Flora Klickmann
Encyclopedia
Emily Flora Klickmann was an English
journalist
, author
and editor
. She was the second editor of the Girl's Own Paper
, but became best known for her Flower-Patch series of books of anecdotes, autobiography and nature description.
, London
, one of six children. As a girl she aspired to be a concert pianist, but suffered from illness in her teens and at the age of 21 began work as a music teacher. She then moved into music journalism
, and by 1895 had started contributing articles to The Windsor Magazine, one of the best-known story periodicals of the time. In 1904, she became the editor of The Foreign Field, a magazine published by the Wesleyan Methodist Missionary Society
. By this time, she had also begun writing and editing books on crafts and etiquette, aimed at young girls.
Four years later, in 1908, she was appointed editor of the Girl's Own Paper, in succession to its first editor, Charles Peters. This was a highly successful periodical aimed at girls and young women, published by the Religious Tract Society
(RTS). The magazine moved from a weekly to monthly format, and she introduced new themes such as careers advice for girls, advice on style and dress, photography competitions and crafts. Long serials became less common, and their place was taken by a larger number of shorter stories, often from distant parts of the world.
In 1912 she suffered a breakdown through overwork and stress. While remaining as editor, she spent a period of convalescence at a rented cottage close to the small Gloucestershire
village of Brockweir
in the Wye valley
, an area in which her grandparents had lived. In 1913, she married Ebenezer Henderson Smith, one of the executives at the RTS; her married name was Emily Flora Henderson Smith. They shared a house at Sydenham
in south London, and purchased a second house at Brockweir, Sylvan Lodge (now Sylvan House).
In 1916 she published the first of a series of books of written sketches of life in her country cottage at Brockweir (known in her books as "Rosemary Cottage" - see 'Flower Patch Among the Hills', 'The Trail of the Ragged Robin' etc.), with its idyllic cottage garden
and spectacular views over the River Wye
and Tintern Abbey
. The book, The Flower-Patch Among the Hills, was based on articles which she had originally written for the Girl's Own Paper, and was highly successful. She acquired a succession of cottages in the area over the years. In later years the stories grew to involve her household and the local people, combining nature description, anecdote, autobiography, religion, and humour. In all, seven Flower Patch books were published, over 32 years. Her writing has been described as "humorous, elegant and beautifully observed, revealing a genuine love and concern for the natural world". A keen environmentalist, she wrote of the virtues of gardening without artificial chemicals and the value of natural fertilisers long before they became fashionable, and decried the taking of wild flower bulbs.
She also published novels, advice books, children's stories and non-fiction on many topics including gardening, cooking, and needlework
techniques, some of which have been republished in recent years. She remained editor of the Girl's Own Paper until 1931, and continued to write Flower Patch books until 1948.
Her husband died in 1937. She died in 1958, and was buried in the graveyard of the Moravian Church
at Brockweir.
English people
The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...
journalist
Journalist
A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
, author
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
and editor
Editing
Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, visual, audible, and film media used to convey information through the processes of correction, condensation, organization, and other modifications performed with an intention of producing a correct, consistent, accurate, and complete...
. She was the second editor of the Girl's Own Paper
Girl's Own Paper
Girl's Own Paper was a British story paper catering for girls and young women, published from 1880 until 1956.- Publishing history :The first weekly number of the Girl's Own Paper appeared on January 3, 1880. As with its male counterpart the Boy's Own Paper, the magazine was published by the...
, but became best known for her Flower-Patch series of books of anecdotes, autobiography and nature description.
Life
Flora Klickmann was born in BrixtonBrixton
Brixton is a district in the London Borough of Lambeth in south London, England. It is south south-east of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London....
, 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...
, one of six children. As a girl she aspired to be a concert pianist, but suffered from illness in her teens and at the age of 21 began work as a music teacher. She then moved into music journalism
Music journalism
Music journalism is criticism and reportage about music. It began in the eighteenth century as comment on what is now thought of as 'classical music'. This aspect of music journalism, today often referred to as music criticism , comprises the study, discussion, evaluation, and interpretation of...
, and by 1895 had started contributing articles to The Windsor Magazine, one of the best-known story periodicals of the time. In 1904, she became the editor of The Foreign Field, a magazine published by the Wesleyan Methodist Missionary Society
English Wesleyan Mission
English Wesleyan Mission was a British Methodist missionary society that was involved in sending workers to countries such as China during the late Qing Dynasty....
. By this time, she had also begun writing and editing books on crafts and etiquette, aimed at young girls.
Four years later, in 1908, she was appointed editor of the Girl's Own Paper, in succession to its first editor, Charles Peters. This was a highly successful periodical aimed at girls and young women, published by the Religious Tract Society
Religious Tract Society
The Religious Tract Society, founded 1799, 56 Paternoster Row and 65 St. Paul's Chuchyard, was the original name of a major British publisher of Christian literature intended initially for evangelism, and including literature aimed at children, women, and the poor.The RTS is also notable for being...
(RTS). The magazine moved from a weekly to monthly format, and she introduced new themes such as careers advice for girls, advice on style and dress, photography competitions and crafts. Long serials became less common, and their place was taken by a larger number of shorter stories, often from distant parts of the world.
In 1912 she suffered a breakdown through overwork and stress. While remaining as editor, she spent a period of convalescence at a rented cottage close to the small Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn, and the entire Forest of Dean....
village of Brockweir
Brockweir
Brockweir is a small village on the eastern bank of the River Wye, within the Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire, England. A road bridge links it across the river to Monmouthshire, Wales, about a mile outside the village of Tintern and 7½ miles north of Chepstow...
in the Wye valley
Wye Valley
The Wye Valley Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty is an internationally important protected landscape straddling the border between England and Wales. It is one of the most dramatic and scenic landscape areas in southern Britain....
