Aphra, an authoress of some celebrity, born of a good family in the city of Canterbury in the reign of Charles I. Her father, whose name was Johnson, having received the appointment of lieutenant-general of Surinam, proceeded to the West Indies, taking with him his whole family. Mr Johnson died on the voyage; but his family reached Surinam, and resided there for some years. Here Aphra learned the history, and acquired a personal knowledge, of the American prince Oroonoco and his beloved Imoinda, whose adventures she has related in her novel of that name, and which Southerne afterwards made use of in one of his tragedies.

On her return to London she became the wife of Mr Behn, a merchant of Dutch extraction residing in that city. The wit and abilities of Mrs Behn having brought her into high estimation at court, Charles II employed her to transact some affairs of importance abroad during the Dutch war. For this purpose she went to Antwerp, where by her intrigues and gallantries she so far penetrated into the secrets of state as to accomplish the objects of her mission; and in the latter end of 1666, by means of the influence she had gained over one Vander Albert, she wormed out of him the design formed by De Ruyter, in conjunction with the family of the De Wits, of sailing up the Thames and burning the English ships in their harbours. This she communicated to the English court; but although the event proved her intelligence to have been well founded, it was at the time disregarded—which circumstance, together with the dissimulation shown to reward her for her services, determined the lady to drop all further thoughts of political affairs; and during the remainder of her stay at Antwerp she gave herself up entirely to the gaiety and gallantries of the place. In her voyage home to England she narrowly escaped death, the vessel in which she sailed having foundered, but fortunately within reach of aid.

From this period she devoted her life entirely to pleasure and the muses. Her works are numerous, and all of them are of a lively and amatory character. In her dramatic pieces the plots are full of action and ingenuity, and the dialogue sparkles with wit; but, in common with the licentious taste of the time, they are interlarded with the most indecent scenes and expressions. This singular woman died on the 16th of April 1689, and was interred in the cloisters of Westminster Abbey.