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Mary Catherine Rowsell facts for kids

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Mary Catherine Rowsell
Born (1839-12-29)29 December 1839
Finsbury, London, England
Died 15 June 1921(1921-06-15) (aged 81)
Bromley, Kent, England
Nationality English
Occupation Novelist
Years active 1884 – 1910
Known for Writing novels with historical subjects
Notable work
 Traitor or Patriot? A Tale of the Rye-House Plot (1885)
Relatives Thomas James Rowsell (uncle), Charles Barry (uncle)

Mary Catherine Rowsell (29 December 1839 – 15 June 1921) was an English novelist, author of children's fiction, and dramatist. Her education in Belgium and Germany resulted in books based on German folk tales, and on French historical personages. Most of her children's books were set around well-know historical events.

Early life

Rowsell was born on 29 December 1839 and baptised in St. Dionis Backchurch on 22 January 1840. Her father were Charles John Rowsell (28 March 1802 – 28 January 1882), an accountant who may have patented the Graphoscope and certainly patented improvements to it. Her mother was Sarah Lewis (c. 1807 – buried 18 August 1897), and her parents were married on 6 June 1829, in St. Nicholas, Brighton, Sussex, England. Her aunt Sarah Rowsell was married to the architect Sir Charles Barry and her uncle was the popular preacher Thomas James Rowsell.

Rowsell was educated at Queen's College, London in Harley Street, and later in Brussels and Bonn. This enabled here to write books based on German folk-tales and on persons in French history.

Work

Rowsell produced four types of works:

  • Book for children, largely based wither on folk tales or on historical subjects.
  • Adult novels
  • Plays
  • Shorter fiction

Rowsell's first book was published in her mid twenties. This was a collection of forty fairy tales translated from German. No author's name was given in the advertisements, but reviews gave the author as M. C. R. The initial edition of the book was well received, and another edition was issued for the Christmas Gift Book Market. In advertising the Christmas edition, the publisher's quoted the press reviews of the first edition:

  • A charmingly written little volume. The illustrations are very good. – Spectator.
  • The tales are no less instructive than entertaining. – Observer.
  • A good book to put into the hands of young persons. – Press.
  • Will be found amusing by young people. – Dispatch.
  • A most capital series of fairy tales, illustrated by many well-executed engravings. – Army and Navy Gazette.
  • The present collection of tales is the best we have seen. – Sunday Times.
  • Equals in interest the ' Arabian Nights.'  – Bayswater Chronicle.
  • To our young friends we commend the Spirit of the Giant Mountains." Illustrated News of the World.

Despite this initial success Rowsell had no further work published until Abbots' Crag in July 1872. On this occasion the author was identified as M. C. Rowsell.

List of longer works

The following list is based on searches on the Jisc Library Hub Discover, which collates the catalogues of 162 national, academic, and specialist libraries in the UK and Ireland. The online availability of texts is indicated for the following repositories:

