Caroline Leigh Gascoigne

Caroline Leigh Gascoigne
Born
Caroline Leigh Smith

(1813-05-02)2 May 1813
London, England
Died11 June 1883(1883-06-11) (aged 70)
OccupationPoet, novelist
Spouse
Ernest Frederick Gascoigne
(m. 1834)
Children3
ParentsJohn Smith
Relatives

Caroline Leigh Gascoigne (gas-koin′; née, Smith; 2 May 1813 – 11 June 1883) was a 19th-century English poet and novelist from London. The daughter of a wealthy banker, she began writing at an early age and went on to publish several works in both prose and verse, including Temptation and Evelyn Harcourt.[1] She was married to a Member of Parliament (MP) and had three children.

Biography

Caroline Leigh Smith was born 2 May 1813 in London, England. She was the daughter of John Smith, MP, and his third wife Emma Leigh. Her early years were spent at her father's estate, Dale Park in Sussex.[2] Her father was a rich banker but he was accidentally poisoned by his nearly-blind wife, who gave him an overdose of laudanum.[3] Her elder half brothers were the MPs John Abel Smith and Martin Tucker Smith.[4]

Gascoigne began writing fiction and poetry at an early age. She published Temptation (1839), Evelyn Harcourt (1842), Dr. Harold's Note-Book (1869), and other works in prose and verse.[1]

In 1834, she married Lt.Col. (later, General) Ernest Frederick Gascoigne, MP for Liverpool, and the couple had three children.[2]

Caroline Gascoigne died on 11 June 1883.[5][2]

Selected works

Novels

  • Temptation, or, a wife's perils (1839)
  • The School for Wives: A Novel (1839)
  • Evelyn Harcourt: A Novel (1842)
  • Spencer's Cross Manor House, a tale for young people (1852)
  • Next Door Neighbours: A Novel (1855)
  • Doctor Harold (1865)

Short stories

  • "My aunt Prue's railway journey" (1865)
  • "Dr. Harold's Note-Book" (1869)

Poems

  • "Belgravia" (1851)
  • "Recollections of the Crystal Palace" (1852)
  • "England's Heroes!" (1855)

Contributor

  • Doctor Marigold's prescriptions ; Mugby junction (1922)

Articles

  • "In memoriam: A memoir of Ernest Frederick Gascoigne" (1878)

References

  1. ^ a b Thomas, Joseph (1915). Lippincott's Pronouncing Dictionary of Biography and Mythology (Public domain ed.). J. B. Lippincott Company. p. 1080.
  2. ^ a b c Bassett, Troy J. (18 February 2016). "Author: Caroline Leigh Gascoigne". At the Circulating Library: A Database of Victorian Fiction, 1837—1901. Retrieved 14 April 2017.
  3. ^ History Archived 15 April 2017 at the Wayback Machine, Parks and Gardens, Retrieved 16 April 2017
  4. ^ Price, Jacob M. (January 2008). "Smith, John Abel (1802–1871)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. Retrieved 16 April 2017.
  5. ^ Woodworth, Robert Sessions (1915). "The Eminent Women of History". Archives of Psychology (Public domain ed.). p. 20. Retrieved 12 September 2025.