Kate Eva Westlake (after marriage, Yeigh;

pen name A pen name, also called a ''nom de plume'' or a literary double, is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name. A pen na ...

, Aunt Polly Wolly; 1856 – 4 March 1906) was a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

writer and an early editor.

Life

Westlake was born in

Ingersoll Ingersoll may refer to: People *Ingersoll (surname) *Ingersoll Lockwood (1841–1918), American lawyer and writer Places Canada * Ingersoll, Ontario United States * Ingersoll, Oklahoma * Ingersoll, Wisconsin * Ingersoll Township, Michigan * ...

Canada West The Province of Canada (or the United Province of Canada or the United Canadas) was a British colony in North America from 1841 to 1867. Its formation reflected recommendations made by John Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham, in the Report on the ...

. The family moved to

London, Ontario London (pronounced ) is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada, along the Quebec City–Windsor Corridor. The city had a population of 422,324 according to the 2021 Canadian census. London is at the confluence of the Thames River, approximate ...

where her father succeeded in business. One of her first published works was a serial western story titled "Stranger Than Fiction," published magazine. She became a sub-editor of the newly formed St. Thomas ''Journal'', replacing her brother who died in 1881 at the age of 27. She was given the editorship of the ''Fireside Weekly'', a family story paper published in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

. She sometimes signed her work "Aunt Polly Wogg." She was a

Baptist Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only (believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compete ...

and a Liberal. In 1891 a very successful book, ''Sitting Bull's White Ward'', was published exploiting the death of

Sitting Bull Sitting Bull ( lkt, Tȟatȟáŋka Íyotake ; December 15, 1890) was a Hunkpapa Lakota leader who led his people during years of resistance against United States government policies. He was killed by Indian agency police on the Standing Rock I ...

the year before. Westlake is believed to be its anonymous author. In 1892, she married Frank Yeigh, an author. She wrote for ''

Canadian Magazine The ''Canadian Magazine of Politics, Science, Art and Literature'' was the premiere monthly literary journal of Anglophone Canada for three decades. History and profile Edited first by James Gordon Mowat then by John Alexander Cooper, the first i ...

''. In 1906, she published ''A Specimen Spinster'' which was her only book in her name. The book was about the views on life of Aunt Polly Wolly. Westlake died in London, Ontario in 1906.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Westlake, Kate Eva 1856 births 1906 deaths People from Ingersoll, Ontario Canadian newspaper editors 20th-century Canadian women writers 20th-century Canadian non-fiction writers Canadian women non-fiction writers 19th-century women writers Women newspaper editors Wikipedia articles incorporating text from A Woman of the Century