Cook, ELIZA

Cook, ELIZA, a favourite minor English poetess, daughter of a London tradesman, was born at Southwark in 1818. She contributed poetical pieces to various magazines from an early age, and issued her Melaia and Other Poems in 1838, which, along with the issue of volumes in 1864 and 1865, established her reputation as a meritorious verse writer of sound morality, and clear, sensible, and simple treatment. She conducted Eliza Cook's Journal (1849-54) till ill-health obliged her to relinquish it; in 1864 a pension of £100 a year was conferred upon her by government. She has also written Jottings from my Journal (1860), and Laonies (1865). She died 25th September 1889.