Sophie Margaretta Almon Hensley (May 31, 1866 – February 10, 1946) was a Canadian writer and educator. She also published under the names Gordon Hart, J. Try-Davies and Almon Hensley.

Biography

The daughter of Sarah Frances DeWolfe and Henry Pryor Almon, an Anglican minister, she was born Sophie Margaretta Almon in

Bridgetown, Nova Scotia Bridgetown is a Canadian community located in north-central Annapolis County, Nova Scotia. History Situated on the Annapolis River at the head of the tide, the area saw Mi'kmaq settlements, followed by Acadian settlers from Port-Royal and then B ...

. She was first educated at home by her governesses and then continued her education in England and

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

. She returned to

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 ...

, where she was a protégée of Charles G. D. Roberts. She contributed to publications such as ''The Dominion illustrated monthly'', ''The Current'', ''The King's College Record''. ''

The Dalhousie Review ''The Dalhousie Review'' is a Canadian literary magazine, founded in 1921 and associated with Dalhousie University. It publishes three times a year, in the spring, summer, and fall. Content includes fiction, poetry, literary essays and book reviews ...

'' and ''

The Week ''The Week'' is a weekly news magazine with editions in the United Kingdom and United States. The British publication was founded in 1995 and the American edition in 2001. An Australian edition was published from 2008 to 2012. A children's edi ...

''. In 1889, she published her first poetry collection ''Poems''. In the same year, she married Hubert Arthur Hensley, a barrister; the couple moved to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

the following year. In 1895, she published her second collection of poems ''A Woman's Love Letters''. She went on to write several other collections of poetry, a novelette and a musical play (with her husband). In 1913, she published ''Love and the Woman of Tomorrow'', a feminist essay. Hensley and her husband had two daughters and a son. She lectured on literary topics. Hensley was also secretary of the New York State Assembly of Mothers, founder and vice-president of the New York City Mother's Club and founding president of the Society for the Study of Life. She was an associate editor of ''Health: A Home Magazine Devoted to Physical Culture and Hygiene'' and a member of the

New York Press Club The New York Press Club, sometimes ''NYPC'', is a private nonprofit membership organization which promotes journalism in the New York City metropolitan area. It is unaffiliated with any government organization and abstains from politics. While the c ...

. In 1937, she moved to

Jersey Jersey ( , ; nrf, Jèrri, label=Jèrriais ), officially the Bailiwick of Jersey (french: Bailliage de Jersey, links=no; Jèrriais: ), is an island country and self-governing Crown Dependencies, Crown Dependency near the coast of north-west F ...

but was forced to leave when the Germans occupied the Channel Islands in 1940 and she returned to Windsor, Nova Scotia. She died of heart failure at the Annapolis General Hospital in Windsor at the age of 79.

Selected publications

''A Woman's Love Letters''
(1895)
''The Heart of a Woman''
(1906)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hensley, Sophie Margaretta Almon 1866 births 1934 deaths Canadian feminist writers Canadian women poets Canadian women journalists Canadian women non-fiction writers 19th-century pseudonymous writers 20th-century pseudonymous writers Pseudonymous women writers