Adelaide Anne Procter
Adelaide Anne Procter was a 19th-century English poet and social activist, born on October 30, 1825, into a prominent literary family in London. Her father, Bryan Waller Procter, was a lawyer and poet known by the pseudonym Barry Cornwall, and her mother had connections to notable literary figures like William Wordsworth. Procter converted to Catholicism in 1851 and began publishing poetry under the pseudonym Mary Berwick in 1853, gaining recognition for her work in Charles Dickens’s publication, Household Words. Throughout her life, she was dedicated to advocating for women's rights, co-founding the Langham Place Circle and editing the English Women's Journal, which focused on issues such as education and employment for women.
Procter also edited an anthology published by an all-women staff and contributed to efforts benefiting homeless women and children. Despite her poetry being generally regarded as sentimental, some contemporary feminist critics have identified deeper themes of social rebellion within her work. Her most famous poem, "The Lost Chord," was set to music by composer Arthur Sullivan and remains notable in church hymns today. Procter passed away from tuberculosis on February 2, 1864, after a prolonged illness.
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Subject Terms
Adelaide Anne Procter
Poet
- Born: October 30, 1825
- Birthplace: London, England
- Died: February 2, 1864
Biography
Adelaide Anne Proctor was born into a privileged literary family on October 30, 1825, in London, England. Her father, Bryan Waller Procter, was a lawyer who published poetry under the pseudonym Barry Cornwall; he was a close friend of author Charles Dickens. Her mother, Anne Skepper Procter, was the stepdaughter of Basil Montagu, who was a friend of poet William Wordsworth and the biographer of Francis Bacon. As a young woman, Procter studied languages, art, and geometry. In 1851, following the example of an aunt living in Turin, Italy, Procter and her two sisters, Edith and Agnes, converted to Catholicism.
In 1853, Procter published her first poem in Charles Dickens’s Household Words under the pseudonym Mary Berwick. She used the pseudonym with the intention of gaining honest criticism from Dickens, a family friend. Dickens published her poetry for two years, commenting on her work favorably, before discovering her true identity. Her family also was unaware of her poetic success. She continued publishing in Household Words for the publication’s lifetime, then published in All the Year Round.
Procter dedicated herself to improving the social conditions of women. She joined with a group of women to form the Langham Place Circle. With her childhood friend, Bessie Rayner Parkes, she edited the English Women’s Journal, which provided a forum for the discussion of education, employment, and property rights for women. Later, Procter joined the Society to Promote the Employment of Women. In support of this society, she edited the anthology Victoria Regia: A Volume of Original Contributions in Poetry and Prose (1861). Although the anthology included selections written primarily by men, it was published by Victoria Press, which was staffed entirely by women. In 1862, Procter published a Chaplet of Verses in order to benefit the Providence Row Night Refuge for Homeless Women and Children. Procter contracted tuberculosis and was bedridden for fifteen months preceding her death on February 2, 1864.
Although her verse is considered by most critics as sentimental and simplistic, some current feminist critics have noted the nuances of social rebelliousness within her use of irony and argue that her poetry is not as simple as it appears on the surface. In addition, some of Procter’s hymns continued to be sung in churches in the twenty-first century. Her most well known poem is “The Lost Chord,” which composer Arthur Sullivan set to music.