E. E. Cowper

Edith Elise Cadogan Cowper (21 July 1859 – 18 November 1933) 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.

Early life

Cowper was born on 21 July 1859 at Stevenage, Hertfordshire. Her parents were the Reverend Edward Cadogan (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 was 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 1877. 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 in 1885, were registered with the surname Cowper.