LYALL

lyall, edna, the pen-name of ada ellen bayly (1857-1903), english novelist. she was born at brighton in 1857, the daughter of a barrister. her parents died while she was a child, and she was brought up at caterham, surrey. at eastbourne, where most of her life was spent, she was well known for her philanthropic activity. she died on the 8th of february 1903. edna lyall's vogue as a novelist was the result of a combination of the story-teller's gift with a sincere ethical and religious spirit of christian tolerance, which at the time was new to many readers. though her _won by waiting_ (1879) had some success, it was with _donovan_ (1882) and _we two_ (1884), in which the persecuted atheist was inevitably identified with charles bradlaugh, that she became widely popular. other novels were _in the golden days_ (1885), a story of the great rebellion; _knight errant_ (1887); _autobiography of a slander_ (1887); _a hardy norseman_ (1889); _derrick vaughan_, _the story of a novelist_ (1889); _to right the wrong_ (1892); _doreen_ (1894), a statement of the case for irish home rule; _the autobiography of a truth_ (1896), the proceeds of which were devoted to the armenian relief fund; _in spite of all_ (1901), which had originally been produced by mr ben greet as a play; and _the bruges letters_ (1902), a book for children. a _life_ by j. n. escreet appeared in 1904, and a shorter account of her by the rev. g. a. payne was printed at manchester in 1903.