Born in Montreal and the bilingual author of poems, short stories, and novels, Rosanna Leprohon was one of Canada’s best-known writers during the middle decades of the nineteenth century.
This author's life has been researched earlier for inclusion in the
Entry revised by Linnea McNally
Bilingual author of poems, short stories, and novels, Rosanna Eleanor Mullins was born and raised in Montreal, third child of a wealthy Irish merchant. She attended the prestigious Convent of the Congregation of Notre Dame where, in addition to classical studies, music, and drawing, she was encouraged to write. (She would later dedicate poems to influential figures from her schooldays.) Interested in French-Canadian culture and religion, in 1846, at the age of seventeen, she published her first poem in the
Rosanna became acquainted with the French-speaking Leprohon family in 1849, and married Dr. Jean-Lukin Leprohon (1822-1900) in 1851, coinciding with the final year of publication for the
Despite the responsibilities of caring for a growing household, Rosanna published many serialized novels. Most of these are set in England, but in 1860 she issued the first of her trilogy of novels set in Canada and concerned with Canadian history.
For detailed descriptions of Leprohon's works, see Lorraine McMullen and Elizabeth Waterston's
Born in Cork, Ireland, in 1797, Francis Mullins immigrated to Montreal shortly after 1819 and married Rosanna Connelly on 23 February 1824. He became a successful merchant (grocer, ship's chandler, importer, marine storekeeper) and accumulated large holdings of waterfront property. In 1842, the Mullins family included seven children, two of whom had already left home. A prominent Montrealer, he sat on the city council for a term in 1858-60. Six years after his death in Montreal on 27 April 1866, a street near his downtown home was named after him.
Born in Montreal around 1800, Rosanna Connelly was the daughter of Michael Connelly, a Montreal schoolmaster, and Sarah McCabe. On 23 February 1824, she married Francis Mullins, a recent immigrant from Ireland who was on his way to becoming a successful merchant.
Born in 1822 in Chambly, Quebec, Jean Lukin Leprohon (baptised Jean Baptiste Lucain Leprohon) was the son of Édouard-Martial Leprohon (1790-1859) and Marie-Louise Lukin (1790-1861). He was descended from the Leprohon family who participated in the Conquest in 1760 and in the War of 1812, and from the de Niverville family, long-standing residents of French Canada. In 1851, Jean married Rosanna Mullins (1829-1879); the couple had thirteen children, five of whom died in infancy.
Jean was a prominent medical doctor who served as surgeon of the Tenth Battalion of Militia and as vice-consul to Spain. He was co-founder of the Women's Hospital of Montreal and founder of the medical journal,
For a more detailed biography, see his entry in the
Rodolphe became a physician.
Claude was assistant engineer of the department of highways who supervised the widening of the Lachine Canal and the construction of the dam in Montreal; he was also Vice-Consul for Brazil.
Blanche is unique as an in-law in being interred in the Leprohon family plot in the Notre-Dame-des-Neiges Cemetery, Montreal, QC.
Rosanna Ellen Mullins at some point changed her middle name, "Ellen," to "Eleanora.”