Deborah How Cottnam (c. 1725/1728 – December 31, 1806) was a Canadian poet and schoolmistress. She and her daughter opened a boarding and day school attended by the young daughters of the North American colonist establishment and loyalist gentry, firstly in

Salem, Massachusetts Salem ( ) is a historic coastal city in Essex County, Massachusetts, located on the North Shore of Greater Boston. Continuous settlement by Europeans began in 1626 with English colonists. Salem would become one of the most significant seaports tr ...

and later

Halifax, Nova Scotia Halifax is the capital and largest municipality of the Canadian province of Nova Scotia, and the largest municipality in Atlantic Canada. As of the 2021 Census, the municipal population was 439,819, with 348,634 people in its urban area. The ...

. Cottnam opened a new school for young girls in the city of

Saint John, New Brunswick Saint John is a seaport city of the Atlantic Ocean located on the Bay of Fundy in the province of New Brunswick, Canada. Saint John is the oldest incorporated city in Canada, established by royal charter on May 18, 1785, during the reign of Ki ...

before retiring in 1793.

Biography

Cottnam was born approximately 1725 to 1728, in either

Marblehead, Massachusetts Marblehead is a coastal New England town in Essex County, Massachusetts, along the North Shore (Massachusetts), North Shore. Its population was 20,441 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. The town lies on a small peninsula that extends ...

, which is close to

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

, or Canso, Nova Scotia. She was the sole daughter of four known children of the Irish or

New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...

-born merchant and

justice of the peace A justice of the peace (JP) is a judicial officer of a lower or ''puisne'' court, elected or appointed by means of a commission ( letters patent) to keep the peace. In past centuries the term commissioner of the peace was often used with the sa ...

Edward How and his first wife, the Irish-born Deborah Crawley. On May 19, 1728, Cottnam was baptized in Marblehead. From 1732 to 1744, she was brought up on the isolated fishing community of Grassy Island, Canso, which is located in the far north-eastern tip of the

Nova Scotia peninsula The Nova Scotia peninsula is a peninsula on the Atlantic coast of North America. Location The Nova Scotia peninsula is part of the province of Nova Scotia, Canada and is connected to the neighbouring province of New Brunswick through the Isth ...

, where her father worked. Cottnam was possibly educated at home by either both of her parents or by a private tutor. She and her family were sent to

Île-Royale (New France) Île-Royale was a French colony in North America that existed from 1713 to 1763. It consisted of two islands, Île Royale (present day Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia) and Île Saint-Jean (present day Prince Edward Island). It was ceded to the Br ...

, on

Cape Breton Island Cape Breton Island (french: link=no, île du Cap-Breton, formerly '; gd, Ceap Breatainn or '; mic, Unamaꞌki) is an island on the Atlantic coast of North America and part of the province of Nova Scotia, Canada. The island accounts for 18. ...

, and then to Boston, Massachusetts as civilian prisoners of war after a force of 350 French infantry invaded Canso during

King George's War King George's War (1744–1748) is the name given to the military operations in North America that formed part of the War of the Austrian Succession (1740–1748). It was the third of the four French and Indian Wars. It took place primarily in t ...

on May 24, 1744. Not much is known about the life of Cottnam from 1744 to 1774. She and her family were resident in

between 1762 and 1773 before returning to Nova Scotia, possibly living in

Windsor, Nova Scotia Windsor is a community located in Hants County, Nova Scotia, Canada. It is a service centre for the western part of the county and is situated on Highway 101. The community has a history dating back to its use by the Mi'kmaq Nation for sev ...

. By July 1774, Cottnam had returned to Salem, Massachusetts, and with her young daughter, opening a boarding and day school that was attended by the young daughters of the colonist establishment and the loyalist gentry. This was also done to supplement the family income when her husband became ill. The school taught young girls arithmetic, dancing, French, reading, sewing and writing. Such pupils were the daughters of

Joseph Frederick Wallet DesBarres Joseph Frederick Wallet Des Barres (22 November 1721 or April–May 1729 – 24 or 27 October 1824) was a Canadian cartographer who served in the Seven Years' War, as the aide-de-camp to General James Wolfe. He later went on to serve as the L ...

and

Mather Byles Mather Byles (born 26 March 1706, Boston, Massachusetts – 5 July 1788), was an American clergyman active in British North America. Byles was descended, on his mother's side, from John Cotton and Richard Mather and was a grandson of ...

, and pupils who had a varying length of education, pupils worked with muslin cuffs, samplers and tuckers. Following the outbreak of the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

, Cottnam and her daughter relocated the school to

in 1777. She persuaded the Nova Scotia government to lease her extra land, citing her husband's "avow'd oyalistprinciples & fix'd attachment to Government" and she received in a remote area that she could not settle on sell for a profit. Cottnam and her daughter continued to operate their school in Halifax until 1786 when the family of loyalists persuaded her to establish a new school for young women in the city of

when the establishment in Halifax became unappreciative of her. While she was happy in Saint John, the family financial situation continued to be difficult. Cottnam received an annual government pension of £100 transferred to her after Edward How's widow died in 1793 and that same year returned to Windsor. She also wrote poetry under the pen name "Portia." Many of Cottnam's poems were published in the

Acadian Recorder The ''Acadian Recorder'' was a weekly newspaper published during the 19th century in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. The newspaper was founded on January 16, 1813, by Anthony Henry Holland Anthony Henry Holland (25 November 1785 – 10 October ...

between June 16, and 23, 1845 by Joseph Howe and the William Andrews Clark Memorial Library at the

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

holds a manuscript of her works compiled by her granddaughter and which was acquired by the university in 2007.

Personal life

Cottnam was married to the Ensign Samuel Cottnam circa 1742 until his death in 1780. The couple had at least two children. On December 31, 1806, she died in Windsor, Nova Scotia.

Legacy

Tabitha Marshall in Cottnam's entry in ''

The Canadian Encyclopedia ''The Canadian Encyclopedia'' (TCE; french: L'Encyclopédie canadienne) is the national encyclopedia of Canada, published online by the Toronto-based historical organization Historica Canada, with the support of Canadian Heritage. Available fo ...

'' wrote that she had "established highly respected women's schools in the Maritimes." Her entry in the ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' written by Louis K. York stated: "it is clear that her career exemplified the best of the dame-school tradition in colonial America."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cottnam, Deborah 1720s births 1806 deaths Year of birth uncertain Canadian people of Irish descent Writers from Nova Scotia 18th-century Canadian women writers 19th-century Canadian women writers 18th-century Canadian poets 19th-century Canadian poets 19th-century Canadian educators 19th-century Canadian women educators Canadian women poets