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 Freethought (sometimes spelled free thought) is an unorthodox attitude or belief. A freethinker holds that beliefs should not be formed on the basis of authority, tradition, revelation, or dogma, and should instead be reached by other meth ...

and friend of

George Eliot Mary Ann Evans (22 November 1819 – 22 December 1880; alternatively Mary Anne or Marian), known by her pen name George Eliot, was an English novelist, poet, journalist, translator, and one of the leading writers of the Victorian era. She wrot ...

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 Mary may refer to: People * Mary (name), a female given name (includes a list of people with the name) Religion * New Testament people named Mary, overview article linking to many of those below * Mary, mother of Jesus, also called the Blesse ...

and another sister was Sara Hennell. The sisters are considered to be the basis for the fictional Meyrick family in

's 1876 novel ''

Daniel Deronda ''Daniel Deronda'' is a novel by English author George Eliot, pen name of Mary Ann Evans, 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 of ...

''. 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 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

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 A Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) is a common name for non-profit animal welfare organizations around the world. The oldest SPCA organization is the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, which was founded ...

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 Writers from Coventry