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E. E. Cowper
Born (1859-07-21)21 July 1859
Stevenage, Hertfordshire, England
Died 18 November 1933(1933-11-18) (aged 74)
Milford on Sea, Hampshire, England
Nationality English
Other names Edith Eliza Cadogan, Edith Elise Cowper, Edith Eliza Cooper
Occupation Author
Years active 1881 – 1932

Edith Elise Cadogan Cowper (21 July 1859 – 18 November 1933) was a prolific author of adventure stories for girls. She married yachtsman Frank Cowper and had eight children by him before the marriage fell apart.

Early life

Cowper was born on 21 July 1859 at Stevenage, Hertfordshire. Her parents was the Reverend Edward Cadogan (c. 1833 – 16 April 1890) and stockbroker's daughter Alice Smith (25 January 1833 – 24 March 1913). Cowper was the second of the couple's ten children. By the 1861 census her father has the Rector at Walton, Warwickshire, England, but moved to take up the Rectorship at Wickham in 1873, where he was to remain until his death in 1890.

Cowper married Frank Cooper (14 January 1849 – 28 May 1930) at her father's church in Wicken, Northamptonshire, England on 28 December 1867. She was seventeen at the time, and her husband was ten years older. He was a yachtsman, famous for single-handed cruising, and author, both of novels and of books on sailing. The couple had eight children, four boys and four girls: Frank Cadogan Cowper, Edith Alice Magdalen Cowper, Earnest Lionel Cadogen Cowper, Gerald Audrey Cadogan Cooper, Gladys Blanche Katherine Cowper, Gwenllyan Sybilla Mary Cowper, Henry Evelyn Cadogan Cowper, and Nesta Evelyn Dorothea Cowper. The first five children were registered as Cooper and had their names changed to Cowper when their father changed his name. The youngest three, being born after the name change iun 1885, were registered with the surname Cowper.

Some sources suggest that Cowper had ten children, with two of them, Lois and Edward, dying in infancy, in addition to Henry. However, there is no record of such births in the birth index of the Government Record Office, and Cowpers's own account of the number of children she has had in the 1911 census, with eight children born and six surviving, suggests that there were no such births.

The couple lived first in Hordle, Hampshire where they ran a small preparatory school. Later, they build Lisle Court at Wootton in the Isle of Wight, which also served as a school. The 1891 census shows Cowper living at Lisle Court with six of her children, Gerald, age 9 at the time is absent for some reason. The census shows that the house was no longer working as a school.

The marriage was not a happy one. While the marriage broke up, they may never have divorced. Cowper still describes herself as married in the 1911 census.

By 1901, Cowper was living in Acton in London with her four daughters, aged 12 to 21 and with her profession listed as authoress. The 1911 census found Cowper living with her daughter Nesta at Flat 7, Fairlawn Court, Acton Lane, Chiswick, London. Her other three daughters had already married, and Nesta would do so in 1914.

Cowper was living at Milford on Sea, Hampshire when she dies on 18 November 1933. Her estate was valued at £977 6s.7d.

Writing

The Evening Post (New Zealand) says that Cowper published her first, book, set in the New Forest before she was 20. However, the first book recorded in the Jisc Library Hub Discover database Additional libraries are being added all the time, and the catalogue collates national, university, and research libraries. is Hide and Seek, published in 1881. She followed this with Hasselaers in 1883. It is note clear who published the first book, but the second was published by the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge (SPCK). The SPCK published all but three of her books until 1915, after which she began to use other publishers. She first published with Blackie & Son in 1917, and Blackie would publish nearly half of her output from then on.

Cowper wrote adventures stories for teenage girls. Many of the feature sailing. The wilds of Canada, where one of her sons had settled before the First World War, feature in many of here stories, whether searching for gold, or trapping. Smuggling is another repeated trope, even featuring in her school story Fifth Form Adventurers.

Assessment

Cowper was writing for what Alice Corkran called the Modern Girl in her Chat with the Girl of the Period in The Girl's Realm.

