Rachel Elfreda Fowler

Rachel Elfreda Fowler (10 December 1872 – 1951) was an English literary scholar and lecturer in art and history at the University of Oxford.

Early life edit

Rachel Fowler was born in London on 10 December 1872, the youngest daughter of Sir Robert Fowler (1828-1891), member of parliament and Lord Mayor of London, and his wife Sarah Charlotte Fowler, née Fox. Elfreda was one of eleven children.^[1] She received her advanced education at Westfield College and then at the University of Oxford where she studied modern languages.^[2]

Career edit

Fowler completed her PhD at the University of Paris in 1905 on the subject of "Une Source Française des Poèmes de Gower" which discussed the sources for John Gower's poetry.^[3]

She worked as a nurse in Paris for two years during the First World War and later lectured in art and history at the University of Oxford.^[4]

Death and legacy edit

She committed suicide in 1951.^[2] Her papers are held by Queen Mary Archives.^[5] She was the subject of a biographical monograph by Genevieve O. Davidson in 1952. ^[6]

Selected publications edit

Une Source Française des Poèmes de Gower. Macon, 1905.

References edit

^ Benson, R. Seymour. (1912) Photographic Pedigree of the Descendants of Isaac and Rachel Wilson 1740. Middlesbrough: William Appleyard. p. 207.
^ ^a ^b Malchow, Howard L. (1992). Gentlemen Capitalists: The Social and Political World of the Victorian Businessman. Stanford: Stanford University Press. p. 242. ISBN 978-0-8047-1807-3.
^ "The French Works: Mirour de l'Omme" by Craig E. Bertolet in Ana Saez-Hidalgo; Brian Gastle; R.F. Yeager. (2017). The Routledge Research Companion to John Gower. Abingdon: Routledge. p. 321. ISBN 978-1-317-04303-4.
^ FOWLER, Rachel Elfreda (fl 1872-1927). JISC Archives Hub. Retrieved 30 June 2018.
^ Guide to Archives. Queen Mary University of London. Retrieved 30 June 2018.
^ Genevieve O. Davidson (1952). Rachel Elfreda Fowler, 1872-1951. C. Tinling.