Chapone, HESTER, authoress, daughter of Thomas Mulso, was born at Twywell, Northamptonshire, 27th October 1727. She wrote a short romance in her tenth year, and after her mother's death her attention was divided between household duties and the study of French, Italian, Latin, music, and drawing. She wrote for the Rambler (No. 10), Adventurer, and Gentleman's
Magazine, and soon became known to a literary circle, including Richardson; but she is now chiefly remembered by her Letters on the Improvement of the Mind (1772), which went through many editions. She married an attorney in 1760, but next year was left a widow; she herself died at Hadley, 25th December 1801. See her Works with Life (4 vols. 1807).