Kate Flint said that while researching for the Woman Reader, she was hardly surprised to find how many girls in the nineteenth century openly preferred their brothers' books, with the active role models that they offered. Cowper offered here girl readers active role models. The Yorkshire Post when speaking of Cowper and similar girl's authors, said that Girls need no longer impound their brothers’ books for such stories fortunately they can now see themselves as the protagonists in these romances. and that Cowper can always be relied on for action.

Works

The following bibliography is based on a search on the Jisc Library Hub Discover database for books authored by Cowper. In all, there are 69 books listed in the table, as two of the items are derivatives. Cowper contributed to a number of anthologies and annuals but these are not included here, nor in any reissues of her work. She also wrote some short fiction for magazines, but again, there are not listed here.

Books by Cowper
Ser Year Title Illustrator Place Publisher Pages Notes
1 1881 Hide and seek London 8º
2 1883 The Hasselaers London SPCK 156 p., 4 p., 3. ill., 8º
3 1899 The Misadventures of I.M.P. A story for little girls London SPCK 80 p., 8º
4 1899 Theckla Jansen. The story of a lonely girl London SPCK 80 p., 8º
5 1900 Bessie Walter Sidney Stacey London SPCK 224 p., 8º
6 1900 Red, White, and Blue; or Dick's enemy London SPCK 94 p., 8º
7 1901 The brown bird and her owners, a story of adventure off the South Coast Walter Sidney Stacey London SPCK 256 p., 8º
8 1903 Calder Creek, a story of smuggling on the South Coast Walter Sidney Stacey London SPCK 246 p., ill., 8º
9 1904 'Viva Christina!' The adventures of a young Scot with the British legion W. H. C. Groome London Chambers 292 p., 6 ill., 8º
10 1904 The Witches of Westover Combe, a story of the South Coast, etc. Harold Piffard London SPCK 221 p., 8º
11 1905 The Haunted Mill on Birley River: the story of a South Coast creek Harold Piffard London SPCK 254 p., 8º
12 1906 The disappearance of David Pendarve Harold Piffard London SPCK 254 p., ill., 8º
13 1907 The invaders of Fairford Adolf Thiede London SPCK 253 p., col. fs., 8º
14 1908 The House with Dragon Gates, a story of old Chiswick in 1745 Harold Piffard London SPCK 245 p., 8º
15 1909 Lady Fabia, a story of adventure on the South Coast in 1805, etc. Adolf Thiede London SPCK 221 p., 8º
16 1910 Andrew Garnett's Will, etc. Thomas Heath Robinson London SPCK 223 p., 8º
17 1910 The moonrakers, a story of smugglers in the New Forest in 1747 Walter Sidney Stacey London SPCK 256 p., 2 ill., 8º
18 1910 Three girls on a yacht Edward Smith Hodgson London Cassell vi, 343 p., 8 ill., 8º
19 1911 The Captain of the Waterguard Adolf Thiede London SPCK 252 p., 8º
20 1911 The island of rushes: the strange story of a holiday mystery Walter Sidney Stacey London SPCK 251 p., 8º
21 1913 Enter Patricia, being an account of her strange adventures on a visit to the Cornish coast Noël Harrold London Cassell 304 p., 4 ill., 8º
22 1913 Leo Lousada, Gentleman Adventurer Adolf Thiede London SPCK 256 p., 8º
23 1913 The Strange Story of Kittiwake's Castle Gordon Browne London SPCK 120 p., 8º
24 1913 Two Girls and a Secret Walter Sidney Stacey London SPCK 254 p., 4 pl., 8º
25 1914 The crew of the "Silver Fish" Walter Paget London SPCK VI, 223p, 8º
26 1915 The King's Double, etc. Archibald Webb London SPCK 254 p., 8º
27 1915 The Mystery of Castle Veor; or, the Spies in our midst Archibald Webb London SPCK vi, 222 p., 3 ill. (1 col.), 8º
