Caroline Bray, known as Cara Bray, née Hennell (4 June 1814 – 21 February 1905) was a British writer of children's stories and school textbooks. With her husband

Charles Bray Charles Bray (31 January 1811 – 5 October 1884) was a prosperous British ribbon manufacturer, social reformer, philanthropist, philosopher, and phrenologist. Life Bray was born in 1811 and his education included time in the school run by ...

, she was a Freethinker and friend of George Eliot.

Life

Hennell was born in 1814. She was a daughter of the Unitarian family of James and Elizabeth Hennell (born Marshall). Her mother had been born in Loughborough in the East Midlands in 1778 and had the maiden name of Marshall. Her father was born in 1778 and he had become a partner in the Manchester merchants of Fazy & Co. Cara's eldest sister was Mary and another sister was

Sara Hennell Sara Sophia Hennell (23 November 1812 – 7 March 1899) was a British author. She was a close associate of George Eliot, Charles Christian Hennell and Caroline and Charles Bray. Early life and education Sara Hennell was born on 23 November 18 ...

. The sisters are considered to be the basis for the fictional Meyrick family in George Eliot's 1876 novel ''

Daniel Deronda ''Daniel Deronda'' is a novel written by Mary Ann Evans under the pen name of George Eliot, first published in eight parts (books) February to September 1876. It was the last novel she completed and the only one set in the Victorian society ...

''. In 1836, Hennell married

. Caroline's uncle, Samuel Hennell, manufactured ribbons in Coventry as did the family of

. After her marriage to Bray, an enthusiastic skeptic, her brother

Charles Hennell Charles Christian Hennell (30 March 1809 – 2 September 1850) was an English merchant, known as a Unitarian apologist for his work ''An Inquiry concerning the Origin of Christianity''. Life Hennell was born in Manchester on 30 March 1809, the f ...

reviewed the evidences for Christian beliefs with the aim of parrying his brother-in-law's arguments. The result of the examination was that he became a sceptic himself, and in 1838 published an ''Enquiry concerning the Origin of Christianity'' in defence of his conclusions. In 1841 Charles Bray published ''The Philosophy of Necessity'' and this included as an appendix written by her sister Mary.J. M. Scott, ‘Hennell, Mary (1802–1843)’, rev. C. A. Creffield, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 200
accessed 24 January 2015
/ref> Cara Bray was a good friend to George Eliot and the National Portrait Gallery contains portraits of George Eliot and her father which are watercolours by Bray. Bray wrote several books and text books for children including ''Physiology for Common Schools'' which explained the human body and its care to school children. She was also an active supporter of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals in Coventry. Cara Bray died in Coventry and was buried there in 1905.Rosemary Ashton, ‘Bray , Caroline (1814–1905)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 200
accessed 24 January 2015
/ref>

Works

* ''Physiology for Common Schools'', 1860 * ''Our Duty to Animals'', 1871 * ''Richard Barton; or, The Wounded Bird'', 1873 * ''Paul Bradley. A village tale inculcating kindness to animals'', 1876 * ''Little Mop and other stories'', 1886 * ''Branded: or the sins of the Fathers shall be visited on the children'', 1888

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bray, Caroline 1814 births 1905 deaths British children's writers British women children's writers British textbook writers Women textbook writers 19th-century British writers 19th-century British women writers People from Coventry