacy of literature that continues to be studied and appreciated today.
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Sarah Fielding
Author
- Born: November 8, 1710
- Birthplace: East Stour, Dorset, England
- Died: April 9, 1768
- Place of death: Bath, England
Biography
Sarah Fielding was born on November 8, 1710, in East Stour, Dorset, England. Her parents were Edmund Fielding, a military officer, and Sarah Gould Fielding, granddaughter of a judge of the Queen’s Bench, and the family’s home in East Stour was a large estate. An older brother, Henry Fielding, became one the most important novelists of the eighteenth century; Sarah Fielding also had a younger brother and was one of four daughters who survived to adulthood. Her father was often away from home, serving in Ireland or Portugal. Her mother died in April, 1718, when Fielding was only seven years old, and her father left the children with Lady Sarah Gould, their grandmother, and moved to London to marry a new wife. Gould sued for legal custody in 1720, angry not only that her son had remarried but that he had married a Roman Catholic.
Fielding was raised at the Gould family estate in Salisbury and was educated at a boarding school, Cathedral Close. Her father seems not to have been involved in her life. Little is known about her life from this point. She lived in London in the 1740’s, possibly with her widowed brother Henry and his five children, and through Henry she became friendly with Samuel Richardson and other writers. She also lived for a time with her three sisters.
In 1744, she published her first novel, The Adventures of David Simple in Search of a Faithful Friend, a long novel in two volumes. The novel deals with the kindhearted Simple, who quarrels with his greedy brother Daniel and sets off to London to find a true friend. After a series of loosely connected adventures, Simple meets Camilla, whom he marries, and Cynthia and Valentine, who marry each other, and harmony is restored. The novel was published in two editions in 1744; the second edition included an introduction by Henry Fielding, who was already a well-established writer.
Three years later, Fielding published Familiar Letters Between the Principal Characters in David Simple and Some Others by subscription, and in 1753 she completed the story with the more unified but less optimistic The Adventures of David Simple: Volume the Last. Fielding’s most successful novel was The Governess: Or, The Little Female Academy, Being the History of Mrs. Teachum and Her Nine Girls, by the Author of David Simple (1749), a didactic novel in which the narrator directly addresses young readers and advises them how to live in virtue. Fielding published several other novels during her career, including The Cry: A New Dramatic Fable (1754), which she coauthored with Jane Collier, whom she had met as a child at boarding school. Her books sold well, and she was able to support herself comfortably with her writing. She was often in poor health, however, and eventually retired in Bath, where she died in 1978. The Governess was published both in England and in the United States, and is considered the first novel in English written specifically for young readers. Most of her novels are in print in scholarly editions.