author
L. A. (Lydia Austin) Holdich
d. 1879
A 19th-century American writer of children’s stories, she is remembered for gentle, religiously minded books written for young readers and the adults who taught them. Her surviving work suggests a warm, instructive voice shaped by family life, faith, and education.
1 Audiobook
Little Alfred
by L. A. (Lydia Austin) Holdich
About the author
Lydia Austin Holdich, often listed as L. A. Holdich, was an American writer who lived from 1800 to 1879. A note in The Brownings’ Correspondence identifies her as a writer of children’s stories, gives her maiden name as Kollock, and notes that she was married to Rev. Joseph Holdich, who served as secretary of the American Bible Society.
Her known books include Little Alfred, listed under her name by Project Gutenberg, and Food for Lambs; Or, A Guide to Infant Teachers and Parents in the Religious Instruction of Young... from 1856. Those titles point to the kind of work she seems to have favored: short moral and religious writing meant to guide children, parents, and teachers.
The same correspondence source also says she was a member of the New York Ladies’ Home Missionary Society, which fits the practical, devotional tone of her published work. Not much biographical detail appears to survive online, but the record that remains suggests a writer closely connected to Protestant religious life and to 19th-century literature for the young.