Rosa Nouchette Carey
Encyclopedia
Rosa Nouchette Carey was an English children's novelist.
, Rosa was the sixth of the seven children of William Henry Carey (d. 1867), shipbroker, and his wife, Maria Jane (d. 1870), daughter of Edward J. Wooddill. She was brought up in London at Tryons Road, Hackney, Middlesex
and in South Hampstead. She was educated at home and at the Ladies' Institute, St John's Wood
, where she was a contemporary and friend of the German-born poet Mathilde Blind
(1841–1896). Her first novel, Nellie's Memories (1868), arose out of stories she had told to her younger sister.
As her writing career expanded after the death of her parents, so did her family responsibilities. When her mother died in 1870, she and an unmarried sister went to keep house for a widowed brother and look after his children. Later the sister married and the brother died, leaving Carey in sole charge of the children. Among her close friends was the prolific novelist Mrs Henry Wood
. The poet Helen Marion Burnside came to live with her in about 1875, and Carey's sister returned to keep house for them after her husband died. Carey died of lung cancer at her home in Putney
, London on 19 July 1909.
's magazine The Monthly Packet and another, Mistress of Brae Farm (1896) in Argosy. She was a less intellectual, religious and humorous writer than Yonge, but placed her characters shrewdly in the populous urban, book-buying middle class.
Carey was on the staff of the Girl's Own Paper
, for which she wrote eight serials. She also penned a laudatory biographical collection of Twelve Notable Good Women of the XIXth Century (1899), including Queen Victoria and the Quaker
philanthropist and reformer Elizabeth Fry
.
The London publisher Macmillan
had 18 novels by Carey on their Three-and-Sixpenny Library list in 1902. Some of her books were still being reprinted by the Religious Tract Society
in the 1920s. These days there are secondhand and print-on-demand copies available.
Carey is no longer thought to have been the author of four thrillers published under the pseudonym Le Voleur in the 1890s.
Life
Born in Stratford-le-BowBow, London
Bow is an area of London, England, United Kingdom in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is a built-up, mostly residential district located east of Charing Cross, and is a part of the East End.-Bridges at Bowe:...
, Rosa was the sixth of the seven children of William Henry Carey (d. 1867), shipbroker, and his wife, Maria Jane (d. 1870), daughter of Edward J. Wooddill. She was brought up in London at Tryons Road, Hackney, Middlesex
Hackney (parish)
Hackney was a parish in the historic county of Middlesex. The parish church of St John-at-Hackney was built in 1789, replacing the nearby former 16th century parish church dedicated to St Augustine . The original tower of that church was retained to hold the bells until the new church could be...
and in South Hampstead. She was educated at home and at the Ladies' Institute, St John's Wood
St John's Wood
St John's Wood is a district of north-west London, England, in the City of Westminster, and at the north-west end of Regent's Park. It is approximately 2.5 miles north-west of Charing Cross. Once part of the Great Middlesex Forest, it was later owned by the Knights of St John of Jerusalem...
, where she was a contemporary and friend of the German-born poet Mathilde Blind
Mathilde Blind
Mathilde Blind , was a German-born British poet.She was born at Mannheim, Germany, but settled in London about 1849, adopting the surname of her stepfather, Karl Blind...
(1841–1896). Her first novel, Nellie's Memories (1868), arose out of stories she had told to her younger sister.
As her writing career expanded after the death of her parents, so did her family responsibilities. When her mother died in 1870, she and an unmarried sister went to keep house for a widowed brother and look after his children. Later the sister married and the brother died, leaving Carey in sole charge of the children. Among her close friends was the prolific novelist Mrs Henry Wood
Ellen Wood (author)
Ellen Wood , was an English novelist, better known as "Mrs. Henry Wood". She is best known for her 1861 novel East Lynne.-Life:...
. The poet Helen Marion Burnside came to live with her in about 1875, and Carey's sister returned to keep house for them after her husband died. Carey died of lung cancer at her home in Putney
Putney
Putney is a district in south-west London, England, located in the London Borough of Wandsworth. It is situated south-west of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London....
