Emma Caroline Wood
Emma Caroline Wood was a British novelist and artist who lived from 15 January 1802 to 15 December 1879. She was born in Portugal, the daughter of Admiral Sampson Michell, and grew up in Lisbon. When Napoleon invaded Portugal, her family moved to England, and her father later died in Brazil in 1809.
In 1820 she married the Reverend John Page Wood, who would become a baronet. With his influence, Emma briefly served as Lady of the Bedchamber to Queen Caroline before the queen’s death in 1821. Emma had 13 children, including writers Emma Barrett-Lennard and Anna Caroline Steel, Field Marshal Sir Henry Evelyn Wood, and Katharine O'Shea, who was the mistress of Charles Stewart Parnell.
In the 1830s Emma painted watercolors and worked as a professional book illustrator. She and her daughter Anna published a poetry book called Ephemera under the pen names Helen and Gabrielle Carr. After her husband died in 1866, Emma began publishing novels, many with nautical themes. Her 1874 novel Ruling the Roast has been noted for possible autobiographical elements.
Emma Caroline Wood died on 15 December 1879 in Belhus, Essex.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 23:37 (CET).