28 1915 The strange girl from the sea Noël Harrold London Cassell vii, 312 p., 4 ill., 8º
29 1916 Three Sailor Girls N. Tenison London Henry Frowde 288 p., 4pl., 8º
30 1916 The valley of dreams Norah Schlegel London Cassell 279 p., 4 ill., 8º
31 1917 Hill of Broom. A Guernsey mystery Elizabeth Earnshaw London Cassell 312 p., 4 ill., 8º
32 1917 Jane in Command. The story of a girl's war work and its strange results Gordon Browne London Blackie & Son 284 p., 8º
33 1919 The black dog's rider John W. Campbell London SPCK v, 322 p., 8º
34 1919 Maids of the “Mermaid.” A story of adventure on the coast of England C. Dudley Tennant London Blackie & Son 288 p., 8º
35 1920 Corporal Ida's floating camp C. E. Brock London SPCK 123 p., 8º
36 1920 Pam and the Countess Gordon Browne London Blackie & Son 287 p., 6 ill., 8º
37 1921 Celia wins Rosa Petherick London Collins 320 p., 8º
38 1921 The mystery of Saffron Manor Gordon Browne London Blackie & Son 284 p., 6 ill., 8º
39 1921 Wild Rose to the Rescue C. E. Brock London SPCK 154 p. 6 pl, 8º
40 1922 The Brushwood Hut Gordon Browne London Blackie & Son 207 p., 8º
41 1922 The island of secrets Gordon Browne London Blackie & Son 207 p., 4 ill., 8º
42 1922 Two on the Trail. A story of Canada snows, etc. Walter Paget London Sheldon Press 160 p., 8º
43 1923 Ann's Great Adventure John Dewar Mills London Blackie & Son 320 p., 8º
44 1924 Girls on the Gold Trail. A story of strange adventures in the northlands London Nelson 327 p., 8º
45 1924 The mystery term R. H. Brock London Blackie & Son 255 p., 6 ill., 8º
46 1924 White Wings to the Rescue C. R. Fleming-Williams London Blackie & Son 320 p., 8º
47 1925 The girl from the North-West Henry Coller London Blackie & Son 319 p., 6 ill., 8º
48 1925 Hunted, and the Hunter Stanley L. Wood London Sheldon Press iii, 122 p., fs., 8º
49 1925 Witch of the wilds, a story of adventure in the northern snows London Nelson 312 p., fs., 8º
50 1926 The Haunted Trail Henry Coller London Blackie & Son 224 p., 8º
51 1926 That Troublesome Term Elizabeth Earnshaw London Cassell 215 p., 4 ill., 8º
52 1927 Cross Winds Farm; or, the Adventure of the silver foxes London Chambers 154 p., 8º
53 1927 Hit the Trail. A wild west story Archibald Stevenson Forrest London Nelson 335 p., 8º
54 1927 The Holiday School Norman Sutcliffe London Cassell 215 p., 4 ill. (2 col.), 8º
55 1927 Nancy's Fox Farm Norman Sutcliffe London Blackie & Son 256 p., 8º
56 1928 Camilla's Castle Roger Oak London Blackie & Son 255 p., 8º
57 1928 Peterina on the rescue trail R. H. Brock London Nelson 320 p., 1 col. ill., 8°
58 1929 The fifth form adventurers London Cassell 215 p., ill., 8º
59 1929 The Forbidden Island Francis Ernest Hiley London Blackie & Son 208 p., 8º
60 1929 Gill and the Beanstalk London Blackie & Son 191 p., 8º
61 1929 That Joyous Adventure London Nelson 95 p., 8º
62 1929 The Wolf Runner William Bryce Hamilton London Nelson 318 p., 8º
63 1930 The Crow's Nest, etc. London Sheldon Press 153 p., 8º
64 1930 The Invincible Fifth Percy Bell Hickling London Cassell 215 p., 4 ill., 8º
65 1930 Rosamond takes the Lead Hugh Radcliffe-Wilson London Blackie & Son 223 p., 8º
66 1931 Girls on the Trap-Line A. Leo Knopf London Nelson 292 p., 8º
67 1932 The Lodge in the Wood, etc. London Sheldon Press 125 p., 8º
68 1933 Elsie and the Grey Thief London Blackie & Son 64 p., 8º
69 1933 The Girls of Mystery Gorge R. H. Brock London Nelson 295 p., 8º
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