Mary HOWITT was a 19th century author, a mother and a Quaker. Brought up in a Staffordshire market town with her sister Anna, she started writing stories and poems from a young age.
Mary was born in Gloucestershire in 1799 to parents Samuel BOTHAM and her mother Anne. Her father Samuel was a land surveyor and the family moved from Coleford, Gloucestershire to Uttoxeter in Staffordshire (West Midlands) where Mary and Anna spent much of their childhood.
Mary was brought up in a strict household, with her parents of Quaker faith, whose principles restricted books at that time, both Mary and Anna wrote their own stories based on experiences and their surroundings. Wood Leighton is one book Mary wrote, which is based on Mary’s knowledge of the Uttoxeter area. The notable places she visited feature in the book, published in 3 volumes, were changed to fictitious ones throughout the story but still recognisable.[1]
Mary married William HOWITT in 1921 and they moved to Nottingham.[2] William was a pharmacist/druggist, but also an author and together they produced a number of works in the form of books and magazine articles. They produced Howitt’s Journal in three volumes between 1847 and 1848.[3]
Married life for Mary and William was not easy. Mary suffered the loss of 6 children, but had 3 surviving children, Anna Mary, Alfred William and Claude Middleton HOWITT.
Mary and William continued to write and moved from Nottingham to Esher in Surrey where they had a further 2 children, Herbert Charlton and Margaret Anastasia HOWITT. However, they became increasing unsettled in their joint Quaker faith, and in 1840 the family moved to Heidelberg, Germany. Attracted by it’s reputation for education, Mary and William wrote a series of tales for children aimed at the working class.
Whilst in Germany, Mary produced many translations of Hans Christian Andersen and Frederika Bremer, a Swedish novelist.[4]
In 1843, Mary, William and the family returned to England following their son Claude’s death at the age of 11.[5] They left the Society of Friends and Mary joined the Unitarian chapel.
Mary started to write stories and chronicles based on her own children. Described by Dunicliff as a lost author, possibly one of her best known poems was The Spider and the Fly (see below).[6]
Whilst her husband William and sons (Alfred and Herbert Charlton) travelled to Australia to visit Williams’ brother, Mary engaged in political and suffrage causes in London.
Following the death of son Charlton, the family spent winters in Italy. This influenced Mary’s spirituality and she was attracted to Roman Catholicism.
Mary lived out her life in Italy and died in 1879 aged 80. She is buried alongside her husband William in Rome, where she had sought special permission to do so.[7]
Although she is remembered by the people of Uttoxeter as one of its more well-known residents, with a Blue Plaque placed on her childhood home on Balance Street, she is a unsung hero of her time.[8]
Over her lifetime she is thought to have written hundreds of verses, more than she is accredited for and this alone would warrant further research. Her husband William HOWITT gets less attention, however his influence on Mary coupled with their travelling experiences, motherhood and spiritual curiosity attributed to the production of these works.
Mary is most worthy of a society held in her name like the Jane Austin Society.[9] The Howitt Society, however, is dedicated to her son Alfred William HOWITT, who became a prominent figure in Australia.[10] He stayed in Australia whilst his father William returned to England. He engaged with Aboriginal tribes following extensive research into flora and fauna. He was interested in botany, geology and ecology studying ecosystems and effects and causes of bush files in Australia.
There is no mention of Alfred’s parents on the Howitt Society’s website, even though they must have had a large influence in his education and the need to explore his craft.
Mary and William’s daughter Margaret Anastasia HOWITT produced Mary’s autobiography in 1889, written in two volumes.[11]
The Spider and the Fly [12]
“Will you walk into my parlour?” said the spider to the fly;
“‘Tis the prettiest little parlour that ever you may spy.
The way into my parlour is up a winding stair,
And I have many curious things to show when you are there.”
“Oh no, no,” said the little fly; “to ask me is in vain,
For who goes up your winding stair can ne’er come down again.”
“I’m sure you must be weary, dear, with soaring up so high.
Well you rest upon my little bed?” said the spider to the fly.
“There are pretty curtains drawn around; the sheets are fine and thin,
And if you like to rest a while, I’ll snugly tuck you in!”
“Oh no, no,” said the little fly, “for I’ve often heard it said,
They never, never wake again who sleep upon your bed!”
Said the cunning spider to the fly: “Dear friend, what can I do
To prove the warm affection I’ve always felt for you?
