Author: Rowles, Martha
Biography:
ROWLES, Martha, later SMITH (1804-65: ancestry.co.uk)
She was born on 21 Jan. 1804 at Colnbrook, Buckinghamshire, the youngest daughter of Samuel Rowles (1743-1820), the Baptist minister, and his wife Charlotte Weston (1763-1869), who had married 19 Nov. 1793 at Old Church St. Pancras. She was later re-baptised on 14 May 1825, at Wooburn Bethel Chapel (Baptist/Independent), Buckinghamshire. She married James Smith, an accountant, on 5 Mar. 1832 at St. John’s, Yeovil. They had three children and eventually moved to Ross, Herefordshire. Her unmarried sister Charlotte (q.v.) is recorded as living with them in the Censuses 1841-1861. Prior to her marriage, she published Nadaber (1829) with her sister; it was dedicated to the poet James Montgomery (q.v.) who had encouraged them. Her husband was probably the James Smith who became Manager of the National Provincial Bank, Hereford. She was probably the Mrs. James Smith who advertised the opening of a school in St. Owen’s Street, Hereford, in July 1838. She does not appear to have published anything further after her marriage. She died on 8 Dec. 1864 at Wilton, Herefordshire. (ancestry.co.uk 2 Oct. 2020; findmypast.co.uk 2 Oct. 2020; Taunton Courier 14 Mar. 1832; Hereford Times 23 June 1838, 17 Dec. 1864) AA