Dudleya North facts for kids
Dudleya North (born July 1675, died April 1712) was an amazing English lady. She was an aristocrat, which means she came from a noble family. But she was also a very smart scholar who loved learning about different languages and cultures, especially those from the East. She was known as an orientalist, a linguist, and a classical scholar.
Quick facts for kids
Dudleya North
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portrait by Edmund Ashfield
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| Born | July 1675  London |
| Died | 25 April 1712 (aged 36–37) |
| Occupation | Orientalist |
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| Family | William North, 6th Baron North |
Early Life and Family
Dudleya North was born in July 1675 in London. Her father was Charles North, who was a Baron, a type of noble title. Her mother was Catherine Grey. Dudleya was also the granddaughter of another important noble, Dudley North. Her brother, William North, became a soldier.
Dudleya came from a very smart family. Many of her relatives were well-known for their intelligence. For example, her uncle, Francis North, became a very important judge called the Lord Chancellor. Other uncles included an economist, a college master, and a historian.
Dudleya was the younger of two daughters. From a young age, she really wanted to learn. This was quite unusual for girls at that time. She was taught privately at home, just like her brothers. A painting of her at age 15, made in 1690 by Edmund Ashfield, can be seen at the Victoria and Albert Museum.
Her Studies and Career
Dudleya was a natural at learning languages. She quickly became very good at Latin and Ancient Greek. After that, she started to study Hebrew and other languages from the East.
She spent a lot of time studying. She became very knowledgeable about "Oriental learning," which means she knew a lot about languages and cultures from places like the Middle East and Asia. She even collected many books in these non-Western languages for her own library.
We don't know much about her daily life, except that she was very dedicated to her studies and her brothers. Her father wanted her to get married, but Dudleya wasn't interested. She preferred to spend her time with her books and her learning.
Later Life and Legacy
Dudleya North passed away on April 25, 1712, when she was about 36 years old. She died in London from a lung illness called "consumption," which is now known as tuberculosis. People said her illness was made worse by how much she studied and how little she moved around.
She was buried on May 2, 1712, in her family's burial place in Kirtling, Cambridgeshire.
After she died, her uncle, Roger North, took care of her belongings. He added her special books and writings about Eastern subjects and languages to a library he had set up in Rougham. Today, these valuable books and manuscripts are kept in the Bodleian Library at Oxford and the Norfolk Record Office.
