Mary Catherine Rowsell

Mary Catherine Rowsell (29 December 183915 June 1921) was an English novelist, author of children's fiction, and dramatist. Her education in Belgium and Germany resulted in books based on German folk tales, and on French historical figures. Most of her children's books were set around well-known historical events.

Early life Rowsell was born on 29 December 1839 and baptised in St. Dionis Backchurch on 22 January 1840. Her father was Charles John Rowsell (28 March 180228 January 1882), an accountant who may have patented the Graphoscope and certainly patented improvements to it. Her mother was Sarah Lewis (buried 18 August 1897), and her parents were married on 6 June 1829, in St. Nicholas, Brighton, Sussex, England. Her uncle was the popular preacher Thomas James Rowsell, and her aunt Sarah Rowsell was married to the architect Sir Charles Barry.

Rowsell was educated at Queen's College, London in Harley Street, and later in Brussels and Bonn. This enabled her to write books based on German folk-tales and on people from French history.

Work Rowsell produced four types of works: books for children (largely based either on folk tales or on historical subjects), novels for adults, plays, and shorter fiction.

Rowsell's first book was published in her mid twenties, under her initials, "M. C. R.". This was a translation of Rosalie Koch's collection of forty fairy tales, (; 1845). The first edition of the book was well received, and another edition was issued for the Christmas gift-book market. In advertising the Christmas edition, the publishers quoted the press reviews of the first edition: "A charmingly written little volume. The illustrations are very good."Spectator "The tales are no less instructive than entertaining."Observer "A good book to put into the hands of young persons."Press "Will be found amusing by young people."Dispatch "A most capital series of fairy tales, illustrated by many well-executed engravings."Army and Navy Gazette "The present collection of tales is the best we have seen."Sunday Times "Equals in interest the Arabian Nights."Bayswater Chronicle "To our young friends we commend the Spirit of the Giant Mountains."Illustrated News of the World

Despite this initial success Rowsell had no further work published until Abbots' Crag in July 1872. On this occasion the author was identified as M. C. Rowsell.

List of longer works

The following list is based on searches on the Jisc Library Hub Discover, which collates the catalogues of 162 national, academic, and specialist libraries in the UK and Ireland. The online availability of texts is indicated for the following repositories: BLThe British Library IAThe Internet Archive HTHathiTrust FLBaldwin Library of Historical Children's Literature at the University of Florida

