Elisabeth Rundle Charles: 1828 - 1896

Overview
Elisabeth Rundle Charles (1828-1896) was an English poet, linguist, musician, and painter, who became a well-known Victorian author of fifty books of Christian history and literature. The only child of John and Joana Rundle of Tavistock, Devonshire, she was educated at home in the classic disciplines and was writing poetry by age thirteen. Near age eighteen, she received Christ and, from the overflowing joy of her conversion, wrote

"Come and Rejoice with Me!"

Elisabeth translated and published her first book at age twenty-two. At age twenty-three, she married Andrew Paton Charles, a lawyer and businessman, with whom she joyfully worked among the poor. Although Andrew died after only seventeen years of marriage, Elisabeth continued their philanthropic work and her writing until her death at age sixty-eight at Hampstead Heath, near London.