Men of the Time, eleventh edition/Browne, Frances
BROWNE, Frances, was born Jan. 16, 1816, at Stranolar, county Donegal, where her father was the village post-master. She lost her sight in infancy, but learned many of the lessons of her brothers and sisters, and ultimately mastered a considerable portion of Hume's "England," the "Universal History," some of Sir Walter Scott's novels, "Pope's Homer," and "Childe Harold." In 1840 she published "Songs of our Land" (first printed in the Irish Penny Journal), followed by contributions to the Athenæum, Hood's Magazine, the Keepsake, &c., and obtained from Sir Robert Peel a pension of £20 a year. In 1847 she removed from Ireland to Edinburgh. Whilst there she contributed to Chambers's Journal and published a volume of poems (which she dedicated to Sir R. Peel), as well as "Legends of Ulster," and a tale entitled "The Ericksons." In 1852 she removed to London, and has since contributed to the light literature of the day. In 1861 she published a kind of autobiography, under the title of "My Share of the World," and in 1865 a novel called "The Hidden Sin."