Sophia Lane Poole (1804–1891) was an English orientalist. She was the estranged wife of Edward Poole and sister of the famous orientalist

Edward William Lane Edward William Lane (17 September 1801 – 10 August 1876) was a British orientalist, translator and lexicographer. He is known for his ''Manners and Customs of the Modern Egyptians'' and the '' Arabic-English Lexicon,'' as well as his translati ...

, who suggested that she and her sons join him in Egypt so that she could report on the female side of Egypt's gender-segregated society. The result was her book of letters ''The Englishwoman in Egypt: Letters from Cairo'' (subtitled ''written during a residence there in 1842''). She wrote that Like her brother, Poole adopted local customs and dress in order to gain acceptance in Egyptian social circles. An Egyptian acquaintance of Edward Lane wrote that his household consisted of his mother and sister, " oth of whomalways wore the Egyptian dress, and never left the house except heavily swathed and veiled. The Sheykh al-Dessouki, who frequented Lane’s house regularly, never saw their faces."Leila Ahmed "Edward W Lane", Longstaff, London, 1978 However, Poole herself hated

veiling A veil is an article of clothing or hanging cloth that is intended to cover some part of the head or face, or an object of some significance. Veiling has a long history in European, Asian, and African societies. The practice has been prominent i ...

, and writes that she veiled only in order to gain access to harems, bathhouses, and other "women-only" areas. She died on 6 May 1891 at the home of her eldest son,

Reginald Stuart Poole Reginald Stuart Poole (27 January 18328 February 1895), known as Stuart Poole, was an English archaeologist, numismatist and Orientalist. Poole was from a famous Orientalist family as his mother Sophia Lane Poole, his uncle Edward William Lane a ...

(1822–1895), at the

British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docume ...

, and was buried at

West Norwood Cemetery West Norwood Cemetery is a rural cemetery in West Norwood in London, England. It was also known as the South Metropolitan Cemetery. One of the first private landscaped cemeteries in London, it is one of the " Magnificent Seven" cemeteries of ...

. Another son, Edward Stanley Poole (1830–1867), became an Arabic scholar and editor of the ''

Encyclopædia Britannica The ( Latin for "British Encyclopædia") is a general knowledge English-language encyclopaedia. It is published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.; the company has existed since the 18th century, although it has changed ownership various ...

''. Sophias' brother was

Richard James Lane Richard James Lane (16 February 1800 – 21 November 1872) was a prolific British engraver and lithographer. The National Portrait Gallery has some 850 lithographs of his portraits and figure studies, done between 1825 and 1850. The images inclu ...

, a distinguished engraver and lithographer. Her other brother,

was an orientalist like her and so were her son

and her grandson

Stanley Lane-Poole Stanley Edward Lane-Poole (18 December 1854 – 29 December 1931) was a British orientalist and archaeologist. Poole was from a famous orientalist family as his paternal grandmother Sophia Lane Poole, uncle Reginald Stuart Poole and great-uncle ...

who were notable orientalists and archaeologists.

References

*Leila Ahmed "Edward W Lane", Longstaff, London, 1978 * Elizabeth Baigent, ‘Poole, Sophia Lane (1804–1891)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 200
accessed 12 Oct 2010
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lane Poole, Sophia 1804 births 1891 deaths 19th-century British women writers 19th-century British writers Burials at West Norwood Cemetery English orientalists English travel writers Women of the Victorian era British women travel writers Lane family