Edith Farmiloe
Edith Caroline Parnell was born in Gillingham, Kent, England, in 1870. Her father was Colonel Hon. On 7 April 1891, Edith married Venerable William Farmiloe, then vicar of St Peter's in Great Windmill Street, Soho, London.
Also recorded as Edith Parnell · Edith Caroline Parnell · Edith Caroline Farmiloe
Edith Farmiloe

Unknown (c 1910), England · Property of Geoffrey Beare, member of IBIS (Imaginative Book Illustration Society) · CC BY-SA 4.0
- Born
- 1870 · Gillingham.
- Died
- 1921
- Nationality
- United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
- Occupation
- children's writer · illustrator
- Fields
- young adult literature
- Languages
- English
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Documentary summary
Edith Caroline Parnell was born in Gillingham, Kent, England, in 1870. Her father was Colonel Hon. On 7 April 1891, Edith married Venerable William Farmiloe, then vicar of St Peter's in Great Windmill Street, Soho, London.
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Note VALÉORINE
Edith Farmiloe (1870–1921) was a children's writer and illustrator, of British nationality. The children's writer was born in Gillingham. Activity centred on young adult literature. Languages used include English.
Composed from admitted, traceable facts · 26 September 2026
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wikidata · Q75261539 · wikipedia · Edith Farmiloe
In this article
Life
Life
She was living with her husband at 124 Ashley Gardens, opposite Westminster Cathedral in 1901 and was by then listed in the census as an "artist'". In 1905, Rev. Farmiloe and his wife moved to South Hackney where he became vicar of St. Augustine's overlooking Victoria Park. Farmiloe died on 26 March 1921 at Abbey House, Bury St Edmund's, Suffolk, aged 50, and is commemorated in a stained glass window memorial by Robert Anning Bell in St James's, Nayland. The text reads "Edith Caroline Farmiloe and her life-work among women and children are here commemorated by her husband..who shared in her work and found in her fellowship and example an inspiration for his ministry in London."
Edith Caroline Parnell was born in Gillingham, Kent, England, in 1870. Her father was Colonel Hon. Arthur Parnell (18411914) and her mother was Mary Anne Dunn. On 7 April 1891, Edith married Venerable William Farmiloe, then vicar of St Peter's in Great Windmill Street, Soho, London. She was living with her husband at 124 Ashley Gardens, opposite Westminster Cathedral in 1901 and was by then listed in the census as an "artist'". In 1905, Rev. Farmiloe and his wife moved to South Hackney where he became vicar of St. Augustine's overlooking Victoria Park. Farmiloe died on 26 March 1921 at Abbey House, Bury St Edmund's, Suffolk, aged 50, and is commemorated in a stained glass window memorial by Robert Anning Bell in St James's, Nayland. The text reads "Edith Caroline Farmiloe and her life-work among women and children are here commemorated by her husband...who shared in her work and found in her fellowship and example an inspiration for his ministry in London."
Career
Career
Between 1895 and 1909, Farmiloe wrote about and illustrated the lives of children living in her husband's parish in Soho, and later in South Hackney. Her sketches, from her observing children playing on the streets, were used in Events of the Season, which appeared first in Little Folks magazine in November 1895. Detailed bibliographical references to Farmiloe's work are taken from Mr. Beare's 2010 study. Farmiloe went on to illustrate many children's books including All the World Over (1898), with verses by Edward Verrall Lucas. This collaboration resulted from an association with the publisher Franklin Thomas Grant Richards (who traded as 'Grant Richards'), made in 1897 when she created endpaper designs for his first three 'Dumpy Books for Children'. In All the World Over Farmiloe originated the colour drawings, receiving a royalty of 10% for the first 1500 copies and 15% thereafter. The venture was a success and 2000 copies had sold by the end of 1898. Farmiloe both wrote and illustrated at least eight books herself. These included 'Chousers' and other stories (1898), Piccalilli (1900), Chapel Street Children (1900), Young George - his Life (1902) and Mr Biddle and the Dragon (1904).
Selected works
Selected works
• All the World Over (1898) with verses by writer E. V. Lucas • The Bad family: & other stories (1898) with E. Fenwick • Chousers' and other stories (1898) with Society for Promotion of Christian Knowledge (SPCK) • Rag, Tag and Bobtail (1898) with her sister, writer Winifred Parnell • Piccalilli (1900) • Chapel Street Children (1900) • The bountiful lady - or, how Mary was changed from a very miserable little girl to a very happy one (1900) with writer Thomas Cobb and other illustrators • Little Citizens (1901) with Society for Promotion of Christian Knowledge (SPCK) • Young George - his Life (1902) • Mr and Mrs Tiddliwinks (1902), with Society for Promotion of Christian Knowledge (SPCK) • One Day (1903) with other writers • Mr Biddle and the Dragon (1904) • Elizabeth over-the-Way (1905) • Our Darlings (1910) with writers W. Davenport Adams, Catharine Shaw, and other illustrators, Harry B. Neilson, Louis Wain.
Identity and origins
Identity and origins
The authorities additionally record the headings Edith Parnell, Edith Caroline Parnell and Edith Caroline Farmiloe. Her recorded language was English. She was the child of Arthur Parnell and Mary Anne Dunn. She married William Farmiloe.
Identity
Identity
Edith Farmiloe is recorded as children's writer and illustrator.
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
The full dated record · 2 entries
1870
Edith Farmiloe was born in 1870 at Gillingham.
1921
Edith Farmiloe died in 1921.
Critical reception
The Standard described All the World Over (1898) as "a pretty volume, brightly illustrated, representing funny children in the costumes of many countries." The Pall Mall Gazette called Rag, Tag, and Bobtail (1989) "one of the few books which deserve a place on the shelves of every (nursery) library." In its review of Piccalilli (1900), the same newspaper wrote that Farmiloe "has an exact eye for the humour and pathos of the children of the street, and her drawings are amazingly true to life, fresh, piquant, and convincing." A review in The Graphic described Chapel Street Children (1900) as "a book which will delight children of any age," adding that Farmiloe is "second to none in her delineations of Cockney gutter imps." • Illustration — All the World Over London (East) – The Diamond Jubilee
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Suffolk Artists - FARMILOE, Edith Caroline. suffolkartists.co.uk.
- 2.Marriage. The Standard. 5. 1891-04-08.
- 3.'The Children of the Poor'- Drawings of Edith Farmiloe. Humber Museums Partnership. May 2017.
- 4.Gift books for children. The Standard. 8. 1898-12-24.
- 5.More children's books. The Pall Mall Gazette. 10. 1899-11-23.
- 6.For the children. The Pall Mall Gazette. 5. 1900-11-12.
- 7.Chapel Street Children. The Graphic: An Illustrated Weekly Newspaper. 28. 1900-12-22.
- 8.Books of the season, &c. Liverpool Mercury, etc. 11. 1899-12-06.
References
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
reference work
Secondary witnessreference work
Secondary witness
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 17 August 2026.
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