Emily Bowes Gosse (10 November 1806 – 10 February 1857) was a prolific religious tract writer and author of

evangelical Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide, interdenominational movement within Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that emphasizes evangelism, or the preaching and spreading of th ...

Christian poems and articles.Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004

Biography

Emily Bowes was born in London, England, to William and Hannah Bowes, both from old New England families. Her early years were divided among

Merioneth Merionethshire, or Merioneth ( or '), was one of the thirteen counties of Wales that existed from 1536 until their abolishment in 1974. It was located in the north-west of Wales. Name 'Merioneth' is an anglicisation of the Welsh placename ''Mei ...

Exmouth Exmouth is a harbor, port town, civil parishes in England, civil parish and seaside resort situated on the east bank of the mouth of the River Exe, southeast of Exeter. In 2011 it had a population of 34,432, making Exmouth the List of settl ...

, and London, and in 1824 she commenced work as a governess to Revd John Hawkins in Berkshire, later moving to the home of Revd Sir Christopher John Musgrave, in Hove. After these spells, Emily returned to London to stay with her parents in Clapton, North London. She attended the

Plymouth Brethren The Plymouth Brethren or Assemblies of Brethren are a low church and Nonconformist (Protestantism), Nonconformist Christian movement whose history can be traced back to Dublin, Ireland, in the mid to late 1820s, where it originated from Anglica ...

assembly in Hackney, where she met her future husband,

Philip Henry Gosse Philip Henry Gosse (; 6 April 1810 – 23 August 1888), known to his friends as Henry, was an English natural history, naturalist and populariser of natural science, prolific author, "Father of the Aquarium", scientific illustrator, lecturer, e ...

. They had known each other for several years before they married at Brook Street Chapel,

Tottenham Tottenham (, , , ) is a district in north London, England, within the London Borough of Haringey. It is located in the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Greater London. Tottenham is centred north-northeast of Charing Cross, ...

, in 1848. Emily was 42, and her husband was 38. Emily gave birth to their only child,

Edmund Edmund is a masculine given name in the English language. The name is derived from the Old English elements ''ēad'', meaning "prosperity" or "riches", and ''mund'', meaning "protector". Persons named Edmund include: People Kings and nobles *Ed ...

in 1849. Emily died in Islington after a painful and protracted battle with breast cancer and was buried in Abney Park Cemetery,

Stoke Newington Stoke Newington is an area in the northwest part of the London Borough of Hackney, England. The area is northeast of Charing Cross. The Manor of Stoke Newington gave its name to Stoke Newington (parish), Stoke Newington, the ancient parish. S ...

. Among her last words were: "I shall walk with Him in white. Won't you take our lamb and walk with me?"

Painting

It has been incorrectly claimed that Emily was a Victorian

landscape A landscape is the visible features of an area of land, its landforms, and how they integrate with natural or human-made features, often considered in terms of their aesthetic appeal.''New Oxford American Dictionary''. A landscape includes th ...

painter who studied with

John Sell Cotman John Sell Cotman (16 May 1782 – 24 July 1842) was an English Marine art, marine and Landscape painting, landscape painter, Etching, etcher, illustrator, and a leading member of the Norwich School of painters. Born in Norwich, the son of a si ...

, and an illustrator whose work includes the uncredited chromolithographs for her husband P. H. Gosse's book ''The Aquarium: an unveiling of the wonders of the deep sea'' (1854).

Publications

Gosse published two series of
Hymns and Sacred Poems
' (1832, 1834) berfore she married, and was a successful religious tract writer and periodical contributor (jointly producing some works with her husband). Of sixty ''Narrative Tracts'' in book form, fifty-four were written by her and the rest by her husband. In total, at least sixty-three Emily Gosse narrative or gospel tracts were published, with an aggregate sale of seven million copies by 1866. She authored 40 periodical articles. Her book
Abraham And His Children
' (1855) consisted of object lessons using Biblical characters to illustrate parenting principles, and was favorably reviewed. Next to the hymn-writer Frances Bevan, she was the most prolific of Victorian Brethren female writers.Wertheimer, D.: ''Philip Henry Gosse: A Biography,'' p.262.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bowes, Emily 1806 births 1857 deaths 19th-century evangelicals Artists from London British Plymouth Brethren British women artists English illustrators English people of American descent English Evangelical writers English women writers Deaths from breast cancer in England Burials at Abney Park Cemetery

Biography

Painting

Publications

Further reading

References