Jessie Catherine Couvreur
Jessie Catherine Couvreur (pseudonym Tasma) (28 October 1848 – 23 October 1897) was an Australian novelist.[1]
Life
Jessie Catherine Couvreur was born at
At sixteen years of age, Madame Couvreur, then Miss Huybers, had verses accepted by the Australian Journal, and she afterwards contributed essays and short stories to the Australasian and the
Couvreur's husband died in 1894 and Madame Couvreur took up his duties as correspondent of The Times at Brussels. She proved to be "a conscientious painstaking journalist, keenly alive to all political, intellectual and social movements".[4] She continued to hold this position until her death on 23 October 1897.[1]
Madame Couvreur was regarded as tall and handsome, with a highly cultivated mind.[4] Her first book, Uncle Piper of Piper's Hill, was her best. There is not much plot, but there is excellent character-drawing and the interest is well-sustained to the end. Of her other novels In her Earliest Youth and The Penance of Portia James are possibly the best.[4]
Publications
Novels and collection
- Uncle Piper of Piper's Hill (1888)
- A Sydney Sovereign (1890)
- In her Earliest Youth (1890)
- The Penance of Portia James (1891)
- A Knight of the White Feather (1892)
- Not Counting the Cost (1895)
- A Fiery Ordeal (1897)
Stories and articles
- Barren Love in Garnet Walch's Annual (1877) and later in A Sydney Sovereign[5]
- Sick unto Death (Ch. 23) in The Fate of Fenella (1891)
- An Old Time Episode in Tasmania, in Mrs. Patchett Martin's Cooëe.
References
- ^ a b Beilby, Raymond, "Couvreur, Jessie Catherine (1848–1897)", Australian Dictionary of Biography, Canberra: National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, retrieved 28 August 2023
- ^ a b Mennell, Philip (1892). . The Dictionary of Australasian Biography. London: Hutchinson & Co – via Wikisource.
- ^ "OLD COURT HOUSE.—WEDNESDAY DEC. 12". The Argus (Melbourne). No. 11, 695. Victoria, Australia. 14 December 1883. p. 11. Retrieved 18 March 2018 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ a b c d e Serle, Percival (1949). "Couvreur, Jessie Catherine". Dictionary of Australian Biography. Sydney: Angus & Robertson.
- ^ "Couvreur, Jessie Catherine (1848–1897)". Obituaries Australia. National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. Retrieved 15 January 2018.
Further reading
- Clarke, Patricia. Tasma: The Life of Jessie Couvreur, Allen & Unwin, 1994, ISBN 1863735194
- Clarke, Patricia. Bold Types. How Australia's First Women Journalists Blazed a Trail. National Library of Australia, 2022. ISBN 9781922507372
External links
- Works by or about Jessie Catherine Couvreur at Wikisource
- Media related to Jessie Catherine Couvreur at Wikimedia Commons
- Works by or about Jessie Catherine Couvreur at Internet Archive (1)
- Works by Tasma at Internet Archive (12)
- Works by Jessie Catherine Couvreur at LibriVox (public domain audiobooks)
- Tasma at Library of Congress, with 17 library catalogue records