Elizabeth H. (Elizabeth Hely) Walshe

Born in Limerick in 1835, Elizabeth Hely Walshe was an Irish author known for children’s stories and historical fiction. She came from an evangelical Protestant family, worked as a Sunday-school teacher, and was also noted as an accomplished artist and musician.

She contributed regularly to The Leisure Hour and Sunday at Home, and published books including Cedar Creek: From the Shanty to the Settlement, a tale of Canadian life, along with other stories and histories. Her writing is often described as morally serious and shaped by the religious and social concerns of her time, including an interest in education for the poor.

Walshe spent some years in Canada and had returned to Ireland by 1865. She died on the Isle of Wight in 1869. I couldn’t confirm a reliable portrait image of her from the sources I found, so no profile image is included.