By Jonathan McCambridge
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A blue plaque is to be unveiled in Co Antrim for one of the most successful authors of the Victorian era.
Charlotte Riddell, known as the “queen of ghost stories”, will be remembered at the event in her hometown of Carrickfergus.
Born in 1832, Riddell often examined supernatural themes and the moral ambiguity in Victorian middle classes in more than 50 novels and short stories.
The author has also often been linked with feminist campaigners of the time due to her portrayal of the lives of women within marriage.
She maintained a literary career despite struggling against poverty at a time when publishing was dominated by men.
Riddell was born Charlotte Cowan at The Barn, Carrickfergus, the youngest daughter of mill-owner James Cowan and Ellen Kilshaw, who was from Liverpool.
The site of her birthplace later became Carrickfergus Hospital and is close to the Carrick Rangers and Barn United football grounds.
By the time she was 15 she had written a full-length novel.
He early work included Tales From Boneybefore, a village close to her home.
Kingslough was the fictitious name she chose for Carrickfergus.
When her father died, she and her mother were left with little money. Their home for a few years was a cottage at Craigantlet outside Belfast.
Her mother later became terminally ill. They moved to London where Riddell was determined to support the family through writing.
She wrote under various pseudonyms and it was only after the success of her novel George Geith of Fen Court in 1864 that she began to write as Mrs JH Riddell, having married Joseph Hadley Riddell, a civil engineer.
Her husband died in 1880. Riddell went on to co-own and edit the St James Magazine, a well-known Victorian literary publication with ads for foreign stocks and shares.
The writer’s last novel appeared in 1902, by which time her health had declined. Her life was made more comfortable when she became the first writer to get a pension from the Society of Authors.
Riddell died from breast cancer on September 24 1906 at Hounslow in Middlesex.
She was buried at Heston churchyard.
Chris Spurr, chairman of the Ulster History Circle, said: “Charlotte Riddell, known as ‘the queen of ghost stories’, born at The Barn in Carrickfergus, found fame as a novelist in Victorian London.
“The Ulster History Circle is delighted to commemorate this once-popular and prolific writer with a blue plaque at the appropriate setting of Carrickfergus Library.
“The circle is grateful to the Ulster-Scots Agency for their financial support towards the plaque and to Libraries NI for their kind assistance.”
The plaque to Charlotte Riddell will be unveiled on Tuesday at Carrickfergus Library.
