Sarah Herbert (1824–1846), was an Irish-Nova Scotian author, publisher and educator.

Life

Sarah Herbert was born to Nicholas Michael Herbert and Ann Bates in

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

in October 1824. Her father emigrated to

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

in 1826. He took his young family with him, headed for

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

, aboard the ''Nassau'' which was wrecked off the coast of

Sable Island Sable Island (french: île de Sable, literally "island of sand") is a small Canadian island situated southeast of Halifax, Nova Scotia, and about southeast of the closest point of mainland Nova Scotia in the North Atlantic Ocean. The island ...

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native Eng ...

on 13 May 1826. Ann Bates died soon after while her daughter was one of two infants saved that day. Herbert's father married again in Halifax on 3 September 1828. His second wife was Catherine Eagan. They later had a second child, Mary Eliza. Herbert and her sister were both writers. Herbert submitted poetry and stories regularly to journals such as the ''Olive Branch'', the ''Morning Herald'', ''Commercial Advertiser'', and the ''

Novascotian The ''Novascotian'' was a newspaper published in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. It became one of the most influential voices in the British North American colonies in its nearly one century of existence. The paper was founded as the ''Nova Scoti ...

'', the ''Amaranth'' and the ''British North American Wesleyan Methodist Magazine''. In September 1843 she won a contest supported by the ''Olive Branch'' with her serial ''Agnes Maitland''. By 19 April 1844 Herbert had become the editor and proprietor of the ''Olive Branch''. She published writers such as Harriet Beecher Stowe and

Catharine Sedgwick Catharine Maria Sedgwick (December 28, 1789 – July 31, 1867) was an American novelist of what is sometimes referred to as " domestic fiction". With her work much in demand, from the 1820s to the 1850s, Sedgwick made a good living writing short ...

and John McPherson. During the 1840s Herbert also ran a local school and was a Sunday school teacher. She was secretary of the Halifax Female Temperance Society. However, Herbert had poor health and her writing indicated she knew she was terminally ill. The paper she published collapsed in 1845 and Herbert died of consumption on 21 December 1846.

Bibliography

* Agnes Maitland, a temperance tale, (1843) * The history of a Halifax belle, (1844) * The Æolian harp; or, miscellaneous poems (1857)

References and sources

1824 births 1846 deaths 19th-century Canadian newspaper publishers (people) 19th-century Canadian poets 19th-century Canadian women writers Canadian women poets Writers from Nova Scotia 19th-century deaths from tuberculosis Tuberculosis deaths in Canada {{Publish-bio-stub