born Oct. 2, 1720, York, Eng.

died Aug. 25, 1800, London

one of the first Bluestockings (q.v.), a group of English women who organized conversation evenings to find a more worthy pastime than card playing. She made her house in London's Mayfair the social centre of intellectual society, regularly entertaining such luminaries as Lord Lyttelton, Horace Walpole, Samuel Johnson, and Sir Joshua Reynolds (who painted her portrait).