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At the Circulating Library

A Database of Victorian Fiction, 1837–1901

A Database of Victorian Fiction, 1837–1901

Author: Louisa Jane Campbell Downes

Author: Louisa Jane Campbell Downes (1837–1867)

Alternate Name(s): Vere Haldane (pseudonym); Dowse (maiden name)

Biography: Louisa Jane Campbell Downes was born on 14 July 1837 in Quebec, the only daughter of Lieut. Col. Lloyd Dowse, R.A. and his wife Louisa (née Atkins). In 1859, she married civil engineer Charles Campbell Downes (1837–1887) in Cheltenham. The couple moved to India where her husband worked on several railway and mining projects. While there, she gave birth to a daughter in 1860. She returned to London where another daughter was born and soon after died. She wrote two novels: Our Charlie (1865) under the pseudonym "Vere Haldane" and Thrice His (1866). She returned to India where she died of cancer on 6 June 1867 in Bombay (present-day Mumbai).

References: Gentleman's Magazine (August 1867); Morning Advertiser (9 July 1867)

Fiction Titles:

  1. Our Charlie.  1 vol.  London: Bentley, 1865.
  2. Thrice His: "His to guard, to serve, to save!" A Tale.  2 vol.  London: Bentley, 1866.