Author: Elizabeth Van Sommer
Author: Elizabeth Van Sommer (1857–1932)
Biography: Elizabeth Van Sommer was born in 1857 in Tottenham, the daughter of solicitor James Van Sommer and his wife Mary. She never married and lived with her family the majority of her life. In the 1880s, she turned to writing fiction, mainly temperance tales. In fact, her first novel Lionel Franklin's Victory (1880) won a £50 second prize from the United Kingdom Band of Hope Union for the best tale "illustrative of Temperance in its relations to the young." She followed with three more. In the 1890s, she worked for the home committee of the Princess Christian Cottage Hospital in Sierra Leone and later made two visits to the colony (1898, 1900). Based on her work, she was invited to visit Lagos in 1903. Van Sommer was a life-long resident of Wimbleton, in later years living with her brother William. She died on 11 March 1932 in Chelsea.
Author Tags:
References: British Census (1881, 1891, 1911); Hospital (8 June 1901); Probate
Fiction Titles:
- Lionel Franklin's Victory: A Tale. 1 vol. Edinburgh: Nelson and Sons, 1880.
- By Uphill Paths: or, Waiting and Winning. A Story of Work to be Done. 1 vol. Edinburgh: Nelson and Sons, 1883.
- Martin's Inheritance: or, The Story of a Life's Chances. A Temperance Tale. 1 vol. Edinburgh: Nelson and Sons, 1887.
- St. Chris: A Story of To-day. 1 vol. London: National Temperance Publication Depôt, 1887.