Author: Colthurst, E.
Biography:
COLTHURST, Elizabeth (d 1857)
She was a prolific author of both verse and prose. She was probably born at the family home of Danesfort in Killarney, Co. Kerry. Her parents were James Colthurst (d 1837) and his wife Susan Carr; her grandfather was James Colthurst of Dripsey Castle, Co. Cork. The preface to Emmanuel was written by the Rev. Henry H. Beamish of Trinity Chapel, Conduit Street [London], and the Irish Episcopal Chapel; it says the poem was “the production of an eminently devoted Christian lady, residing in a retired but beautifully romantic district of the South of Ireland, the benightment of whose inhabitants she mourns.” Works not in the database include Home (1836, a poem), Futurity (1837), Futurity Continued (1838), Emmeline; or, Trials Sanctified (1838), Loyalty, a Poem (1838), The Story, a Poem in Five Cantos (1840), Innisfail, or, the Irish Scripture Reader (1841), and Love and Loyalty (1851). She lived at Danesfort until 1853 and, when the house was leased to a tenant, she moved to Weston-super-Mare where she lived until her death. A group of works for children--The Little Ones of Innisfail (1841), The Child's Own Hymn Book (1861), and Tales of Erin (n.d.)--is dubiously attributed to her. A Guide to Irish Fiction, 1650-1900 suggests that she came from Cork and may have been the third daughter of Charles Nicholas Colthurst of Clonmoyle and his wife Florence Campbell. However, her connection with Kerry and Danesfort are well-established. (WorldCat; J. A. Murphy, ed. Muckross Abbey, a History by Father Jarlath Prendergast [n.d.]; ancestry.co.uk 21 Jan. 2021; Rolf Loeber, Magda Stouthammer-Loeber, and A. M. Burnham, A Guide to Irish Fiction, 1650-1900 [2006]; information from Roma Kail, Victoria College Libraries, Toronto)
Other Names:
- Miss E. Colthurst