Sabrina Sidney
| Sabrina Sidney | |
|---|---|
Sabrina, aged 75, engraving by Richard James Lane after Stephen Poyntz Denning
|
|
| Born |
Manima Butler (baptised), Ann Kingston (orphanage renamed) 1757 Clerkenwell, London |
| Died | 8 September 1843 (aged 85/86) Greenwich, London |
| Cause of death | Asthma |
| Resting place | Kensal Green Cemetery |
| Nationality | British |
| Other names | Sabrina Bicknell |
| Known for | Subject of a 'perfect wife' experiment by Thomas Day |
| Spouse(s) | John Bicknell |
| Children |
|
Sabrina Bicknell (1757 – 8 September 1843), better known as Sabrina Sidney, was a British foundling girl taken in when she was 12 by author Thomas Day, who wanted to mould her into his perfect wife. Day had been struggling to find a wife who would share his ideology and had been rejected by several women. Inspired by Jean-Jacques Rousseau's book Emile, or On Education, he decided to educate two girls without any frivolities, using his own concepts.
In 1769, Day and his barrister friend John Bicknell chose Sabrina and another girl, Lucretia, from orphanages, and falsely declared they would be indentured to Day's friend Richard Lovell Edgeworth. Day took the girls to France to begin Rousseau's methods of education in isolation. After a short time, he returned to Lichfield with only Sabrina, having deemed Lucretia inappropriate for his experiment. He used unusual and eccentric techniques to try to increase her fortitude, such as firing blanks at her skirts, dripping hot wax on her arms, and having her wade into a lake fully dressed to test her resilience to cold water.
When Sabrina reached her teenage years, Day was persuaded by Edgeworth that his ideal wife experiment had failed and he should send her away, as it was inappropriate for Day to live with her unchaperoned. He then arranged for Sabrina to undergo experimental vocational and residential changes—first attending a boarding school, then becoming an apprentice to a dressmaker family, and eventually being employed as Day's housekeeper. Having seen changes in Sabrina, Day proposed marriage, though he soon called this off when she did not follow his strict instructions; he again sent her away, this time to a boarding house, where she later found work as a lady's companion.
In 1783, Bicknell sought out Sabrina and proposed marriage, telling her the truth about Day's experiment. Horrified, she confronted Day in a series of letters; he admitted the truth but refused to apologise. Sabrina married Bicknell, and the couple had two children before his death in 1787. Sabrina went on to work with schoolmaster Charles Burney, managing his schools.
In 1804, Anna Seward published a book about Sabrina's upbringing. Edgeworth followed up with his memoirs, in which he claimed Sabrina loved Day. Sabrina herself, on the other hand, said she was miserable with Day and that he treated her as a slave.
...
Wikipedia