Frank Cowper, M.A. Oxon. | |
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Born | London, England | 14 January 1849
Died | 28 May 1930 81) St Cross, Winchester, Hampshire, England | (aged
Occupation |
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Nationality | English |
Education | Aldenham; Brentwood; Blackheath Proprietary School |
Alma mater | The Queen's College, Oxford |
Period | 1870–1930 |
Genre | Travelogue, novel, non-fiction |
Notable works | Sailing Tours series The Captain of the Wight Xmas Eve on a Haunted Hulk |
Spouse | E. E. Cowper |
Children | 10, including Frank Cadogan Cowper |
Francis Cowper (14 January 1849 [1] [note 1] – 28 May 1930) [3] was an English yachtsman, author, illustrator and journalist who was influential in popularising single-handed cruising. [3] He has been credited as "the forefather of modern cruising", [4] and his books "laid the foundation" of the pilot guides used by yachtsmen today. [5] As an author he also saw some commercial success with a number of published adventure and romance novels.
He was initially Francis Cooper but resumed the original spelling of Cowper by deed-poll in 1885, and was the second son of five children to Henry Cooper of London. He studied classical history at The Queen's College, Oxford, where he matriculated in 1867, graduating B.A. in 1871 and M.A. in 1875. [6] [7]
Cowper learned to sail on the Upper Thames, hiring catboats with friends when he was an undergraduate at Oxford. [6] In 1870, in his final year at university, he spent his summer vacation in Auray, Brittany in northern France, sailing a small dinghy in the Gulf of Morbihan and out into Quiberon Bay. [6]
Between 1892 and 1895, [8] Cowper circumnavigated the British Isles, exploring practically every river and creek along the coast. [9] He also crossed the English Channel to France and Belgium.
Cowper's most well-known work, Sailing Tours, describes these voyages and was published in five volumes between 1892 and 1896. Original copies are now quite collectable, and a full set can fetch as much as £500. [5] In 1985, Ashford Press published a facsimile reprint of all five volumes.
Cowper originally undertook the voyages documented in Sailing Tours, mostly single-handed, in the yawl Lady Harvey, a 44 foot (13 m) Dover fishing lugger built in 1867. In his 1921 book Single-Handed Cruising, Francis B. Cooke claimed that no amateur yachtsman had ever single-handed a larger vessel. [9] Cowper sold Lady Harvey in 1895, [5] then building a ketch of his own design, Undine II, which became his favourite but which he sold in 1899. He next owned a yawl named Zayda, followed by a French fishing lugger, Idéal, and a 14-ton cutter Little Windflower. In 1921, Cowper purchased the 41 foot (12 m) cutter Ailsa, which was to be the last boat he owned.
Sailing Tours continued to be cited in sailing guides, with Neville Featherstone describing Cowper's writing as "a rich blend of navigational facts laced with his own semi-libellous observations on the world around him". [8] Alan Titchmarsh described it as a "rich source of inspiration" for his 1999 novel, The Last Lighthouse Keeper. [10]
Cowper also wrote several adventure and romance novels. One of these, The Island of the English (1898), was described as having "a strong, compelling note of verity" and "a vivid, flexible style". [11]
On December 28, 1876, Cowper married fellow author Edith Elise Cadogan, daughter of the Rector of Wicken. [12] [13] They made their home on the Isle of Wight and Edith bore ten children; three did not survive infancy [12] but their eldest son, Frank Cadogan Cowper, grew up to become a recognised Pre-Raphaelite artist. [14] The marriage was troubled — Edith accused Cowper of violence and frequent infidelity — and they divorced in 1890. [15] [16] His brother, Colonel Harry Cooper CMG CBE, became ADC to Queen Victoria from 1898 to 1901 and to King Edward Vll from 1901 to 1904. [17] [18]
Frank Cadogan Cowper was an English painter and illustrator of portraits, historical and literary scenes, also described as "The Last Pre-Raphaelite".
Outdoor literature is a literature genre about or involving the outdoors. Outdoor literature encompasses several different subgenres including exploration literature, adventure literature, mountain literature and nature writing. Another subgenre is the guide book, an early example of which was Thomas West's guide to the Lake District published in 1778. The genres can include activities such as exploration, survival, sailing, hiking, mountaineering, whitewater boating, geocaching or kayaking, or writing about nature and the environment. Travel literature is similar to outdoor literature but differs in that it does not always deal with the out-of-doors, but there is a considerable overlap between these genres, in particular with regard to long journeys.
Josiah Parker was an American politician, Revolutionary War officer and Virginia planter who served in the United States House of Representatives from Virginia in the First through Sixth United States Congresses as well as represented Isle of Wight County in three of the five Virginia revolutionary convention and in the Virginia House of Delegates for several terms before his federal service.
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Leopold Copeland Parker Cowper served as (seventh) lieutenant governor of the Restored government of Virginia from November 1863 until June 1865 and then as the eighth Lieutenant Governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia from June 1865 until September 1869 under Governors John Letcher, William Smith, Francis Harrison Pierpont and Henry H. Wells.
Cowper is a surname of several persons:
Arwald was the last King of the Isle of Wight and last pagan king in Anglo-Saxon England.
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The Classic Boat Museum is a museum of boats and of the history of yachting and boating. It is located on the Isle of Wight at two separate sites on either side of the River Medina; The Boat Collection in Cowes, and The Gallery in East Cowes. It is a working museum featuring restoration. Work takes place all year round. In addition to classic boats, the museum contains tools, artefacts, books, photographs, film and archival items that relate to the history of boat building, sailing, yachting, cruising and racing over the last century.
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Edward Cadogan (1833–1890) was a British clergyman and rower who won Silver Goblets at Henley Royal Regatta.
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Adlard Coles Nautical is a nautical publisher, with over 300 books in print. The company publishes books on topics of interest to sailors and motorboaters and also ‘landlubbers’ with an interest in the sea. Their list includes almanacs, cruising guides, pilot books and how-to instruction books, as well as large format photographic books, sailing narratives and sea-related reference, maritime history, humour and trivia books.
Sir James Gilbert Hardy was an Australian winemaker and businessman who was also noted for his yachting achievements.
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Barry Wickens is a British musician, multi-instrumentalist and composer. Primarily a violinist and guitarist, he also plays mandolin, viola, Appalachian dulcimer (psaltery), dobro and keyboards. He is best known for being one of the longest-serving members of Steve Harley's rock group Cockney Rebel, and for being a former member of the pop group Immaculate Fools. He is also a violin teacher for Brighton & Hove Music & Arts.
Emily Caroline Catherine Frances Ashley-Cooper, Countess of Shaftesbury, formerly Lady Emily Cowper, was the wife of Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 7th Earl of Shaftesbury, and the mother of the 8th earl.
Edith Elise Cadogan Cowper was a prolific and popular author of adventure stories for girls. She married yachtsman and fellow writer Frank Cowper and had eight children by him before the marriage fell apart.
Frank Cadogan Cowper was born in Wicken, Northamptonshire in 1877. His father was Frank Cowper, an author who specialised in writing yachting novels and was the grandson of the Rector of Wicken.
Not much is known of Edith Cowper outside of evidence provided in COW/3. It appears that she divorced Frank's father, also Frank, in the 1890s citing violent behaviour and infidelity.