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Evelyn Whitaker was born in 1844 at Herne Bay, Kent, U.K., the
seventh child of Edward Whitaker and his wife, Emily Ann Woolbert. She wrote prize-winning
stories published in The Monthly Packet of Evening Readings for Members of the English Church, edited
by Charlotte Yonge, and in parish magazines and other para-religious literature. In 1878 Laddie, having
been the prize story for The Monthly Packet's 1877 Christmas number, was issued as a "little book"
published by Mozely and Smith. It became hugely successful, remaining in print for thirty years. Her first full
length novel, Tip Cat, followed in 1881. For more than twenty years, new
"tales," "stories," and "novels" flowed from the pen of the "author of Miss
Toosey's Mission, Laddie, Tip Cat etc.", all published anonymously. She was for the first time named
as the author on the title page of Gay. A Novel. in 1903.
In 1881, Evelyn Whitaker founded a convalescent holiday house for children, "The Buttercups," near
her home in Berkshire. Evelyn Whitaker never married. In her later years, she and her older sisters, Katherine
and Emily Jane Whitaker, made their home together. She died at the age of 84 years, in Hammersmith,
London, in 1929.
[I gratefully acknowledge the contributions of Peter Whitaker
who is the great, great, great grandson of Alfred Whitaker, the brother of Evelyn's father. He contacted me through
this website, remained in contact through email and facebook for a couple of years, chased down records, and made me
aware of the error in the dates for Evelyn's birth and death. He generously shared the family tree prepared
by his great, great grandfather Edward T. Whitaker who worked in Somerset House, London e.g. the national records office.
That chart indicated "Authoress Evelyn Whitaker." Peter made his own genealogical resources regarding the
Whitakers of Bratton available to me. Any additional information that I may recover as I continue to work on this project
are possible only because Peter pointed me in the right direction. I am grateful both for his efforts on behalf
of this project and for his friendship. KCP 18 July 2011]
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Evelyn Whitaker was indeed born into "a very respected family."1 Her father, Edward, was born in 1802 into the Whitaker
Family of Bratton, Wiltshire.2 He was the third son
of Philip Whitaker (born 1766) and his wife Anne Andrews. The family were farmers and Baptists.
In 1823 Edward
was admitted Solicitor, Hillary Term and practiced in London. His elder brother Alfred, also a solcitor, at
times served as his agent in Frome, Somerset. The brothers had married sisters; Alfred married Catherine Woolbert
and Edward married her older sister, Emily Ann.
Edward and Emily Ann married in 1830 and their first child,
Caroline was born in 1832 at St. George Bloomsbury, Middlesex. That same year, he was appointed solictor for affairs
of her Majesty's Duchy of Lancaster, serving until his resignation in 1871. Four other children were born at St.
George, Bloomsbury: Marian in 1834, Francis Philip in 1835, Katherine in 1837, and Emily Jane in 1839.
The 1841 census shows the family living on Southwood Lane, Hornsey, Middlesex. Emily Ann was mothering six children,
ranging in age from 1-9 years. Twenty-year old Frederick Woolbert is living with a family. His occupation is listed
as a solicitor.
A second son, Edward T., named for his father, was born in 1841 at Margate on the
coast of Kent. Alfred, named for his uncle, arrived in 1843 at Highgate, Middlesex. A return to the Kentish
coast at Herne Bay, saw Evelyn's birth in 1844.
The couple's eighth child in thirteen years and
their last, Florence Anne Catherine, was born in 1847 at St. Giles in the Fields, Middlesex. [The 1871 census lists
her birth place as Lincoln's Inn, London.] The addition of "Catherine" to Florence's name may
have been a commendation of the infant to the care of her Aunt Catherine, her mother's sister. Emily Ann did
not long survive.
The 1851 census places the family at 12 Lincoln Inn
Fields, Finsbury, Middlesex and lists Edward, at age 49 years, as a widower. The two older daughters, Caroline
and Marian, aged 19 years and 16 years, undoubtedly have household duties and the care of their young siblings:
Emily Jane, aged 12 years; Edward, aged 10 years; Alfred, aged 8 years, Evelyn aged 6 years, and Florence, aged 4 years.
