Background
Sophia Armitt was born in Salford in 1847, one of three gifted daughters of William and Mary Ann (Whalley) Armitt.
Sophia Armitt was born in Salford in 1847, one of three gifted daughters of William and Mary Ann (Whalley) Armitt.
All three girls wrote, and they all attended Islington House Academy, but each specialised in a different subject. Armitt took to botany and art, while her middle sister Annie Maria studied English literature and her youngest sister Mary Louisa was a polymath who excelled at music and natural history. Armitt"s parents encouraged their daughters" education, and Armitt attended Manchester School of Artist
They then established a school at Eccles in Lancashire and Armitt became the school"s head teacher. The three women spent their spare time attending recitals, art exhibitions, and lectures. They also wrote and sketched and discussed natural history at meetings
Armitt and Mary both discussed their ambitions with John Ruskin, who told Mary to just do womanly things but encouraged Armitt to study art
In 1882, Armitt and Mary received a legacy and retired together to Hawkshead. Later, after being widowed, Annie joined them.
They continued their cultural interests, talking to artists, writers, and educationalists like Charlotte Mason and Frances Arnold. Mason, who ran a school for governesses, published the Parents Review, for which Armitt wrote articles
Armitt died in 1908.