She began to contribute to Household Words in 1853, and adopted the name of "Mary Berwick," so that the editor, Charles Dickens, should not be prejudiced by his friendship for the Procters.
Her principal work is Legends and Lyrics, of which a first series, published in 1858, ran through nine editions in seven years, while a second series issued in 1860 met with a similar success. Her unambitious verses dealing with simple emotional themes in a simple manner have a charm which is scarcely explicable on the ground of high literary merit, but which is due rather to the fact that they are the cultured expression of an earnest and beneficent life.
Among the best known of her poems are The Angel's Story, The Legend of Bregenz and The Legend of Provence. Many of her songs and hymns are very popular. Latterly she became a convert to Roman Catholicism, and her philanthropic zeal appears to have hastened her death.
This entry was originally from the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.