Author: Bowles, Caroline Anne
Biography:
BOWLES, Caroline Anne (1786-1854: ODNB)
pseudonym Baroness de Katzeleben
She was born on 6 Dec. 1786 (baptised 10 Jan. 1787) at Buckland Manor, near Lymington, Hampshire, to Captain Charles Bowles (c. 1738-1801) of the Royal Navy and the East India Company and Anne (Burrard) Bowles (1751-1817). Her parents had married on 23 July 1782. When she was very young, the family moved to modest Buckland cottage where she lived for much of her life. She was in financial distress after her mother's death; hoping to earn an income with her poetry, she sought advice from Robert Southey. Although his publisher, John Murray, turned down her work, Ellen Fitzarthur was successfully published by Longman. A Colonel Bruce, possibly of the EIC, who was an adopted son of her father (although he is not named or identified in Charles's will) helped her financially by settling on her an annuity of £150 for so long as she remained unmarried. Southey became a mentor and friend and, after the death of his first wife, she married him and moved to Greta Hall, Keswick, in 1839—just months before he was incapacitated by his senile dementia. The challenges of her situation at Greta Hall were made worse by the hostility of some of Southey’s children, but she proved a devoted nurse to her husband. She was a lively correspondent who developed a strong friendship with William Blackwood. He printed a number of her works (both poetry and prose) in Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine before they appeared in volume publication. After Southey’s death in 1843, she returned to Buckland cottage where ill-health put an end to her writing. The 1851 Census shows her living with a housekeeper, a cook, and a gardener. She was granted a civil list pension of £200 in 1852. She died on 20 July 1854 and was buried on 25 July in the Lymington churchyard. (ODNB: 4 Apr 2018; ancestry.co.uk 19 Feb. 2025; Blackwood papers, NLS; National Archives UK PROB 11/1377/277) SR
Other Names:
- Miss Bowles