Helen Acquroff

Helen Acquroff (12 October 1831 – 18 September 1887) was a musician, pianist, music teacher, singer and poet who was born and lived in the Newington area of Edinburgh. She was blind from the age of 11 and grew to be active in the Temperance Movement.

Biography Helen's parents were John Acquroff (born 1795) a Russian hairdresser, and Sophia Campbell Fletcher (born 22 May 1808) from Ardelach, Nairn. They had ten children of which Helen was the second eldest. She had poor sight from birth and was totally blind by the age of 11. She attended the Blind Asylum School (later the Royal Blind Asylum and School), and later taught there. They include Polly Hopkins, Sabbath School Song, The Swiss Girl, When We Were Bairns Thegither, The Reformed Drunkard To His Wife. Her works are also included in the anthologies Working-Class Women Poets in Victorian Britain: An Anthology, and in One hundred modern Scottish poets: with biographical and critical notices. The inscription reads:

The IOGT were the Independent Order of Good Templars. It appears as a C on the memorial, not a G.