At the Circulating Library

Author: Joseph Sortain

Author: Joseph Sortain (1809–1860)

Alternate Name(s): Reverend (title)

Biography: Joseph Sortain was born in 1809 near Bristol, of French Huguenot origins. He attended Cheshunt College and Trinity College Dublin (B.A. in 1833). He was ordained in 1832 and served as an independent minister in Brighton for 28 years at the North Street Chapel. In 1833, he married Bridget Margaret Macgregor, the daughter of Sir Patrick Macgregor, Bt. He suffered from poor health, traveling to Italy in 1835 and again in 1853. His sermons were published in 1850 and two historical novels followed: Hildebrand and the Excommunicated Emperor (1851) and Count Arensberg (1853). He died a few years later in 1860. His widow wrote a memoir of his life the following year.

Author Tags:

• Ministers

References: Bridget Margaret Sortain, Memorials of the Rev. Joseph Sortain (1861)

Fiction Titles:

1. Hildebrand and the Excommunicated Emperor: A Tale.  1 vol.  London: Longman, 1851.
2. Count Arensberg: or, The Days of Martin Luther.  2 vol.  London: Longman, 1853.