Elinor Mordaunt

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Elinor Mordaunt (also known as Evelyn May Clowes and Evelyn May Mordaunt) (7 May 1872 - 25 June 1942) wan an English author, writer and traveler.

Elinor was a daughter of St John L. Clowes and the Hon. Mrs Clowes, was born at Cotgrave, Nottinghamshire, England, and was christened Evelyn May. In 1897 she went to Mauritius as companion to her cousin Caroline (wife of George Le Hunte) and in 1898 married a planter there named Wiehe. The marriage was unfortunate, and about two and a half years later Mrs Wiehe found it impossible to live with her husband and returned to England. Shortly afterwards she went to Australia, arriving 10 June 1902 and lived at Melbourne for about eight years. Her son, Godfrey Weston Wiehe, was born 9 March 1903.

It was necessary for her to earn a living and while in Melbourne she edited a woman's fashion paper, wrote short stories and articles, made blouses, designed embroideries--and gardens, acted as a housekeeper, and did artistic work of various kinds. She was not strong in health, but with great courage undertook any kind of work which would provide a living for herself and her infant son. At times she had a hard struggle, but she gained an experience of life which was of the greatest use to her as an author.

Her first book, the Garden of Contentment, was published in England in 1902. At Melbourne she published a volume of sketches, Rosemary, That's for Remembrance (1909), and in 1911 appeared On the Wallaby through Victoria, by E. M. Clowes, an interesting account of conditions in that state at that period. Returning to England on 14 July 1909 she soon began a long series of volumes of fiction. She established a reputation as a writer of short stories for magazines. Mrs Mordaunt travelled in the East Indies and adjacent islands and used her experiences in her fiction, and in travel books such as The Venture Book, The Further Venture Book, and Purely for Pleasure. Her interesting autobiography, Sinabada, published in 1937, includes an account of her early struggles in Australia, written without bitterness, and with appreciative reference to the kindnesses she had received. In 1933 she married R. R. Bowles. Her son by her first marriage was alive when she was writing Sinabada; she mentions that he had married and had children.

Possibly her best work was put into her short stories, often showing a grim sense of tragedy and humour. A collection of them appeared in 1934, The Tales of Elinor Mordaunt. In addition to the volumes included in Miller, she was also the author of Death it is, Judge Not, Hobby Horse, Roses in December, Tropic Heat, Here Too is Valour, and Blitz Kids.

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This article incorporates text from the public domain 1949 edition of Dictionary of Australian Biography from
Project Gutenberg of Australia, which is in the public domain in Australia and the United States of America.
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