A Cyclopaedia of Female Biography/Hervey, Eleanora Louisa
HERVEY, ELEANORA LOUISA.
Under her maiden name of E. L. Montague, this lady became first known to the reading public as a contributor to periodicals and annuals of poems remarkable for a vigorous tone of thought and grace, as well as power of expressionf. She was born in 1811, at Liverpool, and was the daughter of George Conway Montague, Esq., of Lackham House, Wilts; the town of her birth was also the native place of her mother. In 1839, Miss Montague produced a dramatic poem, entitled, "The Landgrave," which although deficient as to plot, gave evidence of her fitness to take and maintain a place in the higher walks of poetry. In 1843, she married the well-known poet and critic, who for some years edited "The Athenæum," Mr. T. K. Hervey. Her first prose work, "Margaret Russell, an autobiography," was published anonymously, but its great merit was at once recognised and acknowledged. "The Double Claim," a pathetic story of domestic affection, followed this; then came "The Juvenile Calendar; or Zodiac of Flowers," a delightful Christmas book; and lastly, "The Pathway of the Fawn," a beautiful tale, with an excellent moral.
The name of E. L. Hervey is now familiar to hundreds of thousands of readers, both at home and abroad, as her verses frequently appear in the columns of "The Illustrated News;" they are always vigorous, oftentimes extremely pathetic, characterized by purity of feeling and much grace of expression.