Agnes Giberne (19 November 1845 – 20 August 1939) was a British novelist and scientific writer. Her fiction was typical of Victorian evangelical fiction with moral or religious themes for children. She also wrote books on science for young people, a handful of historical novels, and one well-regarded biography.

Biography

Giberne was born in Belgaum, Karnataka, India, the daughter of Captain Charles Giberne of the Bengal Native Infantry and Lydia Mary Wilson. Her ancestors were Huguenots from Languedoc in France where the "de Gibernes" lived in Chateau de Gibertain. Charles Giberne was from a large family. He had eight sisters and four brothers. Three of his brothers also served in India. Giberne's parents married at St. Mary the Virgin, Walthamstow on 11 December 1838. It is not absolutely clear how many siblings Giberne had. The British Library's India Family History and Families in British India Society records show: By the time of the 1851 census, Lydia Mary was staying with her four surviving daughters at Beach in Weston-super-mare with the Rector of Eyam in Derbyshire and his family. Charles Giberne had already been pensioned off and was staying at no 17, Beaufort, in Bath with two servants. By the time of the 1861 census, only two girls survived, Giberne and her sister Eliza. Eliza was educated privately, by governesses and special masters. She began to scribble stories at age seven and shared these with her sisters She ascribed her literary tastes to her mother and her scientific curiosity to her father.

Writing

Giberne states that she began to publish children's stories at seventeen. These were probably short stories in magazines. The first children's book by Giberne in the British Library is A Visit to Aunt Agnes (Religious Tract Society, London, 1864). It was advertised on 24 November 1864 at the price of two shillings. Giberne would have been 19 by then. Copson states that her children's stories were "typical works of Victorian evangelical fiction emphasizing childish faults and the need for salvation." The lithographs by Kronheim & Co. for A Visit to Aunt Agnes, by courtesy of the University of Florida Digital Collections. Initially, Giberne's work was signed either A. G. or she was indirectly indicated through identifying other works she had written. The first book in England which bears her name was The Curate's House which she wrote to draw attention to clerical poverty. Giberne had a wider range than just evangelical and didactic stories for young children. She also wrote books targeted at young adolescent girls, which was mainly published by the Religious Tract Society. Giberne also wrote historical novels including: In 1895 Giberne published A lady of England: the life and letters of Charlotte Maria Tucker (Hodder & Stoughton), who wrote children's fiction under the pseudonym "A Lady of England" (A.L.O.E.), and late in life, became a missionary in India. Giverne's Aunt Caroline Cuffley Giberne (1803-1885) had also worked as a missionary in India, and also concentrated on work with women and girls. However, Giberne is best remembered for her books popularising science. Giberne was an amateur astronomer who worked on the committee setting up the British Astronomical Association and became a founder-member in 1890. Giberne's first foray into science was a book on astronomy Sun, Moon and Stars: Astronomy for Beginners (Seeley, 1879). She had sent the proofs to Charles Pritchard (29 February 1808 – 28 May 1893), the Savilian Professor of Astronomy at Oxford University and he was so impressed by it that he wrote, without being asked, a very positive introduction.. The Graphic stated that "As an introduction to a science, it could scarcely be more attractive, and it is the best book of the kind we have seen." The book remained in print for many years and had sold 10,000 copies by 1884, 24,000 copies by 1898, and 26,000 by 1903, when she issued another revised edition. However, this total probably does not include the sales in the United States, where the book was published as The Story of The Sun, Moon, and Stars, as the totals cited come from the edition count on the title page of the Seeley editions, and Seeley would only have counted their own editions, and not those of another publisher. Giberne wrote several other books on Astronomy including: Giberne did not ignore the other sciences, she also wrote books on: Giberne was prolific. At her peak in the 1880s and 1890s, she produced 36 and 33 volumes respectively. Her output tapered off after 1900. However, her output over eight decades indicates her dedication to her work.

Later life

Although the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography states that Giberne wrote for her own interests rather than to earn money, she relied to some extent on her royalty income. Giberne found herself with severe financial problems in 1905, and applied to the Royal Literary Fund. She was now sixty, and was said to have given up the best years of her life to support her ailing father (who had died in 1902). She had failing eyesight, with cataracts in both eyes, and a weak heart. Her income was listed as an annuity, the royalties from her books, and £100 a year from the Indian Civil Service as a pensioner's child. She was awarded £200 from the Royal Literary Fund and £273 from the Royal Bounty Fund, both to be put towards the purchase of a Post Office annuity. However, her royalty income was falling, and her nominal income of £170 was not sufficient due to the rising cost of living, and she had been force to sell some furniture and all of her silver as well as moving into smaller accommodation. This time she was awarded a grant of £50. The 1911 census found her lodging in rooms at 2, The Avenue, Eastbourne. In 1939 she was living at 21 Enys Road Eastbourne. She died in a nursing home at 16 Motcombe Road, Eastbourne, on 20 August 1939, aged 94. Her estate was worth £539 18s 11d.

List of works

The following list of works has developed largely from a search on the Jisc Library Hub Discover database.. Where necessary, missing details such as page counts and publisher's names have been filled in by searches on WorldCat and on newspaper archives.