Amelia Edith Huddleston Barr (March 29, 1831 – March 10, 1919) was a British novelist and teacher. Many of the plots of her stories are laid in Scotland and England. The scenes are from her girlhood recollection of surroundings. Her works include, ''Jan Vedder's Wife'', ''A Border Shepherdess'', ''Feet of Clay'', ''Friend Olivia'', ''The Bow of Orange Ribbon'', ''Remember the Alamo'', ''She Loved a Sailor'', ''A Daughter of Fife'', ''The Squire of Sanddal Side'', ''Paul and Christina'', ''Master of His Fate'', ''The Household of McNeil'', ''The Last of the Macallisters'', ''Between Two Loves'', ''A Sister to Esau'', ''A Rose of a Hundred Leaves'', ''A Singer from the Sea'','' The Beads of Tasmer'', ''The Hallam Succession'', ''The Lone House'', ''Christopher and Other Stories'', ''The Lost Silver of Briffault''.
Early years and education
She was born on March 29, 1831 (1832 is also reported), in
Ulverston
Ulverston is a market town and a civil parish in the South Lakeland district of Cumbria, England. In the United Kingdom Census 2001, 2001 census the parish had a population of 11,524, increasing at the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 census to ...
,
Lancashire
Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly.
The non-metropolitan county of Lancash ...
, England as Amelia Edith Huddleston. Her father was Reverend William Huddleston, a Wesleyan minister. She was brought up in an atmosphere of culture and refinement, and early turned to books for recreation and instruction. When only nine years of age she became her father's companion and reader. Thus it was she read books far beyond her comprehension, but they tended to develop her mental qualities. A brief return to her father's financial stability allowed Barr to return to the Normal School in
Glasgow
Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...
where she learned the
Stowe
Stowe may refer to:
Places United Kingdom
*Stowe, Buckinghamshire, a civil parish and former village
**Stowe House
**Stowe School
* Stowe, Cornwall, in Kilkhampton parish
* Stowe, Herefordshire, in the List of places in Herefordshire
* Stowe, Linc ...
teaching method. Its principles are based on morality and lifelong learning, rather than learning by rote.
Career
On 11 July 1850, she and a prosperous local wool merchant, Robert Barr, married. The couple emigrated to the U.S. in September 1853, landing in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
. In
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
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,
Illinois
Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rockf ...
, Barr tutored at home, and established a school for girls, though she was not involved for long as her husband's business prospects fell through and they traveled west, settled in Austin,
Texas
Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...
. They remained there until after the
American Civil War
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states ...
when they moved to
Galveston
Galveston ( ) is a coastal resort city and port off the Southeast Texas coast on Galveston Island and Pelican Island in the U.S. state of Texas. The community of , with a population of 47,743 in 2010, is the county seat of surrounding Ga ...
, where Mr. Barr became an auditor for the state, before he and four sons were stricken with
yellow fever
Yellow fever is a viral disease of typically short duration. In most cases, symptoms include fever, chills, loss of appetite, nausea, muscle pains – particularly in the back – and headaches. Symptoms typically improve within five days. ...
and died. Of their 12 children, several died young.
With her three remaining daughters, Mrs. Barr moved to
Ridgewood, New Jersey
Ridgewood is a village in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, its population was 24,958,
Barr asked advice of
Henry Ward Beecher
Henry Ward Beecher (June 24, 1813 – March 8, 1887) was an American Congregationalist clergyman, social reformer, and speaker, known for his support of the abolition of slavery, his emphasis on God's love, and his 1875 adultery trial. His r ...
, then editor of the ''Christian Union'', in regard to contributions to magazines. He encouraged her to write for his paper. Through the Bouchers or Dr.
Lyman Abbott
Lyman J. Abbott (December 18, 1835 – October 22, 1922) was an American Congregationalist theologian, editor, and author.
Biography Early years
Lyman J. Abbott was born at Roxbury, Massachusetts on December 18, 1835, the son of the prolific ...
, she met the Harpers and wrote for them many years. After an accident confined her to a chair, unable to employ herself otherwise, she wrote her first novel, ''Jan Vedder's Wife''. Thereafter, she wrote a great deal. In 1869, she moved to New York City, where she began to write for religious periodicals and to publish a series of semi-historical tales and novels. By 1891, when she achieved greater success, she and her daughters moved up the
Hudson River
The Hudson River is a river that flows from north to south primarily through eastern New York. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains of Upstate New York and flows southward through the Hudson Valley to the New York Harbor between N ...
to
Cornwall-on-Hudson, New York
Cornwall-on-Hudson is a riverfront village in the town of Cornwall, Orange County, New York, United States. It lies on the west bank of the Hudson River, approximately north of New York City.
The population as of the 2010 census was 3,018. It ...
, where they renovated a house on the slopes of Storm King Mountain and named it Cherry Croft. The name has been applied to that period of her career, the most productive and successful. She remained there until moving in with her daughter Lilly in White Plains in her last years.
Barr had a
sunstroke
Heat stroke or heatstroke, also known as sun stroke, is a severe heat illness that results in a body temperature greater than , along with red skin, headache, dizziness, and confusion. Sweating is generally present in exertional heatstroke, b ...
in July 1918 and never fully recovered. She died on March 10, 1919, in Richmond Hill, Queens, New York, where she had moved in 1914. She was buried in
Sleepy Hollow Cemetery
Sleepy Hollow Cemetery in Sleepy Hollow, New York, is the final resting place of numerous famous figures, including Washington Irving, whose 1820 short story " The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" is set in the adjacent burying ground at the Old Dutch ...
in
Tarrytown, New York
Tarrytown is a village in the town of Greenburgh in Westchester County, New York. It is located on the eastern bank of the Hudson River, approximately north of Midtown Manhattan in New York City, and is served by a stop on the Metro-North ...
, near her friend, Louis Klopsch. Her daughter Mary Barr Munroe became a noted clubwoman and conservationist in Florida.
Selected works
Novels
* ''Romance and Reality'' (1872)
* ''Jan Vedder's Wife'' (1885)
* ''A Daughter of Fife'' (1886)
* ''A Bow of Orange Ribbon'' (1886)
* ''A Border Shepherdess'' (1887)
* ''Paul and Christina'' (1887)
* ''Remember the Alamo'' (1888)
* ''Between Two Loves'' (1889)
* ''She Loved a Sailor'' (1890)
* ''Friend Olivia'' (1891)
* ''A Rose of a Hundred Leaves'' (1891)
* The Bow of Orange Ribbon ' (1893)
* ' (1893)
* ''Birds of a Feather'' (1893)
* ''The Lone House'' (1894)
* ''Bernicia'' (1895)
* ''A Knight of the Nets'' (1896)
* ''Trinity Bells'' (1899)
* ''The Maid of Maiden Lane'' (1900)
* ''Souls of Passage'' (1901)
* ''The Lion's Whelp'' (1901)
* ''Thyra Varrick'' (1903)
* ''The Black Shilling'' (1903)
* ''Cecilia's Lovers'' (1906)
* ''The Man Between'' (1906)
* '' The Belle of Bowling Green'' (1908)
* ''The Strawberry Handkerchief'' (1908)
* ''The Hands of Compulsion'' (1909)
* ''The House of Cherry Street'' (1909)
* ''A Reconstructed Marriage'' (1910)
* ''Sheila Vedder'' (1911)
* ''The Measure of a Man'' (1915)