E. E. Cowper facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
E. E. Cowper
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| Born | 21 July 1859 Stevenage, Hertfordshire, England
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| Died | 18 November 1933 (aged 74) Milford on Sea, Hampshire, England
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| Nationality | English |
| Other names | Edith Eliza Cadogan, Edith Elise Cowper, Edith Eliza Cooper |
| Occupation | Author |
| Years active | 1881 – 1932 |
Edith Elise Cadogan Cowper (born July 21, 1859 – died November 18, 1933) was a writer known for her exciting adventure stories for girls. She wrote many books, often featuring strong female characters. She married a yachtsman named Frank Cowper and they had eight children together.
Contents
About Edith Cowper
Her Early Life
Edith Cowper was born on July 21, 1859, in Stevenage, Hertfordshire, England. She was the second of ten children born to Reverend Edward Cadogan and Alice Smith. Her father was a church leader who moved his family to Wickham in 1873, where he stayed until he passed away.
Edith married Frank Cooper on December 28, 1867. She was seventeen, and he was ten years older. Frank was famous for sailing alone on his yacht and also wrote books about sailing and other novels.
Edith and Frank had eight children: four boys and four girls. Their names were Frank Cadogan, Edith Alice, Earnest Lionel, Gerald Audrey, Gladys Blanche, Gwenllyan Sybilla, Henry Evelyn, and Nesta Evelyn. The first five children were born with the last name Cooper, but it was changed to Cowper in 1885 when their father changed his name. The youngest three children were born after this change, so they were always called Cowper.
Some stories say Edith had ten children, but she stated in the 1911 census that she had eight children, and six of them were still living.
Family Life and Moving Around
The Cowper family first lived in Hordle, Hampshire, where they ran a small school. Later, they built a house called Lisle Court on the Isle of Wight, which also served as a school. By 1891, the school was no longer running, and Edith lived there with six of her children.
Edith and Frank's marriage had difficulties, and they lived separately later on. Even so, Edith still described herself as married in the 1911 census.
By 1901, Edith was living in Acton, London, with her four daughters. She was working as an author. In 1911, she lived with her youngest daughter, Nesta, in Chiswick, London. Her other three daughters had already married.
Edith Cowper passed away on November 18, 1933, in Milford on Sea, Hampshire.
Her Books and Stories
Edith Cowper published her first book, Hide and Seek, in 1881. Her second book, Hasselaers, came out in 1883. Many of her early books were published by the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge (SPCK). After 1915, she started working with other publishers, including Blackie & Son, who published almost half of her later books.
Cowper wrote adventure stories especially for teenage girls. Many of her tales involved sailing, perhaps inspired by her husband's love for the sea. She also wrote stories set in the wild lands of Canada, where one of her sons lived. These books often featured characters searching for gold or trapping animals. Smuggling was another common theme in her stories, even appearing in her school story, Fifth Form Adventurers.
Why Her Books Were Popular
Edith Cowper wrote for what was called the Modern Girl of her time. These were girls who wanted to read about active and brave characters.
One writer, Kate Flint, noted that many girls in the 1800s preferred reading their brothers' adventure books because they showed active role models. Edith Cowper's books gave girl readers their own active heroes. The Yorkshire Post newspaper praised Cowper and other similar authors, saying that girls no longer had to borrow their brothers' books to find exciting stories. They could now see themselves as the main characters in these adventures. The newspaper also said that Cowper "can always be relied on for action."
List of Books
The following table lists the books written by Edith Cowper. She also wrote short stories for magazines and contributed to collections of stories, but these are not included here.
