Turner, Elizabeth (1774–1846)

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Turner, Elizabeth (1774–1846)

English children's writer. Name variations: Mrs. Turner. Born in 1774 in England; died in 1846 in Whitchurch, Salop, England.

Selected writings:

The Daisy (1807); The Cowslip (1811); The Blue Bell (1838); The Crocus (1844).

Born in 1774 in England, Elizabeth Turner was one of the most popular children's book authors in the early and middle 19th century, but little is now known about her life. Her place and full date of birth, maiden name, education, marriages and children have not been recorded. Turner wrote many moral tales in verse, which she called "cautionary stories." The protagonists are flowers, and according to Stanley Kunitz, the verses, "though bald and unpoetic, are not without a certain quaint charm."

sources:

Kunitz, Stanley J., and Howard Haycraft, eds. British Authors of the Nineteenth Century. NY: H.W. Wilson, 1936.

Kelly Winters , freelance writer

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