, an area in which her grandparents had lived. In 1913, she married Ebenezer Henderson Smith, one of the executives at the RTS; her married name was Emily Flora Henderson Smith. They shared a house at Sydenham
Sydenham
Sydenham is an area and electoral ward in the London Borough of Lewisham; although some streets towards Crystal Palace Park, Forest Hill and Penge are outside the ward and in the London Borough of Bromley, and some streets off Sydenham Hill are in the London Borough of Southwark. Sydenham was in...
in south London, and purchased a second house at Brockweir, Sylvan Lodge (now Sylvan House).
In 1916 she published the first of a series of books of written sketches of life in her country cottage at Brockweir (known in her books as "Rosemary Cottage" - see 'Flower Patch Among the Hills', 'The Trail of the Ragged Robin' etc.), with its idyllic cottage garden
Cottage garden
The cottage garden is a distinct style of garden that uses an informal design, traditional materials, dense plantings, and a mixture of ornamental and edible plants. English in origin, the cottage garden depends on grace and charm rather than grandeur and formal structure...
and spectacular views over the River Wye
River Wye
The River Wye is the fifth-longest river in the UK and for parts of its length forms part of the border between England and Wales. It is important for nature conservation and recreation.-Description:...
and Tintern Abbey
Tintern Abbey
Tintern Abbey was founded by Walter de Clare, Lord of Chepstow, on 9 May 1131. It is situated in the village of Tintern, on the Welsh bank of the River Wye in Monmouthshire, which forms the border between Monmouthshire in Wales and Gloucestershire in England. It was only the second Cistercian...
. The book, The Flower-Patch Among the Hills, was based on articles which she had originally written for the Girl's Own Paper, and was highly successful. She acquired a succession of cottages in the area over the years. In later years the stories grew to involve her household and the local people, combining nature description, anecdote, autobiography, religion, and humour. In all, seven Flower Patch books were published, over 32 years. Her writing has been described as "humorous, elegant and beautifully observed, revealing a genuine love and concern for the natural world". A keen environmentalist, she wrote of the virtues of gardening without artificial chemicals and the value of natural fertilisers long before they became fashionable, and decried the taking of wild flower bulbs.
She also published novels, advice books, children's stories and non-fiction on many topics including gardening, cooking, and needlework
Needlework
Needlework is a broad term for the handicrafts of decorative sewing and textile arts. Anything that uses a needle for construction can be called needlework...
techniques, some of which have been republished in recent years. She remained editor of the Girl's Own Paper until 1931, and continued to write Flower Patch books until 1948.
Her husband died in 1937. She died in 1958, and was buried in the graveyard of the Moravian Church
British Province of the Moravian Church
The British Province of the Moravian Church is part of the world wide Moravian Church Unity.-History:...
at Brockweir.
The Flower-Patch Series
- The Flower-Patch Among the Hills (1916)
- Between the Larch Woods and the Weir (1917)
- The Trail Of The Ragged Robin (1921)
- Flower-Patch Neighbours (1928)
- Visitors At The Flower-Patch (1931)
- The Flower-Patch Garden Book (1933)
- Weeding the Flower-Patch (1948)
Others
- The Rainy-Day Picture Book (1896)
- From Nursery Land (1897)
- At The Seaside (1897)
- How To Behave (editor, 1898)
- In Make-Believe Land (1899)
- The Language Of Flowers (1899)
- How To Dress (1900)
- In Pinafore-Land (1900)
- The Picture Gallery Of Animals (1900)
- The Lever That Moves The World (1903)
- Songs Of The Land Of The Stars And Stripes (1903)
- Etiquette Of To-Day (1903)
- The Ambitions Of Jenny Ingram (1911)
- The Home Art Crochet Book (editor, 1912)
- The Home Art Book of Fancy Stitchery (editor, 1912)
- The Craft of the Crochet Hook (editor, 1912)
- The Modern Crochet Book (editor, 1913)
- Artistic Crochet (editor, 1914)
- The Cult of the Needle (editor, c.1914)
- The Mistress of the Little House (editor, 1915)
- The Modern Knitting Book (editor, 1915)
- The Little Girl's Knitting and Crochet Book (editor, 1915)
- The Little Girl's Sewing Book (editor, c.1915)
- Outdoor Pictures (editor, 1915)
- Beautiful Crochet on Household Linen (editor, 1916)
- The Little Girl's Bird Book (editor, 1917)
- Hardanger and Cross-Stitch (editor, 1918)
- The Little Girl's Fancy Work (editor, 1919)
- Needlework Economies (editor, 1919)
- Distinctive Crochet (editor, 1919)
- Pillow Lace and Hand-Worked Trimmings (editor, 1920)
- The Lure Of The Pen: A Book For Would-be Authors (1920)
- The Popular Knitting Book (editor, 1921)
- The Little Girl's Cooking Book (editor, 1923)
- The Little Girl's Sweet Book (editor, 1923)
- The Shining Way (1923)
- The Path to Fame (1925)
- Mending Your Nerves (1925)
- The Carillon of Scarpa (1925)
- Many Questions Answered (1928)
- The Lady-With-The-Crumbs (1931)
- Mystery In The Windflower Wood (1932)
- Delicate Fuss (1932)
- Victorian Fancy Stitchery: Techniques & Designs (2003 reprint of The Home Art Book of Fancy Stitchery)
- Victorian Needlework: Techniques & Designs (2003 reprint of The Cult of the Needle)
External links
- Photo of Flora Klickmann's grave
- Flora Klickmann's "Home Art" books
- The Flower-Patch Among the Hills at Google Books