At the Circulating Library

Author: Emma Wearing

Author: Emma Wearing (1835–1904)

Alternate Name(s): Holden (married name)

Biography: Emma Wearing was born 5 November 1835 in Bristol, the daughter of draper Samuel Brewer Wearing and Emma Smith. She worked as a governess before marrying industrialist Arthur Holden in 1865. The couple would have seven children, including the illustrators Edith Holden (1871–1920) and Evelyn Holden (1877–c1960). The family lived outside Birmingham and interested themselves in the arts, charity, and Unitarianism. Around the time of her marriage, Wearing wrote two anonymous novels, Beatrice of St. Mawse (1864) and Ursula's Girlhood (1867), but appears to have stopped writing with the birth of her children. She died in 1904 at home in Solihull.

Author Tags:

• Governesses

References: British Census (1841, 1871, 1881); English Nonconformist Births; Ina Taylor, The Edwardian Lady: The Story of Edith Holden (1980)

Fiction Titles:

1. Beatrice of St. Mawse: A Story for Girls.  1 vol.  London: John Morgan, 1864.
2. Ursula's Girlhood.  1 vol.  London: S. P. C. K., 1867.