Each of the younger children is occupied as "Scholar at Home." Francis Philip at age 16 is also listed
as a "scholar" and presumably attending university.
The 1861 census places the family at 52 Tavistock
Square, St. Pancras, Middlesex. Neither Marian nor Francis Philip is resident in the home. The fate of Marian
is unknown. At 26 years of age, Francis Philip is undoubtedly pursuing his career and already may have married Kate
Bean Smith. The other children continue at home. Caroline (29), Katherine (24), and Jane (22) are unmarried.
Emily Jane is listed only as Jane. Alfred at age 18 is now a Scholar as are the younger two daughters; Evelyn
at 16 years and Florence at 14.
During the family Middlesex years, they may well have attended services at
Hinton, Hurst, Berkshire: Sometime before 1864, the family moved to Hinton, near Twyford, in Berkshire. On
the 7th of April, 1864, Caroline Whitaker, aged 33 years, married Edward Hyde Frowd Cosens, a "clerk in Holy
Orders." Mullegnor Cosens, Elizabeth B. Cosens, Katherine Whitaker and Emily Jane Whitaker signed as witnesses.
Edward Hyde F. Cosens was born in 1825 at Shepton Mallett, Somerset, where his father, also Edward Hyde, was chaplain
at the House of Corrections. Edward Hyde F. is listed among Oxford alumni as matriculated March 1852, St. Mary's
Hall; Bible clerk in 1855, B.S. in 1856, and M.A. in 1858. In 1880 he is vicar of the parish church of Holy
Trinity, Tewkesbury. He and "Miss Cosens" are resident at the vicarage in 1894 and 1897. He is the author
of Romish Inroads of which there is an 1897 edition.
1871 is the year that Edward Whitaker resigned
his position as solictor for the affairs of her Majesty's Duchy of Lancaster and the census for that year locates
the family in Hurst, Berkshire. Four daugters, ranging in age from 34 to 24 years, all of an age to be called spinsters,
continue in the home: Katherine, Emily Jane, Evelyn, and Florence. A nephew, George H. Whitaker, aged 23
years, has joined the household and is listed as "Fellow of St. Johns College, Cambridge."
George H.
Whitaker (baptized into the Anglican church while at Cambridge) is the son of Edward's younger brother, George--born
1811--who served as the first provost and professor of divinity of the University of Trinity College in Toronto, Canada,
from the time it opened in 1852 until his retirement in 1881 when he returned to Wilshire, near Salisbury. His
son who followed his father into the clergy had been sent home to attend Cambridge and make his home with his uncle.
[It is perhaps George H. rather than George F. Whitaker,
as listed in the digitized library catalog, as a co-author with Dr. K Horst of the introduction Tip Cat. Such are
the hazards of OCR & digitization. kcp]
Early publishing by EW
Jane Whitaker at
the Royal Academy of Music.
Father Edward died 1878.
Published books.
Founds The Buttercups
The 1901 census places Katherine Whitaker, aged 64 years, and Evelyn Whitaker, 43 years of age,
"living on own means," in the civil parish of Fulham, near Hammersmith. Emily Jane Whitaker, aged 62 years, has
moved a few miles from the family's former home in Hinton Broad, near Hurst, and is listed at St. Leonard Shoreditch,
Wokingham, Wargrave.
In 1911, Evelyn and Emily are living at Addison Park Mansions, Richmond Road, near Hammersmith,
with a servant, Caroline Sharp, a 62-year-old widow.
Evelyn Whitaker died in Hammersmith sometime in July-September
1929, at 84 years of age.
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The collection was developed & this
website is maintained by K Cummings
Pipes. I strive to comply with copyright law. I believe all the
quotations and illustrations on this website are either in the public domain or comply with standards of fair use.
My original materials, including my synopses, my notes on Victorian life, and articles bearing my byline, are copyrighted
(K Cummings Pipes, 2007.) Permission is hereby granted for non-profit use which should include a citation to this website. If you are in university and need a hard copy citation to this information please contact email address
below. If you make use of this material, I'd appreciate a note as a courtesy.
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