Charlotte Elizabeth Tonna
1790—1846
Protestant evangelical activist, journalist, editor, novelist, children’s author, and poet Charlotte Elizabeth Tonna was born in Norwich, England. The daughter of an Anglican priest, she lost her hearing permanently at age ten and became a pioneer of deaf education. She married twice, to George Phelan and Lewis Hippolytus Joseph Tonna, taking their names in turn, though she published under the name, Charlotte Elizabeth.
Elizabeth published dozens of books and tracts, including the once-banned children’s book The Simple Flower (1826), the novel Judah’s Lion (1843), Izram: A Mexican Tale; and Other Poems (1826), and Posthumous and other poems (1847); she also penned an autobiography, Personal Recollections (1841). Her nonfiction account of the working conditions English seamstresses faced, The Wrongs of Woman (1844), helped establish worker safety laws. Starting in 1834, she edited the Christian Lady’s Magazine, and from 1841 onward, she also edited The Protestant Magazine.
Tonna died at the age of 55 in Ramsgate, England, where she is buried.
Elizabeth published dozens of books and tracts, including the once-banned children’s book The Simple Flower (1826), the novel Judah’s Lion (1843), Izram: A Mexican Tale; and Other Poems (1826), and Posthumous and other poems (1847); she also penned an autobiography, Personal Recollections (1841). Her nonfiction account of the working conditions English seamstresses faced, The Wrongs of Woman (1844), helped establish worker safety laws. Starting in 1834, she edited the Christian Lady’s Magazine, and from 1841 onward, she also edited The Protestant Magazine.
Tonna died at the age of 55 in Ramsgate, England, where she is buried.