| Ser | Year | Title | Illustrator | Place | Publisher | Pages | Notes | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1881 | Hide and seek | London | 8º | |||||||||||
| 2 | 1883 | The Hasselaers | London | SPCK | 156 p., 4 p., 3. ill., 8º | ||||||||||
| 3 | 1899 | The Misadventures of I.M.P. A story for little girls | London | SPCK | 80 p., 8º | 4 | 1899 | Theckla Jansen. The story of a lonely girl | London | SPCK | 80 p., 8º | ||||
| 5 | 1900 | Bessie | Walter Sidney Stacey | London | SPCK | 224 p., 8º | |||||||||
| 6 | 1900 | Red, White, and Blue; or Dick's enemy | London | SPCK | 94 p., 8º | ||||||||||
| 7 | 1901 | The brown bird and her owners, a story of adventure off the South Coast | Walter Sidney Stacey | London | SPCK | 256 p., 8º | |||||||||
| 8 | 1903 | Calder Creek, a story of smuggling on the South Coast | Walter Sidney Stacey | London | SPCK | 246 p., ill., 8º | |||||||||
| 9 | 1904 | 'Viva Christina!' The adventures of a young Scot with the British legion | W. H. C. Groome | London | Chambers | 292 p., 6 ill., 8º | |||||||||
| 10 | 1904 | The Witches of Westover Combe, a story of the South Coast, etc. | Harold Piffard | London | SPCK | 221 p., 8º | |||||||||
| 11 | 1905 | The Haunted Mill on Birley River: the story of a South Coast creek | Harold Piffard | London | SPCK | 254 p., 8º | |||||||||
| 12 | 1906 | The disappearance of David Pendarve | Harold Piffard | London | SPCK | 254 p., ill., 8º | |||||||||
| 13 | 1907 | The invaders of Fairford | Adolf Thiede | London | SPCK | 253 p., col. fs., 8º | |||||||||
| 14 | 1908 | The House with Dragon Gates, a story of old Chiswick in 1745 | Harold Piffard | London | SPCK | 245 p., 8º | |||||||||
| 15 | 1909 | Lady Fabia, a story of adventure on the South Coast in 1805, etc. | Adolf Thiede | London | SPCK | 221 p., 8º | |||||||||
| 16 | 1910 | Andrew Garnett's Will, etc. | Thomas Heath Robinson | London | SPCK | 223 p., 8º | |||||||||
| 17 | 1910 | The moonrakers, a story of smugglers in the New Forest in 1747 | Walter Sidney Stacey | London | SPCK | 256 p., 2 ill., 8º | |||||||||
| 18 | 1910 | Three girls on a yacht | Edward Smith Hodgson | London | Cassell | vi, 343 p., 8 ill., 8º | |||||||||
| 19 | 1911 | The Captain of the Waterguard | Adolf Thiede | London | SPCK | 252 p., 8º | |||||||||
| 20 | 1911 | The island of rushes: the strange story of a holiday mystery | Walter Sidney Stacey | London | SPCK | 251 p., 8º | |||||||||
| 21 | 1913 | Enter Patricia, being an account of her strange adventures on a visit to the Cornish coast | Noël Harrold | London | Cassell | 304 p., 4 ill., 8º | |||||||||
| 22 | 1913 | Leo Lousada, Gentleman Adventurer | Adolf Thiede | London | SPCK | 256 p., 8º | |||||||||
| 23 | 1913 | The Strange Story of Kittiwake's Castle | Gordon Browne | London | SPCK | 120 p., 8º | |||||||||
| 24 | 1913 | Two Girls and a Secret | Walter Sidney Stacey | London | SPCK | 254 p., 4 pl., 8º | |||||||||
| 25 | 1914 | The crew of the "Silver Fish" | Walter Paget | London | SPCK | VI, 223p, 8º | |||||||||
| 26 | 1915 | The King's Double, etc. | Archibald Webb | London | SPCK | 254 p., 8º | |||||||||
| 27 | 1915 | The Mystery of Castle Veor; or, the Spies in our midst | Archibald Webb | London | SPCK | vi, 222 p., 3 ill. (1 col.), 8º | |||||||||
| 28 | 1915 | The strange girl from the sea | Noël Harrold | London | Cassell | vii, 312 p., 4 ill., 8º | |||||||||
| 29 | 1916 | Three Sailor Girls | N. Tenison | London | Henry Frowde | 288 p., 4pl., 8º | |||||||||
| 30 | 1916 | The valley of dreams | Norah Schlegel | London | Cassell | 279 p., 4 ill., 8º | |||||||||
| 31 | 1917 | Hill of Broom. A Guernsey mystery | Elizabeth Earnshaw | London | Cassell | 312 p., 4 ill., 8º | |||||||||
| 32 | 1917 | Jane in Command. The story of a girl's war work and its strange results | Gordon Browne | London | Blackie & Son | 284 p., 8º | |||||||||
