Servant who Forged to Support Her Lover Unable to support her ill lover without resorting to crime, Sophia Pringle's forgeries led to a sensational trial and execution. Early Life and Domestic Service Sophia Pringle was the daughter of a journeyman tailor of Cannon Row, Ratcliffe Highway in east London. She was probably born around 1767. 1 In 1785 she left her father's house and lived as servant to Mrs Meadows , a lady from America, at Duke Street, Portland Chapel. While there, she fell in love with a lottery-office keeper, who is not named in any of the sources. The two seem to have considered marriage. After a short while, her service with Mrs Meadows ended, and she went to lodge with a friend, William Lewis , a black hairdresser who lived in Oxford Street. Her lottery-office keeper became ill and unable to work, and came to lodge with her. She made herself responsible for paying board and lodging for them both, but by November 1786, she was no longer able to pay Lewis, and disappeared after telling him she was going to visit friends in Clapham who would give her money. Forged Powers of Attorney In December 1786, she embarked on a bold plan to obtain money by producing a forged power of attorney. She was able, calling herself Elizabeth Winterbourne , to procure the services of a broker to draw up a document to sell 100 of stock which, she said, belonged to her aged father, William Winterbourne