Edwards, Amelia B., 1831-1892

Amelia Edwards was a British novelist, travel writer and Egyptologist. An only child born to a middle-aged couple who home-schooled her, she began her writing career with novels. She owed much of her success, however, to a travel book "A Thousand Miles up the Nile", featuring her own illustrations. She explored Egypt going up and down the river in a houseboat, or “dahabeeya", with a group of lady friends, including Lucy Renshaw and Marianne Brocklehurst. Absorbed by Egyptology, she became devoted to the cause of rescuing ancient monuments and archaeological sites so they could be studied before they were spoiled. She co-founded the Egypt Exploration Society in 1882 for this purpose. From 1889 to 1890 she did a lecture tour in the United States. Thanks to this publicity, the last of her nine novels (Lord Brackenbury), published in 1880, went through 15 editions. She has been called the "godmother of Egyptology" as well as a pioneer of the LBGT community. The department of Egyptology at University College in London was created through her bequest; on her recommendation, the archaeologist Flinders Petrie became the first faculty member. Her Egyptian adventures made her the model for the eccentric Victorian lady archaeologist and sleuth, Amelia Peabody, in popular novels by Elizabeth Peters (pen name of archaeologist Barbara Mertz) .