Adelaide Anne Procter (30 October 1825 – 2 February 1864) was an English poet and philanthropist.
She worked prominently on behalf of unemployed women and the homeless, and was actively involved with feminist groups and journals.
Procter never married.
She became unhealthy, possibly due to her charity work, and died of tuberculosis at the age of 38.
Procter's literary career began when she was a teenager; her poems were primarily published in Charles Dickens's periodicals Household Words and All the Year Round and later published in book form.
Her charity work and her conversion to Roman Catholicism appear to have strongly influenced her poetry, which deals most commonly with such subjects as homelessness, poverty, and fallen women.
Procter was the favourite poet of Queen Victoria.
Her poetry went through numerous editions in the 19th century; Coventry Patmore called her the most popular poet of the day, after Alfred, Lord Tennyson.
Her poems were set to music and made into hymns, and were published in the United States and Germany as well as in England.
Nonetheless, by the early 20th century her reputation had diminished, and few modern critics have given her work attention.
Those who have, however, argue that Procter's work is significant, in part for what it reveals about how Victorian women expressed otherwise repressed feelings.
one or more third parties have made copyright claims against Wikimedia Commons in relation to the work from which this is sourced or a purely mechanical reproduction thereof. This may be due to recognition of the "sweat of the brow" doctrine, allowing works to be eligible for protection through skill and labour, and not purely by originality as is the case in the United States (where this website is hosted). These claims may or may not be valid in all jurisdictions.
As such, use of this image in the jurisdiction of the claimant or other countries may be regarded as copyright infringement. Please see Commons:When to use the PD-Art tag for more information.
See source website for additional information.
This set of images was gathered by User:Dcoetzee from the National Portrait Gallery, London website using a special tool. All images in this batch have been confirmed as author died before 1939 according to the official death date listed by the NPG. License: CC-PD-Mark PD-Art (PD-old-80)