Elizabeth Helme

Elizabeth Helme (died c. 1814) was an English novelist and translator of the 18th century.

She was born in County Durham, but her maiden name is not known. The family moved to London, where she met William Helme, who became her husband. They had five children. One of their daughters, Elizabeth Somerville, was also a novelist. Elizabeth Helme is also known to have worked as a teacher, and her translations included two children's plays by Johann Heinrich Campe, Cortez (1799) and Pizarro (1800).

Works

Novels

• Louisa; or the Cottage on the Moor (1787)
• Clara and Emmeline: or, the Maternal Benediction (1788)
• Duncan and Peggy; a Scottish Tale (1794)
• The Farmer of Inglewood Forest (1796)
• Albert, or The Wilds of Strathnavern (1799)
• St Margaret's Cave: or, The Nun's Story. An Ancient Legend (1801)
• St Clair of the Isles (1803)
• The Pilgrim of the Cross, or Chronicles of Christabelle de Mowbray (1805)
• Magdalen, or The Penitent of Godstow (1812)
• Modern Times (1814) (published posthumously)

Non-fiction works

• Instructive rambles in London (1798)
• The History of Scotland (1806)
• The History of England (1806)
• Maternal Instruction or Family Conversations on Moral and Entertaining Subjects (1807)
• The History of Rome from the Foundation of the City to the Fall of the Eastern Empire(1808)
• The Fruits of Reflection; or, Moral Remembrances on Various Subjects (1809)

Translations

• Travels from the Cape of Good-Hope (translated from the French original by Francois Le Vaillant) (1790)
• Cortez: or, The Conquest of Mexico (translated from the German original by Joachim Heinrich Campe) (1799)
• Pizarro; or, the conquest of Peru (translated from the German original by Joachim Heinrich Campe) (1799)
• Columbus; or, The discovery of America, as related by a father to his child (translated from the German original by Campe) (1811)