On Wednesday 29th Janet was due to lead a history walk, having prepared a fascinating theme on an unexpected topic, Portishead poet Fay Inchfawn. When it became obvious that our walk would not take place we were comfortably installed in Jenny’s sitting room where Janet intrigued us with a talk about the poetess.
Born Elizabeth Daniels in Portishead in 1880 we learned that her pen name, Fay Inchfawn, was invented later in her life, in her mid-thirties to early forties when she began publishing verses. A prolific writer, her best known work is the “Verse Book of a Homely Woman”. Her work appeared in periodicals and magazines as well as books from the 1920s/30s. She lived a very long life and was happily married to a fellow writer. They lived in a comfortable House near Limply Stoke where she is buried in the church yard.
Her beginnings were humbler; Elizabeth’s father had a successful bakery business in Portishead on the High Street where now the garage stands. Shortly after her birth the family moved to Bradford on Avon where they flourished and became relatively wealthy.
At the library Janet had researched Fay’s ancestry and the homes her family occupied in Portishead. We were shown photographs, poems and newspaper extracts demonstrating the development of our town and bringing to life the woman who had had such an impact in her lifetime but of whom most of us had been unaware.
Thank you Janet.
NB Access to the library’s membership of “Ancestry” is an aid to such research and is available to the public.
Read more at: Fay Inchfawn Poems > My poetic sidehttp://mypoeticside.com/poets/fay-inchfawn-poems#ixzz4DHlqmp13
VBW
Dilys