Mrs Markham facts for kids
Elizabeth Penrose (born August 3, 1780, died January 24, 1837) was an English writer. Many people knew her by her pen name, Mrs Markham. A pen name is a fake name an author uses instead of their real one.
Her Life Story
Elizabeth Penrose was born in Goadby Marwood, Leicestershire. Her father was Edmund Cartwright, who invented the power loom. This was a very important machine for making cloth.
Elizabeth's mother passed away when she was young. Later, she went to Manor School in York. In 1814, she married Reverend John Penrose. He was a clergyman and wrote many books about religion.
When she was growing up, Elizabeth often stayed in a village called Markham in Nottinghamshire. She met her husband there. She liked the village so much that she decided to use its name for her pen name, "Mrs Markham." Under this name, she became very famous for writing history books and other stories for young people.
Her Famous Books
Mrs Markham's most well-known book was A History of England. It covered history from the time the Romans first came to England up to the end of King George III's rule. This book was published in 1823 and was so popular that it was printed many times.
In 1828, she also published a History of France. Both of these history books were very popular in England and America.
What made Mrs Markham's history books special? She made sure to leave out all the scary or complicated parts of history. She also avoided confusing topics like party politics, because she thought these were not suitable for young readers. Instead, each chapter ended with "Conversations." These were like chats between a teacher and students about what they had just read.
She also wrote other books, like:
- Amusements of Westernheath, or Moral Stories for Children (1824)
- A Visit to the Zoological Gardens (1829)
- The New Children's Friend (1832)
- Historical Conversations for Young People (1836)
- Sermons for Children (1837)
Her Family
Elizabeth Penrose had three sons. One of them was Francis Crammer Penrose, who became a famous architect.
Mrs Markham passed away in Lincoln on January 24, 1837. She was buried in Lincoln Minster. There is a beautiful stained glass window in East Markham Church that remembers her.
