Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 11.djvu/110

 to the Whitfield estate on the death of his father, and Alice, the wife of Lieutenant-colonel Wilberforce Greathed, V.C. Her husband, who was formerly rector of Solihull, Warwickshire, and afterwards chancellor and prebendary of Hereford Cathedral, survived her some years, and died on 17 Sept. 1878.

Her reputation as an authoress now mainly rests upon ‘Paul Ferroll,’ a sensational novel of great power and considerable imagination. She published the following works: 1. ‘IX Poems by V.,’ London, 1840, 8vo. These poems attracted a good deal of notice at the time, and were most favourably reviewed in the ‘Quarterly’ (lxvi. 408–11). A second edition, including nine other poems, was published in 1841. 2. ‘I watched the Heavens: a poem, by V.,’ London, 1842, 8vo. The volume contains only the first canto of this poem, which appears to have never been completed. 3. ‘The Queen's Ball, a poem, by V.,’ London, 1847, 16mo. 4. ‘The Valley of the Rea, a poem, by V.,’ London, 1851, 8vo. 5. ‘The Morlas, a poem, by V.,’ London, 1853, 8vo. 6. ‘Paul Ferroll, a Tale, by the author of “IX Poems by V.,”’ London, 1855, 8vo. This novel has passed through a number of editions, and has been translated into French by Madame H. Loreau. In the fourth edition a concluding chapter was added bringing the story down to the death of Paul Ferroll. 7. ‘Poems by the author of “Paul Ferroll,” including a new edition of “IX Poems by V.” with former and recent additions,’ London, 1856, 8vo. In this collection the last of the ‘IX Poems’ is omitted, and only four of the additional poems contained in the second edition of 1841 are included. In addition to the above-mentioned poems, numbered 3, 4, and 5 respectively, eight other pieces, not printed in the previous editions, are given. 8. ‘Year after Year, by the author of “Paul Ferroll” and “IX Poems,”’ London, 1858, 12mo. Two editions were published of this book. 9. ‘Why Paul Ferroll killed his Wife, by the author of “Paul Ferroll,”’ London, 1860, 12mo. Though the names of the characters are different, the object of this novel is to explain the opening chapter of ‘Paul Ferroll.’ It is not, however, at all equal in power to its predecessor. It has passed through several editions. 10. ‘John Greswold, by the author of “Paul Ferroll,” &c. &c.,’ in 2 vols., London, 1864, 8vo. 11. ‘Poems by V., author of “Paul Ferroll,” including the “IX Poems,”’ London, 1872, 8vo. In this collection the last of the ‘IX Poems’ is again omitted, and twelve additional poems are given besides others which appeared in former editions. It is not, however, by any means a complete collection of her poems.  CLIVE, CATHERINE, commonly known as (1711–1785), was the daughter of William Raftor, an Irish gentleman of good family. He was a lawyer in Kilkenny, who lost his property by reason of having joined the army which fought for James II at the battle of the Boyne, and after spending some years of exile in France returned to England on receiving a pardon from Queen Anne, settled in London, and married a Mrs. Daniels, daughter of a well-to-do citizen of Fishstreet Hill. The Raftor family was probably too large for their means; for all we know of Kitty Clive points to the conclusion that her education was of the scantiest. Her spelling to the last was bad even for the last century. What she wrote, however, was marked by strong common sense, and she made her way to eminence by sheer force of a vigorous genius, in spite of a want of refinement which was incompatible with good early culture. If we are to believe Mr. Lee Lewis, she was when very young in the service of a Miss Knowles, afterwards Mrs. Young, who lodged in a house in Church Row, Houndsditch, opposite to the Bell Tavern, a great resort of actors, at which the Beef Steak Club was held. Kitty Raftor, Lewis says, 'being one day washing the steps of the door and singing, the windows of the club room being open, they were instantly crowded ' by the members of the club, ' who were all enchanted with her natural grace and simplicity.' Mr. Beard and Mr. Dunstall, both of them actors and singers, were among those present, and under their auspices Miss Raftor was introduced to the stage. Lewis gives this story on the authority of Mr. Thomas Young, a son of Mrs. Young, and himself an actor and singer. But it is not confirmed by any contemporary evidence, and seems most improbable; for to wash down the doorsteps of a lodging-house was surely not the duty of a lodger's, but rather of the landlady's maid. Whether Miss Raftor owed her introduction to the stage in this way or not, her special gift of vivid impersonation was such that she was sure to have found her way thither sooner or later through strong natural inclination. The theatre and actors very early took hold of her imagination; for she herself told Chetwood that when she was