Digital Victorian Periodical Poetry

Major scientific writer and astronomer. Born in Skibbereen, Co. Cork. Sister of poet and journalist Ellen Mary Clerke. Educated at home. Lived in Dublin from 1861, and Queenstown (Cobh) in 1863. After moving to Italy with her sister from 1867 to 1877, settled in London with her family and began her career as a science writer and biographer. Publications include A Popular History of Astronomy During the Nineteenth Century (1885), The System of the Stars (1890), Problems in Astrophysics (1903), and Modern Cosmologies (1905). Received Royal Institution’s Actonian Prize in 1893, became a member of the Royal Institution in 1902, and made honorary member of the Royal Astronomical Society. Leading contributor to first edition of the Dictionary of National Biography. Author information from the Chambers’s Journal ledger entry for “Passing Away” (published on 22 November 1862), which lists the author as Miss A. Clark, 12 Herbert Place, Dublin (NLS 341/310). Her surname is also given as “Clerke” in these ledgers, such as the entry for “Sunset” (published on 20 June 1863), which lists her as Miss Agnes Clerke, Spy Hill House, Queenstown, Cork (note this is Jane Moresby’s address, although their relationship is unclear). 12 Herbert Place was the home of the Clerke family from 1861 to 1877. Biographical information: DIB. (AC)