Herbert Art Gallery & Museum, Coventry
Portrait of Miss Caroline Hennell by Sara Hennell
Portrait of Miss Caroline Hennell
1833
By Sara Hennell (1812 to 1889)
Oil Painting
VA.2009.3.60
Caroline Hennell was known as Cara by her family and friends. In 1836 she married Charles Bray a prosperous ribbon manufacturer who bought the Coventry Herald newspaper in 1845. Their Coventry home, Rosehill, became a meeting place for people who held radical views on religion and politics. Mary Ann Evans was regular visitor and was deeply influenced by the views she heard expressed.
From 1841 to 1849 Mary Ann Evans lived with her father in a grand semi-detached house just off the main road in Foleshill, then village near the city of Coventry. While in Coventry Mary Ann became friends with radical intellectuals known as the Rosehill Circle – headed by Cara and Charles Bray.
Mary Ann’s time in Coventry was one of change and personal development. It had a difficult start as she refused to attend church for five months which deeply upset her father – a period known later as the ‘Holy War’. Her growing friendship with the Brays led to Mary Ann being commissioned to translate from the German Strauss’ sensational volume ‘The Life of Jesus, Critically Examined’.
The end of her time in Coventry was overshadowed by her father’s illness and death. This led to the Bray’s taking Mary Ann on a continental tour which began her move from the Midlands to London and the launch of her literary career.
Objects held at the Herbert Art Gallery & Museum are held in three collections: local studies at the Coventry Archives and Research Centre, visual arts and social history. Much of the collection relates to Mary Ann’s relationship with the Rosehill Circle and includes sketches, watercolours, letters and objects such as the piano bought for her by life partner, George Henry Lewes. Find our more at www.theherbert.org and explore our collections further at www.coventrycollections.org.
Portrait of Miss Caroline Hennell by Sara Hennell
Portrait of Miss Caroline Hennell
1833
By Sara Hennell (1812 to 1889)
Oil Painting
VA.2009.3.60
Caroline Hennell was known as Cara by her family and friends. In 1836 she married Charles Bray a prosperous ribbon manufacturer who bought the Coventry Herald newspaper in 1845. Their Coventry home, Rosehill, became a meeting place for people who held radical views on religion and politics. Mary Ann Evans was regular visitor and was deeply influenced by the views she heard expressed.
From 1841 to 1849 Mary Ann Evans lived with her father in a grand semi-detached house just off the main road in Foleshill, then village near the city of Coventry. While in Coventry Mary Ann became friends with radical intellectuals known as the Rosehill Circle – headed by Cara and Charles Bray.
Mary Ann’s time in Coventry was one of change and personal development. It had a difficult start as she refused to attend church for five months which deeply upset her father – a period known later as the ‘Holy War’. Her growing friendship with the Brays led to Mary Ann being commissioned to translate from the German Strauss’ sensational volume ‘The Life of Jesus, Critically Examined’.
The end of her time in Coventry was overshadowed by her father’s illness and death. This led to the Bray’s taking Mary Ann on a continental tour which began her move from the Midlands to London and the launch of her literary career.
Objects held at the Herbert Art Gallery & Museum are held in three collections: local studies at the Coventry Archives and Research Centre, visual arts and social history. Much of the collection relates to Mary Ann’s relationship with the Rosehill Circle and includes sketches, watercolours, letters and objects such as the piano bought for her by life partner, George Henry Lewes. Find our more at www.theherbert.org and explore our collections further at www.coventrycollections.org.