Amelia Alderson was born in Norwich in 1769. She married the Cornish painter John Opie in 1798. She was a novelist and poet: her novels include The Father and Daughter (1801), Adeline Mowbray (1802), Simple Tales (1806), Valentine`s Eve (1816) and Madelaine (1822). Amelia`s father was a friend and admirer of William Godwin and his wife Mary Wollstonecraft, and Adeline Mowbray is based around Mary Wollstonecraft`s life.     In 1807 her husband died, and she came back to Norwich to live. Previously she had been a member of the Octagon Chapel. In 1825 she became a Quaker, and from that time devoted herself to spiritual writing, although she continued to move in literary