Grizelda Elizabeth Cottnam Tonge, who wrote under the name Portia, (1803–1825) was a Nova Scotian poet who has been called the "highly-gifted songstress of Acadia."
Tonge's poetic talent, combined with the tragic circumstances of her early death, built her reputation as a pioneer of Nova Scotian literature.
Her grandmother Martha Grace Cottnam Tonge and great grandmother Deborah Howe Cottnam were both poets.
In 1825, Tonge sailed to Demerara in what is now Guyana to join her father.
[2] Soon after her arrival in South America, she died of a tropical disease.