I have within my pantry good store of all that’s nice;
I’m sure you’re very welcome – will you please to take a slice?”
“Oh no, no,” said the little fly; “kind sir, that cannot be:
I’ve heard what’s in your pantry, and I do not wish to see!”
“Sweet creature!” said the spider, “you’re witty and you’re wise;
How handsome are your gauzy wings; how brilliant are your eyes!
I have a little looking-glass upon my parlor shelf;
If you’d step in one moment, dear, you shall behold yourself.”
“I thank you, gentle sir,” she said, “for what you’re pleased to say,
And, bidding you good morning now, I’ll call another day.”
The spider turned him round about, and went into his den,
For well he knew the silly fly would soon come back again:
So he wove a subtle web in a little corner sly,
And set his table ready to dine upon the fly;
Then came out to his door again and merrily did sing:
“Come hither, hither, pretty fly, with pearl and silver wing;
Your robes are green and purple; there’s a crest upon your head;
Your eyes are like diamond bright, but mine are dull as lead!”
Alas, alas! how very soon this silly little fly,
Hearing his wily, flattering words, came slowly flitting by;
With buzzing wings she hung aloft, then near and nearer grew,
Thinking only of her brilliant eyes and green and purple hue,
Thinking only of her crested head. Poor, foolish thing! at last
Up jumped the cunning spider, and fiercely held her fast;
He dragged her up his winding stair, into the dismal den –
Within his little parlour – but she ne’er came out again!
And now, dear little children, who may this story read,
To idle, silly flattering words I pray you ne’er give heed;
Unto an evil counsellor close heart and ear and eye,
And take a lesson from this tale of the spider and the fly.
Sources used:
[1] Howitt, Mary. (1836) Wood Leighton, or a Year in the Country. Stroud, Gloucestershire: Nonsuch Classics.
[2] Marriages (NCR) England & Wales. Uttoxeter, Staffordshire. 16 April 1821. HOWITT, William and BOTHAM, Mary. Collection: England & Wales, Quaker Birth, Marriage and Death Registers, 1578-1837. Piece 0180: Society of Friends, Quarterly Meeting of Cheshire and Staffordshire. RG 6/180. pp. 78. www.ancestry.co.uk : accessed 02 February 2023.
[3] Shattock, Joanne, ‘Mary Howitt and Howitt’s Journal (1847–48)’, Journal of European Periodical Studies, 6.1 (Summer 2021), 42–55. https://openjournals.ugent.be/jeps/article/id/71462/ : accessed 15 February 2023.
[4] Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Howitt, [nee Botham] Mary (1799-1888). Susan Drain, Ed. https://doi.org/10.1093/ref:odnb/13995 : accessed 03 February 2023.
[5] Death announcements, UK and Ireland. Upper Clapton, Middlesex. 12 March 1844. HOWITT, Claude Middleton. Collection: US, UK and Ireland, Quaker Published Memorials, 1818-1919. The Annual Monitor for 1845. www.ancestry.co.uk : accessed 19 February 2023.
[6] Dunicliff, Joy. (2010) Quaker to Catholic: Mary Howitt, Lost Author of the 19th Century. McMinnville, TN, USA: St Clair Publications.
[7] Monumental inscriptions. Italy. Citta Metropolitana di Roma Capitale, Lazio. Memorial ID: 49024147. www.findagrave.com/memorial/49024147/mary-howitt : accessed 02 February 2023.
[8] Staffordshire Past Track. Mary Howitt. https://www.search.staffspasttrack.org.uk/Details.aspx?&ResourceID=46032&PageIndex=2&SearchType=2&ThemeID=75 : accessed 19 February 2023.
[9] Jane Austen Society. www.janeaustensociety.org.uk : accessed 03 February 2023.
[10] Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Howitt, Alfred William (1830-1908). E F Thurn, D J Mulvaney, Ed. https://doi.org/10.1093/ref:odnb/34027 : accessed 03 February 2023.
[11] Twells, Alison. (2012) ‘The innate yearnings of our souls’: Subjectivity, Religiosity and Outward Testimony in Mary Howitt’s Autobiography (1889). Journal of Victorian Culture. 17 (3). pp. 309–328. https://doi.org/10.1080/13555502.2012.697742 : accessed 3 February 2023.
[12] https://www.familyfriendpoems.com/poem/the-spider-and-the-fly-by-mary-howitt