Catherine Ray (b. circa 1830) was a traveller, writer, teacher, social and political reformer, and the earliest English translator of

Ibsen Henrik Johan Ibsen (; ; 20 March 1828 – 23 May 1906) was a Norwegian playwright, poet and actor. Ibsen is considered the world's pre-eminent dramatist of the 19th century and is often referred to as "the father of modern drama." He pioneered ...

Life

Catherine Ray was born and raised in

Suffolk Suffolk ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Norfolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Essex to the south, and Cambridgeshire to the west. Ipswich is the largest settlement and the county ...

. Her father died when she was three, and she was repeatedly ill in childhood. Following the death of her mother, whom Catherine nursed in her final illness, she began a twenty five year period of frequent travel, visiting Scandinavia, Russia, continental Europe and Australia. She lectured in both English and Italian, and in the mid-1870s was involved in the Association for the University Education of Women while resident in Edinburgh. She became committed to the promotion of women's civil and political rights, of temperance, and the Charity Organisation Society. She was also an active member of the Primrose League during her time living in Hampstead around 1890. To an interviewer in 1890 she said of herself and her beliefs:

''"You may think me a strange compound. I am a staunch Conservative, an upholder of the Reformed Church of England, a consistent teetotaller, and a Socialist in so far as I believe that love and sympathy with the sufferings of our poorer brethren should determine the actions of all; true progress for them and us lies in helping them to help themselves; in so far as this is Socialism, I am a Socialist. I am loyal to the backbone, and my hope lies in the womanhood of the world!"''

Her date of death is not known.

Writing

Catherine Ray began her literary career with a translation of

Henrik Ibsen Henrik Johan Ibsen (; ; 20 March 1828 – 23 May 1906) was a Norwegian playwright, poet and actor. Ibsen is considered the world's pre-eminent dramatist of the 19th century and is often referred to as "the father of modern drama." He pioneered ...

's play '' Emperor and Galilean'' (1873). Ray's translation appeared in 1876, and was the earliest published English translation of one of Ibsen's plays. As Katherine Newey notes, Ray's introduction to her translation "constitutes the earliest English-language analysis of Ibsen's theatre". Although Ray herself asserted that it had '"received very favourable press notices", one of Ray's contemporaries commented on the subsequent neglect shown to her pioneering work:

''"I have not noticed that any of the critics have mentioned the fact that Miss Ray was the first to introduce Ibsen to the English public. I am afraid she found that her efforts were not appreciated."''

Ray followed up her translation with a series of novels, including a work for children set in

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

, a 'temperance novel' set largely in

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

, and a further book set in the

Tyrol Tyrol ( ; historically the Tyrole; ; ) is a historical region in the Alps of Northern Italy and western Austria. The area was historically the core of the County of Tyrol, part of the Holy Roman Empire, Austrian Empire and Austria-Hungary, f ...

. Of this, her final novel, a reviewer in ''The County Gentleman'' commented:

''"The author of 'A New Exodus' shows a strong feeling for Nature as she reveals herself in the glorious mountains and fair valleys of beautiful Tyrol. The odour of heath and pine seems to stir these pages like a living breath, and the magnificent panorama of the Alpine scenery forms a fitting framework for a picture of noble constancy and endurance."''

Writing in ''The Academy'', William Wallace acknowledged:

''"Altogether 'The Exiles of the Zillerthal', unambitious as it is, and suggestive, as regards its author, of literary power in reserve, may, without exaggeration, be described as a model story of its class."''

Works

* "

Catalan Bay Catalan Bay () is a bay and fishing village in Gibraltar, on the eastern side of The Rock away from Westside. Etymology Although the origin of Catalan Bay's name is documented, a couple of theories co-exist. Documentary evidence suggests th ...

: A Story of Gibraltar", ''The Monthly Packet'', 1872 * Henrik Ibsen, '' The Emperor and the Galilean'', trans. Catherine Ray. London: Samuel Tinsley, 1876. * '' A Farm on the Fjord: A Tale of Life in Norway''. London and Edinburgh, 1877. * "Edelraute; or Five and Twenty Years Ago at the Achen See", ''The Ladies' Edinburgh Magazine'', vol. 3, 1877. * '' Aground in the Shallows''. 2 vols. London: Remington, 1879. * '' A New Exodus; or, the Exiles of the Zillerthal. A story of the Protestants of the Tyrol.'' London: Nisbet and Co, 1887

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ray, Catherine British women novelists British women writers 19th-century British writers Writers from Suffolk Year of birth uncertain Year of death unknown 19th-century British translators