, London on 19 July 1909.
Writings
Nellie's Memories appears to have sold over 50,000 copies. Most of her 33 three-decker novels told pious, domestic stories, thought of as wholesome fiction for girls in the last third of the 19th century. Though sentimental, they give some indications of the frustrations of women's lives in the period, "treating housekeeping and woman's caring role as real work." Also notable are Carey's sympathetic portrayals of women suffering from mental illness. One of her books, Heriot's Choice (1879), was serialised in Charlotte M. YongeCharlotte Mary Yonge
Charlotte Mary Yonge , was an English novelist, known for her huge output, now mostly out of print.- Life :Charlotte Mary Yonge was born in Otterbourne, Hampshire, England, on 11 August 1823 to William Yonge and Fanny Yonge, née Bargus. She was educated at home by her father, studying Latin, Greek,...
's magazine The Monthly Packet and another, Mistress of Brae Farm (1896) in Argosy. She was a less intellectual, religious and humorous writer than Yonge, but placed her characters shrewdly in the populous urban, book-buying middle class.
Carey was on the staff of the Girl's Own Paper
Girl's Own Paper
Girl's Own Paper was a British story paper catering for girls and young women, published from 1880 until 1956.- Publishing history :The first weekly number of the Girl's Own Paper appeared on January 3, 1880. As with its male counterpart the Boy's Own Paper, the magazine was published by the...
, for which she wrote eight serials. She also penned a laudatory biographical collection of Twelve Notable Good Women of the XIXth Century (1899), including Queen Victoria and the Quaker
Religious Society of Friends
The Religious Society of Friends, or Friends Church, is a Christian movement which stresses the doctrine of the priesthood of all believers. Members are known as Friends, or popularly as Quakers. It is made of independent organisations, which have split from one another due to doctrinal differences...
philanthropist and reformer Elizabeth Fry
Elizabeth Fry
Elizabeth Fry , née Gurney, was an English prison reformer, social reformer and, as a Quaker, a Christian philanthropist...
.
The London publisher Macmillan
Macmillan Publishers
Macmillan Publishers Ltd, also known as The Macmillan Group, is a privately held international publishing company owned by Georg von Holtzbrinck Publishing Group. It has offices in 41 countries worldwide and operates in more than thirty others.-History:...
had 18 novels by Carey on their Three-and-Sixpenny Library list in 1902. Some of her books were still being reprinted by the Religious Tract Society
Religious Tract Society
The Religious Tract Society, founded 1799, 56 Paternoster Row and 65 St. Paul's Chuchyard, was the original name of a major British publisher of Christian literature intended initially for evangelism, and including literature aimed at children, women, and the poor.The RTS is also notable for being...
in the 1920s. These days there are secondhand and print-on-demand copies available.
Carey is no longer thought to have been the author of four thrillers published under the pseudonym Le Voleur in the 1890s.
External links and written sources
- Carey's novel Not Like Other Girls (1884) online: Retrieved 31 May 2011.
- Website biography: Retrieved 31 May 2011. Also bibliography: Retrieved 31 May 2011.
- The New York Times notice of Rosa Nouchette Carey's death: Retrieved 31 May 2012.
- Black, Helen C.: Notable Women Authors of the Day: Biographical Sketches (Glasgow: Davie Bryce & Sons, 1893).
- Crisp, Jane: Rosa Nouchette Carey (1840–1909). A Bibliography Victorian Fiction Research Guides 16 (St Lucia, Queensland: University of Queensland, 1989). ISBN 0867763604
- Hartnell, Elaine: Gender, Religion and Domesticity in the Novels of Rosa Nouchette Carey (Aldershot: Ashgate, 2000). ISBN 0754602834
- Shattock, J.: The Oxford Guide to British Women Writers (Oxford: OUP, 1993). ISBN 0192141767
- American Publishers' Trade Bindings: Rosa Nouchette Carey