Life

Dorothy Greenwell was born 6 December 1821 at the family estate called Greenwell Ford in Lanchester

Lanchester, County Durham

Lanchester is a village and civil parish in County Durham, England, and was in the former district of Derwentside . It is to the west of the city of Durham and from the former steel town of Consett, and has a population of slightly over 4,000 people.Although there was a small drift mine on the...

, County Durham

County Durham

County Durham is a ceremonial county and unitary district in north east England. The county town is Durham. The largest settlement in the ceremonial county is the town of Darlington...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

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Her father was William Thomas Greenwell (1777–1856) and mother was Dorothy Smales (1789–1871).
Her oldest brother was William Greenwell

William Greenwell

Canon William Greenwell FRS FSA FSA.Scot was an English archaeologist.-Life:William Greenwell was born 23 March 1820 in the estate known as Greenwell Ford near Lanchester, County Durham, England...

 (1820–1918), an archaeologist. She had three younger brothers: Francis Greenwell (1823–1894), Alan Greenwell (1824–1914) and Henry Nicholas Greenwell

Henry Nicholas Greenwell

Henry Nicholas Greenwell was an English merchant credited with establishing Kona coffee as an internationally known brand.His family became major land-holders in the Kona District of the island of Hawaii....

 (1826–1891) . She was known as Dora to avoid confusion with her mother.

She published her first volume of poems in 1848 through William Pickering

William Pickering (publisher)

William Pickering was an English publisher, notable for introducing cloth binding to British publishing before 1820.Pickering began working as an antiquarian bookseller before 1820, and quickly moved into publishing...

, after her family had to leave their home. She moved to Durham

Durham

Durham is a city in north east England. It is within the County Durham local government district, and is the county town of the larger ceremonial county...

 with her brother William who would later become Canon

Canon (priest)

A canon is a priest or minister who is a member of certain bodies of the Christian clergy subject to an ecclesiastical rule ....

 of Durham Cathedral

Durham Cathedral

The Cathedral Church of Christ, Blessed Mary the Virgin and St Cuthbert of Durham is a cathedral in the city of Durham, England, the seat of the Anglican Bishop of Durham. The Bishopric dates from 995, with the present cathedral being founded in AD 1093...

. After a short time working with her brother Alan who was Rector

Rector

The word rector has a number of different meanings; it is widely used to refer to an academic, religious or political administrator...

 of Golborne

Golborne

Golborne is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan, in Greater Manchester, England.It lies south-southeast of Wigan, northeast of Warrington and to the west of the city of Manchester. It has a population of 23,119....

, she moved back to Durham and lived with her mother.

Her major success came in the 1860s. Many works have Christian

Christian

A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...

 religious themes. She is often compared to Christina Rossetti

Christina Rossetti

Christina Georgina Rossetti was an English poet who wrote a variety of romantic, devotional, and children's poems...

, and dedicated a book to Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Elizabeth Barrett Browning was one of the most prominent poets of the Victorian era. Her poetry was widely popular in both England and the United States during her lifetime. A collection of her last poems was published by her husband, Robert Browning, shortly after her death.-Early life:Members...

. In addition to poetry, she wrote essays on women's education and suffrage, and attacked the slave trade.
Some of her verses were set to music as hymns, such as "I Am Not Skilled to Understand" by William J. Kirkpatrick

William J. Kirkpatrick

William J. Kirkpatrick was born in Duncannon, Pennsylvania to a schoolteacher and musician, Thomas Kirkpatrick. He was exposed to and given formal training in music at a very young age. In 1854, he moved to Philadelphia to study music and carpentry. It was here that he studied vocal music under...

.
A contemporary version was composed by Aaron Shust

Aaron Shust

Aaron Michael Shust is an American Contemporary Christian Music artist on the Centricity Music label. Shust was named the songwriter of the year at the GMA Dove Awards of 2007, and his song "My Savior My God" received the Song of the Year award.-Biography:Shust grew up near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania...

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She also wrote biographies of French priest Jean-Baptiste Henri Lacordaire

Jean-Baptiste Henri Lacordaire

Jean-Baptiste Henri-Dominique Lacordaire , often styled Henri-Dominique Lacordaire, was a French ecclesiastic, preacher, journalist and political activist...

 and American Quaker

Religious Society of Friends

The Religious Society of Friends, or Friends Church, is a Christian movement which stresses the doctrine of the priesthood of all believers. Members are known as Friends, or popularly as Quakers. It is made of independent organisations, which have split from one another due to doctrinal differences...

 John Woolman

John Woolman

John Woolman was an American itinerant Quaker preacher who traveled throughout the American colonies and in England, advocating against cruelty to animals, economic injustices and oppression, conscription, military taxation, and particularly slavery and the slave trade.- Origins and early life...

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After her mother's death in 1871, she visited friends for a few years, and then moved to London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

 in 1874.
After an accident in 1881 she lived with her brother Alan Greenwell in Clifton, Bristol

Clifton, Bristol

Clifton is a suburb of the City of Bristol in England, and the name of both one of the city's thirty-five council wards. The Clifton ward also includes the areas of Cliftonwood and Hotwells...

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She died 29 March 1882 and was buried in Arnos Vale Cemetery

Arnos Vale Cemetery

Arnos Vale Cemetery , located in Arno's Vale in Bristol, England, was established in 1837. Its first burial was in 1839. The cemetery followed a joint-stock model, funded by shareholders. It was laid out as an Arcadian landscape with buildings by Charles Underwood.Arnos Vale cemetery is located on...

 in Bristol

Bristol

Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...

.

Works

External links