Lizzie siddal biography for kids

Birth Date: 25 July 1829

Death Date: 11 February 1862

Location: London, England, UK

Monument Type: Historic/Residence

With a few strokes of a brush and many hours of painstaking work, Elizabeth “Lizzie” Siddal found herself to be one of history’s most famous muses—she was the subject of John Everett Millais’ Ophelia.

Lizzie was born to a middle-class family in London on July 25 1829, with both her parents Charles and Elizabeth Evans hailing from English and Welsh descent. Lizzie’s upbringing took place in Southwark, a working-class neighborhood where most residents were below her in social class and ranking, yet she says she remembers the area quite fondly.

While relatively well-off, Lizzie still had to work to support her family and received the average early education expected of a woman who would likely spend her entire life completing domestic tasks.

Working at a hat-making shop, also called a millin