Longer fiction and plays written by Rowsell
Serial Year Title Pages Publisher BL IA HT BL Notes
1 1864 The spirit of the giant mountains : a series of fairy tales 231 p., 9 pl., 8º London: Murray & Co No No No No
2 1872 Abbots' Crag. A tale 168 p., 8º London: Whittaker No No No No
3 1874 Plays for Home performance: Thornrose and Sparkledor: Riquet with the tuft 63 p., 8º London: Samuel French No No Yes No
4 1876 Saint Nicolas' Eve, and other tales 256 p., 8º London: Samuel Tinsley Yes Yes No No
5 1878 Love loyal 3 v., 8º London: Hurst & Blackett Yes No No No
6 1880 Jeannette. 3 v., 8º London: Hurst & Blackett No Yes No No
7 1882 Hymns and narrative verses for children ... Third edition 30 p., 16º London: J. T. Hayes No No No No
8 1883 Tales of Filial Devotion. Examples of the faithful heroism of girls, drawn from French History 198 p., 8º London: Sonnenschein & Co No Yes No No
9 1884 Number Nip; or, the Spirit of the Giant Mountains 286 p., 8º London: Sonnenschein & Co No Yes No No
10 1884 Traitor or patriot? : a tale of the Rye-house plot vi, 287, fs., 8º London: Blackie & Son No Yes Yes No
11 1885 The pedlar and his dog 160 p. : ill., 8º London: Blackie & Son No Yes Yes No
12 1885 Miss Vanbrugh : a stage story 158, [4] p. , 12º Bristol: G. W. Arrowsmith No No No No
13 1886 Fisherman Grim 96 p., 8º London: Blackie & Son No No No Yes
14 1886 Sepperl the drummer-boy 95 p., fs., 8º London: Blackie & Son No No No Yes
15 1886 The Silver Dial 3 v., 8º London: Swan Sonnenschein No Yes Yes No
16 1887 Hans the Painter 96 p., fs., 8º London: Blackie & Son No No No Yes
17 1887 Hatto's Tower: and other stories 127 p., 8º London: Blackie & Son No No No No
18 1888 The Red House 176 p., 8º London: Hamilton, Adams & Co Yes No No No
19 1889 John a' Dale: or, “the King and the Tinker.” 128 p., 8º London: Blackie & Son No No No No
20 1889 Whips of Steel No No No No
21 1890 The Story of a Queen 159 p., 8º London: Blackie & Son No No No No
22 1890 Thorndyke Manor 287 p., 8º London: Blackie & Son No No No No
23 1891 Petronella; and Madame Ponowski 107 p., fs., 8º London: Skeffington & Son No No No No
24 1892 Richard's play : a comedietta, in one act 16 p., 8º London: Samuel French No No No No
25 1894 The Friend of the People 3 v., 8º London: T. F. Unwin No Yes Yes No
26 1896 The Green Men of Norwell, and other stories 87 p., 8º London: Simpkin & Marshall No No No No
27 1897 France: The Children's' Study 362 p., fs., 8º London: T. Fisher Unwin No Yes Yes No
28 1898 The Boys of Fairmead, etc. 319 p., 8º London: F. Warne & Co No No No No
29 1899 Honour Bright 48 p., 8º London: E. Nister No Yes No No
30 1900 Dick of Temple Bar 127 p., ill. London: E. Nister No No No No
31 1902 The Last Link London: Samuel French No No No No
32 1903 My lady's favour, a comedy by M.C. Rowsell and E.G. Howell London: Samuel French No No No No
33 1905 The life-story of Charlotte de la Trémoille : countess of Derby viii, 188 p., ill., 8º London: K. Paul, Trench, Trübner No Yes Yes No
34 1905 The wild swans, or, The adventure of Roland Cleeve 128, 32 p., ill., 8º London: S. W. Partridge & Co No No No No
35 1907 Monsieur de Paris : a romance 306 p. London: Chatto & Windus No No Yes No
36 1910 Ninon de L'Enclos and her century ix, 310 p., 2 pl., 8º London: Hurst & Blackett No Yes Yes No
37 1920 The Sea-King's Son and Fisherman Grim. From “Fisherman Grim.” 78 p., 8º London: Blackie & Son No No No No

Serials and shorter works

Rowsell edited the short lived (one volume only) St. Paul's Magazine in 1889. This should not be confused with Saint Paul's, a monthly magazine edited by Anthony Trollope which ran for 14 volumes from 1867 – 1874. Rowsell contributed, with James Macdonald Oxley and John Alexander Hammerton to The Children's Friend: a magazine for boys and girls at home and school (London: S. W. Partridge) in 1902 and 1903.

Several of Rowell's published novels were serialised, but she also published shorter fiction and serial stories including:

  • The Secret of the Ivory Room, a longer short story. Appeared in the Adelaide Observer in 1906.
  • Uncle Will's Wager, a short story. Appeared in the Otago Witness, New Zealand in 1912.
  • The Heir of Willowcote: A serial story in which a baby is rescued from destruction by a midwife and spirited away from a country house. It appeared in the Ottawa Evening Journal, in the Leominster News, and others. A review of another Rowsell book in 1901 listed the story among the publication credits for Rowsell, suggesting it may have been published as a book.
  • Monksford Ferry, a longer short story. Appeared in multiple newspapers including the Sunday Citizen in Brooklyn, the Eastern Press in Norfolk in 1899, and in the Western Chronicle in 1905.
  • Paul Stormont's First Wife, a short story. Appeared in Norfolk News in 1900, and other outlets.

Later life

Rowsell had fallen on hard time by the end of the 19th century. The small annuity left her by her father, who died in 1882, and her mother, who dies in 1897, shrank due to bad investment choices. As a result, she appealed four times to the Royal Literary Fund. Rowsell died at 81 years of age on 15 June 1921. The cause of death was stated to be epilepsy and senile decay.

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