Lifespan: ?- 1814
Nationality: English
Genres: Romantic Literature
Types of Work: Novels, Gothic Literature, Educational Work, Translations
Contemporaries:
Style: Focus on personal morality as it relates to class and wealth
Bio: Very little is known about Elizabeth Helme's life. The year of her birth is unknown, but it is known that she was born somewhere near Durham, and moved to London after her father's death. In London, she received her education and met and married her husband, William Helme. The couple had five children.
The family met with financial difficulties, and William took a post as schoolmaster in Brentford to provide them an income. Elizabeth, too, eventually became headmistress at the Brentford school. It is known that her father was a schoolmaster, and so, education played an important role throughout her life.
Elizabeth began her literary career translating various French and German works. After a while of translating, Elizabeth began to write novels, publishing 10 in all. One of her children, also known as Elizabeth Helme (later Somerville), published several books of her own, sometimes causing confusion between the two authors' works.
There is some question as to the exact year of her death, but it is known that she died in the same financial distress that seemed to plague her adult life.
Novels:
Louisa, or, The Cottage on the Moor
Clara and Emmeline, or, The Maternal Benediction
Duncan and Peggy: A Scottish Tale
The Farmer of Inglewood Forest
Albert, or, The Wilds of Stranthnavern
St Margaret's Cave, or, the Nun's Story
St Clair of the Isles, or, The Outlaws of Barra
Pilgrims of the Cross, or, The Chronicles of Christabelle De Mowbray\
Magdalen, or The Penitent of Godstow: An Historical Novel
Modern Times, or The Age We Live In
Instructive Rambles in London