| 33 | 1919 | The black dog's rider | John W. Campbell | London | SPCK | v, 322 p., 8º | |||||||||
| 34 | 1919 | Maids of the “Mermaid.” A story of adventure on the coast of England | C. Dudley Tennant | London | Blackie & Son | 288 p., 8º | |||||||||
| 35 | 1920 | Corporal Ida's floating camp | C. E. Brock | London | SPCK | 123 p., 8º | |||||||||
| 36 | 1920 | Pam and the Countess | Gordon Browne | London | Blackie & Son | 287 p., 6 ill., 8º | |||||||||
| 37 | 1921 | Celia wins | Rosa Petherick | London | Collins | 320 p., 8º | |||||||||
| 38 | 1921 | The mystery of Saffron Manor | Gordon Browne | London | Blackie & Son | 284 p., 6 ill., 8º | |||||||||
| 39 | 1921 | Wild Rose to the Rescue | C. E. Brock | London | SPCK | 154 p. 6 pl, 8º | |||||||||
| 40 | 1922 | The Brushwood Hut | Gordon Browne | London | Blackie & Son | 207 p., 8º | |||||||||
| 41 | 1922 | The island of secrets | Gordon Browne | London | Blackie & Son | 207 p., 4 ill., 8º | |||||||||
| 42 | 1922 | Two on the Trail. A story of Canada snows, etc. | Walter Paget | London | Sheldon Press | 160 p., 8º | |||||||||
| 43 | 1923 | Ann's Great Adventure | John Dewar Mills | London | Blackie & Son | 320 p., 8º | |||||||||
| 44 | 1924 | Girls on the Gold Trail. A story of strange adventures in the northlands | London | Nelson | 327 p., 8º | ||||||||||
| 45 | 1924 | The mystery term | R. H. Brock | London | Blackie & Son | 255 p., 6 ill., 8º | |||||||||
| 46 | 1924 | White Wings to the Rescue | C. R. Fleming-Williams | London | Blackie & Son | 320 p., 8º | |||||||||
| 47 | 1925 | The girl from the North-West | Henry Coller | London | Blackie & Son | 319 p., 6 ill., 8º | |||||||||
| 48 | 1925 | Hunted, and the Hunter | Stanley L. Wood | London | Sheldon Press | iii, 122 p., fs., 8º | |||||||||
| 49 | 1925 | Witch of the wilds, a story of adventure in the northern snows | London | Nelson | 312 p., fs., 8º | ||||||||||
| 50 | 1926 | The Haunted Trail | Henry Coller | London | Blackie & Son | 224 p., 8º | |||||||||
| 51 | 1926 | That Troublesome Term | Elizabeth Earnshaw | London | Cassell | 215 p., 4 ill., 8º | |||||||||
| 52 | 1927 | Cross Winds Farm; or, the Adventure of the silver foxes | London | Chambers | 154 p., 8º | ||||||||||
| 53 | 1927 | Hit the Trail. A wild west story | Archibald Stevenson Forrest | London | Nelson | 335 p., 8º | |||||||||
| 54 | 1927 | The Holiday School | Norman Sutcliffe | London | Cassell | 215 p., 4 ill. (2 col.), 8º | |||||||||
| 55 | 1927 | Nancy's Fox Farm | Norman Sutcliffe | London | Blackie & Son | 256 p., 8º | |||||||||
| 56 | 1928 | Camilla's Castle | Roger Oak | London | Blackie & Son | 255 p., 8º | |||||||||
| 57 | 1928 | Peterina on the rescue trail | R. H. Brock | London | Nelson | 320 p., 1 col. ill., 8° | |||||||||
| 58 | 1929 | The fifth form adventurers | London | Cassell | 215 p., ill., 8º | ||||||||||
| 59 | 1929 | The Forbidden Island | Francis Ernest Hiley | London | Blackie & Son | 208 p., 8º | |||||||||
| 60 | 1929 | Gill and the Beanstalk | London | Blackie & Son | 191 p., 8º | ||||||||||
| 61 | 1929 | That Joyous Adventure | London | Nelson | 95 p., 8º | ||||||||||
| 62 | 1929 | The Wolf Runner | William Bryce Hamilton | London | Nelson | 318 p., 8º | |||||||||
| 63 | 1930 | The Crow's Nest, etc. | London | Sheldon Press | 153 p., 8º | ||||||||||
| 64 | 1930 | The Invincible Fifth | Percy Bell Hickling | London | Cassell | 215 p., 4 ill., 8º | |||||||||
| 65 | 1930 | Rosamond takes the Lead | Hugh Radcliffe-Wilson | London | Blackie & Son | 223 p., 8º | |||||||||
| 66 | 1931 | Girls on the Trap-Line | A. Leo Knopf | London | Nelson | 292 p., 8º | |||||||||
| 67 | 1932 | The Lodge in the Wood, etc. | London | Sheldon Press | 125 p., 8º | ||||||||||
| 68 | 1933 | Elsie and the Grey Thief | London | Blackie & Son | 64 p., 8º | ||||||||||
| 69 | 1933 | The Girls of Mystery Gorge | R. H. Brock | London | Nelson | 295 p., 8º |