+Longer fiction and plays written by Rowsell Serial Year Title Pages Publisher BL IA HT FL Notes 1 1864 The Spirit of the Giant Mountains: A Series of Fairy Tales 231 p., 9 pl., 8º London: Murray & Co 2 1872 Abbots' Crag: A Tale 168 p., 8º London: Whittaker 3 1874 Plays for Home Performance: Thornrose and Sparkledor; Riquet with the Tuft 63 p., 8º London: Samuel French 4 1876 Saint Nicolas' Eve, and Other Tales 256 p., 8º London: Samuel Tinsley 5 1878 Love Loyal 3 v., 8º London: Hurst & Blackett 6 1880 Jeannette 3 v., 8º London: Hurst & Blackett 7 1882 Hymns and Narrative Verses for Children (third edition) 30 p., 16º London: J. T. Hayes 8 1883 Tales of Filial Devotion: Examples of the Faithful Heroism of Girls, Drawn from French History 198 p., 8º London: Sonnenschein & Co 9 1884 Number Nip; or, the Spirit of the Giant Mountains 286 p., 8º London: Sonnenschein & Co 10 1884 Traitor or Patriot? A Tale of the Rye-House Plot vi, 287, fs., 8º London: Blackie & Son 11 1885 The Pedlar and his Dog 160 p. : ill., 8º London: Blackie & Son 12 1885 Miss Vanbrugh: A Stage Story 158, p., 12º Bristol: G. W. Arrowsmith 13 1886 Fisherman Grim 96 p., 8º London: Blackie & Son 14 1886 Sepperl the Drummer-Boy 95 p., fs., 8º London: Blackie & Son 15 1886 The Silver Dial 3 v., 8º London: Swan Sonnenschein 16 1887 Hans the Painter 96 p., fs., 8º London: Blackie & Son 17 1887 Hatto's Tower and Other Stories 127 p., 8º London: Blackie & Son 18 1888 The Red House 176 p., 8º London: Hamilton, Adams & Co 19 1889 John a' Dale; or, The King and the Tinker 128 p., 8º London: Blackie & Son 20 1889 Whips of Steel 21 1890 The Story of a Queen 159 p., 8º London: Blackie & Son 22 1890 Thorndyke Manor 287 p., 8º London: Blackie & Son 23 1891 Petronella; and Madame Ponowski 107 p., fs., 8º London: Skeffington & Son 24 1892 Richard's Play: A Comedietta, in One Act 16 p., 8º London: Samuel French 25 1894 The Friend of the People 3 v., 8º London: T. F. Unwin 26 1896 The Green Men of Norwell, and Other Stories 87 p., 8º London: Simpkin & Marshall 27 1897 France: The Children's Study 362 p., fs., 8º London: T. Fisher Unwin 28 1898 The Boys of Fairmead 319 p., 8º London: F. Warne & Co 29 1899 Honour Bright 48 p., 8º London: E. Nister 30 1900 Dick of Temple Bar 127 p., ill. London: E. Nister 31 1902 The Last Link London: Samuel French 32 1903 My Lady's Favour, a Comedy by M. C. Rowsell and E. G. Howell London: Samuel French 33 1905 The Life-Story of Charlotte de la Trémoille: Countess of Derby viii, 188 p., ill., 8º London: K. Paul, Trench, Trübner 34 1905 The Wild Swans, or, The Adventure of Roland Cleeve 128, 32 p., ill., 8º London: S. W. Partridge & Co 35 1907 Monsieur de Paris: a Romance 306 p. London: Chatto & Windus 36 1910 Ninon de L'Enclos and Her Century ix, 310 p., 2 pl., 8º London: Hurst & Blackett 37 1920 The Sea-King's Son and Fisherman Grim 78 p., 8º London: Blackie & Son

Serials and shorter works Rowsell edited the short lived (one volume only) St. Paul's Magazine in 1889. This should not be confused with Saint Paul's, a monthly magazine edited by Anthony Trollope which ran for 14 volumes from 18671874. Rowsell contributed, with James Macdonald Oxley and John Alexander Hammerton to The Children's Friend: a Magazine for Boys and Girls at Home and School (London: S. W. Partridge) in 1902 and 1903.

Several of Rowell's published novels were serialised, but she also published shorter fiction and serial stories including: "The Secret of the Ivory Room", a longer short story. Appeared in the Adelaide Observer in 1906. "Uncle Will's Wager", a short story. Appeared in the Otago Witness, New Zealand in 1912. "The Heir of Willowcote": A serial story in which a baby is rescued from destruction by a midwife and spirited away from a country house. It appeared in the Ottawa Evening Journal, in the Leominster News, and others. A review of another Rowsell book in 1901 listed the story among the publication credits for Rowsell, suggesting it may have been published as a book. "Monksford Ferry", a longer short story. Appeared in multiple newspapers including the Sunday Citizen in Brooklyn, the Eastern Press in Norfolk in 1899, and in the Western Chronicle in 1905. "Paul Stormont's First Wife", a short story. Appeared in Norfolk News in 1900, and other outlets.

Later life Rowsell had fallen on hard times by the end of the 19th century. The small annuity left her by her father, who died in 1882, and her mother, who died in 1897, shrank due to bad investment choices. As a result, she appealed four times to the Royal Literary Fund. Rowsell died at 81 years of age on 15 June 1921. The cause of death was stated to be epilepsy and senile decay.