Author: Elizabeth Phebe Seeley
Author: Elizabeth Phebe Seeley (1844–1881)
Biography: Elizabeth Phebe Seeley was born on 23 December 1844 in London, the fifth daughter of publisher Robert Benton Seeley and his wife Mary Ann. She grew up in a cultured household and became an educator, missionary, and writer. Several of her siblings were writers: Leonard Benton Seeley, Sir John Robert Seeley, Mary Seeley, Edith Seeley, and Emma Louisa Seeley. After she attended her elder sisters' school in Tonbridge, she wrote poetry and fiction aimed at young adult readers and worked as a governess in England and Switzerland. All of her fiction was published anonymously by her family's publishing company. In 1872, she took a position as secretary of the Mission of the British Syrian Schools (replacing her sister Harriet in the role) and moved to present-day Lebanon. After nine years, she caught a fever and died on 25 October 1881 in Beirut. After her death, her sister Ada wrote a memoir of her life.
Author Tags:
References: British Census (1851, 1861); Probate; Ada E. Seeley, In the Light (1884)
Fiction Titles:
- The Dove and Other Stories of Old. 1 vol. London: Seeley, 1865.
- Letters Everywhere: Stories and Rhymes for Children. 1 vol. London: Seeley, 1869.
- My Young Days. 1 vol. London: Seeley, 1871.
- Little Lives: Animals Stories in Prose and Verse. 1 vol. London: Seeley, 1872.
- Little Blue-Eyes, and Other Field and Flower Stories. 1 vol. London: Seeley, 1875.