Poet. Crawford was born on December 25, 1850, in Dublin, Ireland, to a doctor and his wife. In 1858, Isabella’s family moved to Upper Canada, and settled in the town of Paisley on the Saugeen River. After there arrival in Paisley, life seemed to be good for the family, but after a few short years, nine children of the 12 died of disease. In 1864 in hopes of starting over the family moved to Lakefield, Ontario, and then to Peterborough, Ontario, where Isabella’s father set up a samll doctor’s office to earn extra money. In 1875 the doctor died and the family moved to Toronto, Ontario, where Isabella began to write in order to support her family. In 1884 Isabella published her first work, “Old Spookses’ Pass!” On February 12, 1887, at the age of 36, Isabella suddenly died from heart failure. In 1905 a book was published at the knowledge and consent of her brother, Stephen. The book featured some of her best work including, ‘Song For The Soldiers,’ ‘His Mother,’ ‘His Wife And Baby,’ ‘His Sweetheart,’ ‘Malcolm’s Katie,’ ‘The helot,’ ‘The Mother’s Soul’s,’ and ‘The Rose.’ Crawford has been considered one of the great women poets and has been the subject of many books and articles. (bio by: K)