Winkworth, Catherine (1827–1878)

English poet and translator. Born on September 13, 1827, in London, England; died of heart failure on July 1, 1878; daughter of Henry Winkworth (a silk merchant) and Susanna (Dickenson) Winkworth; sister of Susanna Winkworth (1820–1884); educated by governesses and tutors; privately studied German language and literature.

Born in 1827, in the Holborn district of London, Catherine Winkworth was the fourth daughter of Susanna Dickenson Winkworth , a farmer's daughter from Kent, and Henry Winkworth, a silk merchant whose father was an evangelical cleric. The family moved to Manchester when she was young, and she and her sisters were privately educated by governesses and tutored by two celebrated Unitarian clerics: the Reverend William Gaskell (later husband of poet and novelist Elizabeth Gaskell ) and the Reverend James Martineau (brother of Harriet Martineau , a fervent abolitionist and writer). The Gaskells shared friendships with many contemporary writers, including Charles Dickens, and Catherine later credited Reverend Gaskell for her appreciation and knowledge of English literature. In 1841, when Catherine was 14 years old, her mother died; four years later, her father remarried. That year, Catherine traveled to Dresden, Germany, to live with an aunt and act as governess to her cousins.

Catherine developed a fluency in German and an intense interest in German literature; like her elder sister, Susanna Winkworth , she was an extraordinarily gifted translator. Catherine studied and translated German hymns, including a first collection of translations of common hymns in Lyra Germanica, published in 1855. More than 20 editions of the book were published. In 1858, a second series was printed and a third set of hymns followed the next year. Scholars credit Catherine's translations with familiarizing English readers with German hymns. Baron Bunsen, a former German ambassador, suggested that the hymns be published with music, and Winkworth published The Chorale Book for England in 1862. Her subsequent writing extended to translations of German prose as well as hymns in Veni Sancti Spiritus (1865), and a set of biographical sketches, Christian Singers of Germany (1869).

In England, the Winkworths had endured financial losses and moved to Clifton on the outskirts of Bristol. Catherine, perceiving an opportunity to promote higher education for women, organized lectures and classes to prepare women to take the Cambridge examinations. She helped found Bristol University College, later Bristol University, and acted as a Cheltenham Ladies College council member. She also served as a governor for Red Maid's School in Bristol and promoted the creation of Clifton High School for Girls. In 1868, Winkworth joined the Committee on Higher Education for Women, becoming its secretary in 1870. With her older sister Susanna, she served as a delegate to the German Conference on Women's Work in 1872. In 1878, Winkworth traveled to Monnetier, France, to nurse her invalid nephew where she suffered a fatal heart attack and died on July 1, 1878. After her death, two scholarships for women were established in her memory at Bristol University.

sources:

Kunitz, Stanley J., and Howard Haycraft, eds. Twentieth Century Authors. NY: H.W. Wilson, 1942.

Shattock, Joanne. The Oxford Guide to British Women Writers. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1993.

Gillian S. Holmes , freelance writer, Hayward, California