| Main entry | Morton, Irene Elder |
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| Birth place | Hantsport, Nova Scotia |
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| Birth date | 17 February 1849 |
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| Death place | Clementsport, Nova Scotia |
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| Death date | 26 November 1923 |
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| Identifier | 0058 |
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| Birth name | Sarah Irene Elder |
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| Married name | Morton |
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| Marital status | married |
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| Religious affiliation | Baptist |
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| Degree and date | MA (honorary), Acadia University (1921) |
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| Paid work | journalist |
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| Other work | member of missionary and temperance societies |
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| Biography | Sarah Irene Elder (1849-1923) came from a family of authors: her uncle William Elder (1784-1848) wrote non-fiction, as did her brother (also named William Elder), while her father, Samuel Elder (1786-1873), wrote poetry. Educated at Acadia Seminary in Wolfville, Nova Scotia (then called Island Bar Seminary), Irene later received an honorary MA from her alma mater after it became Acadia University, in 1921. She married Albert Fisher Morton (1840-1925) in 1875 and had three children. As well as being an active member in missionary and temperance societies, Irene published at least two works: IDYLLS OF THE DANE (1916) and THE COMING OF THE FRENCH (1929). She was also a paid contributor to the PORTLAND TRANSCRIPT for a number of years and some of her poems appear in THE TREASURY OF CANADIAN VERSE edited by T.H. Rand. Irene died in 1923 and was buried in Middleton, Nova Scotia at Pine Grove Cemetery. |
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| Other notes | Daughter, Alberta Irene Morton, published THE COMING OF THE FRENCH after Irene's death, kept copyright, and was also a published poet in her own right; her work appears in THE POET'S LIBRARY, Vols. IX and XI. |
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| Residences | Hantsport, Nova Scotia (1838-); Lower Horton, Nova Scotia (1871); Middleton, Nova Scotia (1881, 1891); Clements, Nova Scotia (1901); Clementsport, Nova Scotia (1911-1923) |
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| Geographic regions | Nova Scotia |
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| Primary genres | poetry; fiction |
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| Books | ACADIA LADIES' SEMINARY (1893); HISTORY OF ACADIA SEMINARY (1912); IDYLLS OF THE DANE (1916); THE COMING OF THE FRENCH (1929) |
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| Periodicals | BOSTON EVENING TRANSCRIPT; DETROIT FREE PRESS; PORTLAND TRANSCRIPT; SPECTATOR; ST. JOHN DAILY SUN |
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| Other publications | Anthologized in: Lockhart, THE HARP OF ACADIA (1923); Rand, TREASURY OF CANADIAN VERSE (1900) |
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| Father's name | Samuel Elder |
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| Life dates of father | 12 August 1786, Falmouth, Hants, Nova Scotia - 9 October 1873, Lockhartville, Nova Scotia; m. 1818 |
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| Father's note | clergyman, First Baptist Church, Fredericton, New Brunswick (1844-1852) |
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| Mother's name | Sarah Shaw |
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| Life dates of mother | 8 March 1797, Nova Scotia - 1 June 1880, Cornwallis, Nova Scotia; m. 1818 |
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| Spouse 1 | Albert Fisher Morton |
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| Life dates of spouse 1 | 18 March 1840, Spa Springs, Nova Scotia - 1925 |
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| Spouse 1 note | farmer |
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| Marriage 1 date | 16 June 1875 |
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| Marriage 1 place | Hantsport, Nova Scotia |
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| Children number | 3 |
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| Children's names and dates | Charles Forman (11 April 1876 - after 1911);
Alberta Irene (15 March 1878 - after 1929);
Pearl Josephine (12 July 1880 - after 1946), m. Arthur Silver Burns |
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| Biographical references | WOMAN'S WHO'S WHO OF AMERICA (1914-15); 1871 Census of Canada; 1881 Census of Canada; 1891 Census of Canada; 1901 Census of Canada; 1911 Census of Canada |
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| Bibliographic references | Watters, CHECKLIST OF CANADIAN LITERATURE...1620-1960 (1970), p. 145; Amicus (National Library of Canada) |
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| Research references | complete |
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| Archival references | historical notes and holographs, Acadia Ladies' Seminary collection, Esther Clark Wright Archives, Acadia University |
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| Image credits | Line drawing by Una Vernelli (Vancouver, British Columbia). |
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| Unverified titles | OVER THE HILLS AND FAR AWAY |
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| Copyright | This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) at http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/. Please cite Canada's Early Women Writers. SFU Library Digital Collections. Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC, Canada. 1980-2014. |
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