Barbara Hofland (1770 – 4 November 1844) was an English writer of some 66

didactic Didacticism is a philosophy that emphasises instructional and informative qualities in literature, art, and design. In art, design, architecture, and landscape, didacticism is a conceptual approach that is driven by the urgent need to explain. ...

, moral stories for children, and of schoolbooks and poetry. She was asked by

John Soane Sir John Soane (; né Soan; 10 September 1753 – 20 January 1837) was an English architect who specialised in the Neoclassical architecture, Neo-Classical style. The son of a bricklayer, he rose to the top of his profession, becoming professor ...

to write a description of his still extant museum in London's

Lincoln's Inn Fields Lincoln's Inn Fields is located in Holborn and is the List of city squares by size, largest public square in London. It was laid out in the 1630s under the initiative of the speculative builder and contractor William Newton, "the first in a ...

Life

Born Barbara Wreaks or Wreakes, her father Robert Wreakes was a

Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, situated south of Leeds and east of Manchester. The city is the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire and some of its so ...

manufacturer, but he died when she was three and she was raised by a maiden aunt in Dinnington, where she was briefly educated at the village's

dame school Dame schools were small, privately run schools for children aged two to five. They emerged in Great Britain and its colonies during the Early modern Britain, early modern period. These schools were taught by a “school dame,” a local woman ...

. She began writing for the local paper and started a milliner's shop, but she sold it when she married the businessman Thomas Bradshawe Hoole in 1796, only to be widowed two years later with an infant son.Dennis Butts: The role of women writers in early children's literature. In: ''Aspects and Issues in the History of Children's Literature'', ed. Maria Nikolajeva (Santa Barbara, CA: Greenwood Press, 1995). She went to live with her mother-in-law in

Attercliffe Attercliffe is an industrial suburb of northeast Sheffield, England on the south bank of the River Don. The suburb falls in the Darnall ward of Sheffield City Council. History The name Attercliffe can be traced back as far as an entry in ...

, and supported herself partly from generous subscriptions given for a book of her poetry. In 1809 she opened a girls' boarding school at

Grove House, Harrogate Grove House is a former inn, school, house and orphanage on Skipton Road, Harrogate in North Yorkshire. Built in 1745–54 as World's End Inn, it was later greatly expanded as the home of the prominent inventor Samson Fox. It was the first house ...

and developed it as a ladies'

finishing school A finishing school focuses on teaching young women social graces and upper-class cultural rites as a preparation for entry into society. The name reflects the fact that it follows ordinary school and is intended to complete a young woman's ...

, a forerunner to what is now

Harrogate College Harrogate College, formerly known as Harrogate College of Further Education and later Harrogate College of Arts and Technology, is a further education college in Harrogate, North Yorkshire, England. It offers several levels of qualifications, ...

, but she kept it only until 1811, when she moved to London. In 1810, Barbara Wreaks married the landscape artist Thomas Christopher Hofland (1777–1843). Although her new husband had a good local reputation and had exhibited at the

Royal Academy The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House in Piccadilly London, England. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its ...

, his wife's writings were to remain the main source of family income. In 1816 she was living in Newman Street, north of

Oxford Street Oxford Street is a major road in the City of Westminster in the West End of London, running between Marble Arch and Tottenham Court Road via Oxford Circus. It marks the notional boundary between the areas of Fitzrovia and Marylebone to t ...

, but they moved to

Twickenham Twickenham ( ) is a suburban district of London, England, on the River Thames southwest of Charing Cross. Historic counties of England, Historically in Middlesex, since 1965 it has formed part of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, who ...

that year. Her son Frederic, an

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

priest, predeceased her in 1832, as did her husband in 1843. She died on 4 November 1844 and was buried at

Richmond, Surrey Richmond is a town in south-west London,The London Government Act 1963 (c.33) (as amended) categorises the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames as an Outer London borough. Although it is on both sides of the River Thames, the Boundary Commis ...

.Dennis Butts, "Hofland, Barbara (bap. 1770, d. 1844)", ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (Oxford, UK: OUP, 200
Retrieved 20 December 2015, pay-walled
Her life by Thomas Ramsay was published in 1849.

Writings

During her writing life, Hofland became a friend of the architect

, who asked her to provide a description of his

museum A museum is an institution dedicated to displaying or Preservation (library and archive), preserving culturally or scientifically significant objects. Many museums have exhibitions of these objects on public display, and some have private colle ...

, and of the writers

Maria Edgeworth Maria Edgeworth (1 January 1768 – 22 May 1849) was a prolific Anglo-Irish novelist of adults' and children's literature. She was one of the first realist writers in children's literature and a significant figure in the evolution of the novel i ...

and

Mary Russell Mitford Mary Russell Mitford (16 December 1787 – 10 January 1855) was an English essayist, novelist, poet and dramatist. She was born at Alresford in Hampshire, England. She is best known for '' Our Village'', a series of sketches of village scenes ...

. Her first story, ''The History of an Officer's Widow'' (1809), earned her £6 from John Harris, a London publisher. One of her many popular books (as Mrs. Hofland) was ''The Blind Farmer and His Children'' (1816). Her most popular children's book was ''The Son of a Genius'', about an impulsive artist, which may contain autobiographical elements. It had been reprinted at least 14 times in England by 1841, as well as nine times in America, and in translations into French and other languages. Most of her works depict the struggles of a Christian family against hardships. Hofland's ''Tales of the Priory'' (1820), ''Tales of the Manor'' (1822) and ''Self-Denial'' (Pub in 1827) the 1835 edition can be read online, as can ''The Young Crusoe'' (1828), and a number of others. She also wrote geographical and topographical books for teaching purposes, and a longer work in verse: ''A Season at Harrogate'' (1812). Hofland wrote a description and a poem on

Whiteknights Park Whiteknights Park, or the Whiteknights Campus of the University of Reading, is the principal campus of that university. The park covers the area of the manor of Earley Whiteknights, also known as Earley St Nicholas and Earley Regis. Whi ...

, the seat of the 5th Duke of Marlborough. The text, the drawings and etchings by her husband and the money they invested in publishing and printing were never reimbursed by the "profligate" duke.Mary Soames: ''The Profligate Duke: George Spencer-Churchill, fifth Duke of Marlborough, and his Duchess'' (London: Collins, 1987).

Selected works

References

Literature

Mary Soames Mary Soames, Baroness Soames (; 15 September 1922 31 May 2014) was an English author. The youngest of the five children of Winston Churchill and his wife, Clementine, she worked for public organisations including the Red Cross and the Women's ...

; The Profligate Duke: George Spencer Churchill, Fifth Duke of Marlborough, and His Duchess (1987)

External links