Introduction
Born: October 1, 1790, Norwich, England.
Died: July 12, 1846, Ramsgate, Kent, England.
Buried: St. Augustine Roman Catholic churchyard, Ramsgate, Kent, England.
Born: October 1, 1790, Norwich, England.
Died: July 12, 1846, Ramsgate, Kent, England.
Buried: St. Augustine Roman Catholic churchyard, Ramsgate, Kent, England.
Charlotte was the daughter of Michael Browne, rector of St. Giles’ parish, Norwich.
Charlotte went deaf at age 10. She married army captain George Phelan of the 60th Rifles, and spent two years with him while he served with his regiment in Nova Scotia (1817–19).
They then returned to Ireland, where Phelan owned a small estate near Kilkenny. However, the union was an unhappy one, and they separated about 1824 (Captain Phelan died in 1837 in Dublin).
Charlotte subsequently lived with her brother, Captain John Browne, at Clifton, and later moved to Sandhurst, then to London.
Thrown upon her own resources, Charlotte contributed to the Dublin Tract Society, and around 1835, became editor of The Christian Ladies’ Magazine. She also edited The Protestant Annual, 1840, and edited The Protestant Magazine from 1841 until her death.
In 1840, she married minister Lewis Hippolytus Joseph Tonna, but continued to use Charlotte Elizabeth
as her literary designation.