Juliana Horatia Ewing

1. The Childhood

Juliana Horatia Ewing (née Gatty) was born in Ecclesfield, Yorkshire, in 1841. She was the daughter of Alfred Gatty, a clergyman, and Margaret Gatty, an author. Juliana had seven siblings that she devotedly cared for. Even in her early childhood Juliana proved her abilities in drawing and music, and like her mother, Juliana entered the career as a children’s book author. She became a leading author of children’s books in the Victorian period. (Sutherland, 217)

2. Beginning of her Career

Apparently inheriting her mother’s talent, Juliana made her first attempts at story-telling with her siblings that she successfully entertained. Her first results of writing were the Nursery Magazines from 1856. (http://www.theweeweb.co.uk/public/author_profile.php?id=199) Then she started to write for the Monthly Packet, which published her stories in 1861/1862. Her first story published was called A Bit of Green. It dealt with a child growing up in slums and being affected by a green plant. (Sutherland, 217)

3. Her Career

Being from an author’s family, Juliana worked together with her mother, who founded the Aunt Judy’s Magazine in 1866, whose name is based on Juliana’s nickname. Juliana and her sister Horatia Katherine became the editors of the magazine after their mother died in 1873. (http://www.theweeweb.co.uk/public/author_profile.php?id=199) She published quite a few books like Lob Lie By The Fire in 1873 and Jackanapes in 1883. (Sutherland, 218)

4. Her Marriage

On June 1st 1867 Juliana Horatia Gatty got married to Alexander Ewing, a captain in the army. Soon, she followed him to Halifax and Nova Scotia, Canada, because her husband had been deployed there. From 1867 to 1869 she moved within several military camps in Canada, took over the editorship of Aunt Judy’s Magazine when her mother died and still wrote stories – all this in Canada. (http://www.theweeweb.co.uk/public/author_profile.php?id=199)

5. Her Matrimony

In 1879 she followed her husband to Malta, where he was then about to be deployed, but during the journey she fell ill, so that she had to go back to London. From then she did not follow her husband no longer. Even though her state of health deteriorated, she continued writing children’s books. She stayed in Devonshire and Bath. (Sutherland, 218)

6. Her Death

In Bath she died shortly before her second surgery. (http://www.theweeweb.co.uk/public/author_profile.php?id=199) It was cancer of the spine that she died of in 1885. (Sutherland, 218)

7. Bibliography:

Mullin, Robert. The Wee Web: authors & illustrators archive. Julia Horatia Ewing. Edinburgh, 2002. URL: http://www.theweeweb.co.uk/public/author_profile.php?id=199.

Sutherland, John. The Longman Companion to Victorian Fiction. 2nd ed. Edinburgh Gate: Pearson Education Limited, 2009.