Emily Edridge
was born on 21st January 1853 in Bilston, Staffordshire. Her parents were Richard Edridge, a tea
importer, and his wife Henrietta. Emily
had the following siblings: Julia (b.
1852), Fanny (1855 – 1949), Alice (1859 – 1924) and Kate (b. 1856). In 1911, the family lived in Tetterhall Road,
Wolverhampton.
Educated
at home, Emily demonstrated an aptitude for writing poetry and had her work
published in local newspapers. Her
poetry collection “Winter Flowers and Other Verses” was published in 1932 and
includes several poems about the First World War.
Russell
Markland included an example of Emily’s work in his anthology “Staffordshire
Poets” (1928), which was co-edited by Charles Henry Poole.
My
grateful thanks to Mark for sending me this information about Emily. I am now looking for some of her poems.
