24 November 2012

Sarah Ann Agnes Turk / Sheila Agnes Turk (1859–1927)

Sarah Ann Agnes Turk (1859–1927) was a Catholic writer and is buried in Nottingham General Cemetery. Little biographical information seems to be readily available about her, although I am grateful to Rowena Edlin-White for telling me about the existence of her grave, and also for informing me that she'd discovered from Turk's obituary in the Guardian Journal of 24 April that 'she had a Requiem Mass at St Barnabas' Cathedral and her literary work had the blessing of two Popes!'

'Authoress'. The use of such a demeaning suffix seems unimaginable today. How about Carol Ann Duffy as 'poetess laureate'? I meander. Several of Turk's book are in the British Library, although under the pseudonym 'Sheila Agnes Turk':

The Star of Bethlehem: or, Seeking the King: A Sacred Drama in Three Acts (Cork: Sacred Heart College, 1916)

The Secret of Carickferneagh Castle: An Irish Romance (London: R. & T. Washbourne, [1914])

The Marriage of Enid Ruthven (London: Salesian Press, 1927)

Sacred drama: Joan of Arc (Barnet: St. Andrew's Press: [1909?])

Nemesis: And Other Short Stories (London: R. & T. Washbourne, 1908)

And, with Jeannie Turk (relation unknown):

The Marriage Bond only Death Can Sunder (London: Henry J. Drane, [1912]).

Writers and literary associations in Nottingham General Cemetery:
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Robert Goodacre (1777–1835)
Ruth Bryan (1805–1860)
Annie Matheson (1853–1924)
Josiah Gilbert (1814–1892)
Anthony Hervey (c. 1796–1850)
Charles Bell Taylor (1829–1909)
James Prior's Parents
Ann Taylor (1782–1866)
Robert Millhouse (1788-1839)
Henry Hogg (1831-74)

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