Ellen Thorneycroft Fowler (9 April 1860 – 22 June 1929) was an English author of popular romances, and a poet and children's writer. She was a keen

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's b ...

Family and status

The elder daughter of Henry Hartley Fowler, 1st Viscount Wolverhampton, a

Wesleyan Wesleyan theology, otherwise known as Wesleyan– Arminian theology, or Methodist theology, is a theological tradition in Protestant Christianity based upon the ministry of the 18th-century evangelical reformer brothers John Wesley and Charles W ...

MP, and his wife Ellen Thorneycroft, Ellen was born at Chapel Ash,

Wolverhampton Wolverhampton () is a city, metropolitan borough and administrative centre in the West Midlands, England. The population size has increased by 5.7%, from around 249,500 in 2011 to 263,700 in 2021. People from the city are called "Wulfrunian ...

, on 9 April 1860. Her younger sister, Edith Henrietta Fowler (16 February 1865 – 18 November 1944), also wrote novels and a biography of her father.Virginia Blain, Patricia Clements and Isobel Grundy, eds, ''The Feminist Companion to Literature in English'' (Batsford: London), 1990, p. 390. On 16 April 1903, Ellen married Alfred Felkin, a senior teacher at the

Royal Naval School The Royal Naval School was an England, English school that was established in Camberwell, London, in 1833 and then formally constituted by the Royal Naval College Act 1840. It was a Charitable cause, charitable institution, established as a board ...

at Mottingham near

Eltham Eltham ( ) is a district of southeast London, England, within the Royal Borough of Greenwich. It is east-southeast of Charing Cross, and is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. The three wards of Elt ...

. She died on 22 June 1929 in

Westbourne, Dorset Westbourne is an affluent residential and shopping area of Bournemouth, Dorset. It is located in between Branksome, Poole and the centre of Bournemouth, just off the A338. Poole Road, mainly full of specialised shops and small cafes, runs throu ...

.Literary Heritage West Midland
Retrieved 7 July 2018.
/ref> Fowler became a member of the Writers' Club and the Women's Athenaeum Club. She was appointed a Fellow of the

Royal Society of Literature The Royal Society of Literature (RSL) is a learned society founded in 1820, by George IV of the United Kingdom, King George IV, to "reward literary merit and excite literary talent". A charity that represents the voice of literature in the UK, th ...

Verse and romances

Fowler's earliest volumes were ''Verses Grave and Gay'' (1891) and ''Verses Wise and Otherwise'' (1895), which were followed by a volume of short stories. Further poetry came in ''Love's Argument and Other Poems'' (1905). Of her romances, a present-day commentator has noted, "Fowler unusually combined Methodism with high society..., which proved popular despite leaving the critics cold."Jarndyce Booksellers' catalogue ''Women Writers 1795–1927 Part I: A–F'' (London, Summer 2017). Fame came first with ''Concerning Isabel Carnaby'' (1898), then ''A Double Thread'' (1899), ''The Farringdons'' (1900), ''Fuel of Fire'' (1902), ''Place and Power'' (1903), ''Kate of Kate Hall'' (1904), ''In Subjection'' (1906), ''Miss Fallowfield's Fortune'' (1908), ''The Wisdom of Folly'' (1910), ''Her Ladyship's Conscience'' (1913), ''Ten Degrees Backward'' (1915), ''Beauty and Bands'' (1920) ''The Lower Pool'' (1923) and ''Signs and Wonders'' (1926).

Edith Henrietta Fowler

Fowler's sister, Edith Henrietta Fowler, wrote two successful novels for children: ''The Young Pretenders'' (1895) and ''The Professor's Children'' (1897), and also ''The Man with Transparent Legs – Twenty six ideal stories for girls'' (1899). The first of these was republished in London by

Persephone Books ''Persephone Books'' is an independent publisher based in Bath, England. Founded in 1999 by Nicola Beauman, Persephone Books reprints works largely by women writers of the late 19th and 20th century, though a few books by men are included. Th ...

in 2007, in view of its "sophistication, humour and ironies" of interest to both children and adults."Aunt Eleanor put on a tea-gown, and threw herself down on the sofa. 'I feel so wretchedly ill!' she exclaimed petulantly. 'These hot days give me such a headache!' 'Do you fink you'll get better or die?' asked Babs with interest. 'She is the most unfeeling child I ever saw!' thought her aunt – but aloud she said snappishly: 'Of course I shall get better!' 'I'm so glad!'
''The Young Pretenders'' Retrieved 8 October 2018.
/ref>

References

External links

* * *

shropshire-cc.gov.uk; accessed 5 April 2016. *http://www.philsp.com/homeville/fmi/s/s2752.htm#A64010, accessed 5 July 2017. {{DEFAULTSORT:Fowler, Ellen Thorneycroft 1860 births 1929 deaths Daughters of viscounts English women novelists 19th-century English writers English children's writers 20th-century English women writers 19th-century English women