- William Howitt
Infobox Person
name = William Howitt
image_size =
caption = picture from BritishLibrary.co.uk
birth_date =18 December 1792 Dictionary of National Biography now in the public domain]
birth_place =Heanor inDerbyshire Dictionary of National Biography now in the public domain]
death_date =3 March 1879
death_place =Rome
education = Friends public school at Ackworth
occupation = Writer
spouse = Mary Botham
parents =
children =William Howitt (
18 December 1792 –3 March 1879 ), was an Englishauthor .He was born at
Heanor ,Derbyshire . His parents were Quakers, and he was educated at the Friends public school at Ackworth, Yorkshire. His younger brothers were Richard and Godrey who he helped tutor. In 1814 he published apoem on the "Influence of Nature and Poetry on National Spirit". He married, in 1821, Mary Botham, who like himself was a Quaker and apoet . William and Mary Howitt collaborated throughout a long literary career, the first of their joint productions being "The Forest Minstrels and other Poems" (1821).In 1831, William Howitt produced a work resulting naturally from his habits of observation and his genuine love of nature. It was a history of the changes in the face of the outside world in the different months of the year, and was entitled "The Book of the Seasons, or the Calendar of Nature" (1831). His "Popular History of Priestcraft" (1833) won him the favour of active Liberals and the office of
alderman in Nottingham, where the Howitts had made their home.They moved in 1837 to
Esher , and became friends withElizabeth Gaskell and her husband. In 1840 they went toHeidelberg , primarily for the education of their children, remaining in Germany for two years. In 1841 William Howitt produced, under the pseudonym of Dr Cornelius, "The Student Life of Germany", the first of a series of works on German social life and institutions. Mary Howitt devoted herself toScandinavian literature , and between 1842 and 1863 she translated the novels ofFrederika Bremer and many of the stories ofHans Christian Andersen . With her husband she wrote in 1852 "The Literature and Romance of Northern Europe". In June of that year William Howitt, with two of his sons, set sail forAustralia , where he spent two years in the goldfields. The results of his travels appeared in "A Boy's Adventures in the Wilds of Australia" (1854), "Land, Labor and Gold; or, Two Years in Victoria" (1855) and "Tallangetta, the Squatter's Home" (1857).On his return to England Howitt had settled at
Highgate and resumed his indefatigable book-making. From 1856 to 1862 he was engaged on Cassell's "Illustrated History of England", and from 1861 to 1864 he and his wife worked at the "Ruined Abbeys and Castles of Great Britain". The Howitts had left theSociety of Friends in 1847, and became interested in Spiritualism. In 1863 appeared "The History of the Super-natural in all Ages and Nations, and in all Churches, Christian and Pagan, demonstrating a Universal Faith, by William Howitt". He added his own conclusions from a practical examination of the higher phenomena through a course of seven years.From 1870 onwards Howitt spent the summers in
Tyrol and the winters inRome , where he died. In 1880 Mary Howitt had a house built for her (which is still standing) in the spa town of Meran in South Tyrol (then part of Austria) and from then on divided her time between Rome and Meran.Mary Howitt was much affected by William's death, and in 1882 she joined theRoman Catholic Church , towards which she had been gradually moving during her connection with spiritualism. She died at Rome on30 January 1888 .The Howitts are remembered for their untiring efforts to provide wholesome and instructive literature. Their son,
Alfred William Howitt , made himself a name by his explorations in Australia. Anna Mary Howitt married Alaric Alfred Watts, and was the author of "Pioneers of the Spiritual Reformation" (1883). Mary Howitt's autobiography was edited by her daughter, Margaret Howitt, in 1889. William Howitt wrote some fifty books, and his wife's publications, inclusive of translations, number over a hundred.References
This entry contains information from the Meran Stadarchiv and an on the spot visit to the house in Meran, which has a plaque with her initials MAH and the date 1880. ----
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