A. L. O. E. (Charlotte Maria Tucker)

CHARLOTTE MARIA TUCKER (1821–1883) was born in Barnet, England. Her father, Henry St. George Tucker, was chairman of the East India Company. Henry was against girls going to school, so Charlotte was educated at home. Henry discouraged writing so nothing was published before his death. Charlotte was full of energy, vitality and was very generous. She was a deep thinker, seemingly always religious. She had talent in music, drawing, writing, acting and teaching. She lived at No. 3 Upper Portland Place, her childhood home, for 49 years. Her brothers moved to India, but she took care of her mother until she died in 1869. Afterwards, being financially successful and free of caring for her mother, she took up the study of Hindustani. In 1875, she felt a divine call and traveled to India for 18 years and carried on missionary work until her death. She continued to write stories in India.

A theme of her life was teaching: whether it was teaching Bible Classes in the Boys School in India, or teaching women in Indian Zenanas (segregated rooms for Indian women in the purdah system), or writing stories with an instructional purpose for English children or writing booklets especially for Indian children. Her pen name was A.L.O.E. (A Lady of England) which she kept even though she was "A Lady of India" for the last 18 years of her life. Early in her life, she wrote and acted in plays for home amusement. Her earliest story is "The Claremont Tales," illustrates the Beatitudes. Many stories were printed in "The Children's Paper." A popular story was "Rambles of a Rat" which is about household rodents talking of their adventures.

Curiosmith features:

Interesting facts:

The Duke of Wellington attended one of their parties.
Batala had aloe hedges which people made jokes about because it was the same name as the author ALOE.
In India, Miss Tucker lived a life of rigid simplicity with few belongings even though she could afford more.

Family:

Father – Henry St. George Tucker, (his middle name from an island in Bermuda where he was born.) He worked for East India Company 1786-1815; during 1815-1826 he lived in England; he was Director of the East India Company 1826-1851. He was also a writer.
Mother – Jane Boswell- married Henry in 1811.
Brother – Henry Carre Tucker, British civil servant in India. Commissioner at Benares. (1st )
Sister – Sibella Jane, married Rev. Frederick Hamilton. (2nd)
Sister – Frances Anne (3rd)
Brother – George William (died in infancy). (4th)
Brother – Robert Tudor Tucker – Died in the Indian Mutiny of 1857. (5th)
Herself – Charlotte Maria. (6th)
Brother – St. George, Mirzapore, India. (7th)
Sister – Dorothea Laura, married Otho Hamilton, Frederick's older brother. (8th)
Brother – William Tucker. (9th)
Brother – Charleton. (10th)
Sister – Clara. (11th)

Sources:

Cutt, Margaret Nancy. Ministering Angels. Dorset: The Blackmore Press, 1979

Giberne, Agnes. A Lady of England: The Life and Letters of Charlotte Maria Tucker. London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1896.

ALOE Booklist:

Adopted Son (The)
An Eden in England
Angus Tarlton: Illustrations of the Fruits of the Spirit - $6.95
Backward Swing (The), and Other Stories
Battling with the World
Beautiful Garment, and other stories (The)
Ben Stone
Beyond the Black Waters: A Tale [or Dark Waters]
Black Yarn and Blue and Other Tales
Blacksmith of Boniface Lane (The)
Blind Alice and Her Benefactors
Braid of Cords (A)
Brother's Return (The) and Other Stories
Castle of Carlsmont (The)
Children's Garland (The): A Picture Story Book
Children's Posy (The): A Picture Story Book
Children's Tabernacle; or, Hand-work and Heart-work
Christ and the Soul: Texts Selected and Spiritual Song
Christian Conquests
Christian Love and Loyalty
Christian's Mirror; or, Words in Season
City of Nocross and Its Famous Physician (The)
Claremont Tales; or, Illustrations of the Beatitudes - $9.95
Claudia: A Tale
Convict's Child (The); or, The Helmut of Hope
Cords of Sin
Cottage by the Stream
Court at Ravenna a Comedy (The)
Crown of Success (The); or, Four Heads to Furnish
Cyril Ashley. A Tale.
Daybreak in Britain
Dora's Mistake a Story
Driven into Exile
Edith and Her Ayah, and Other Stories
Every Cloud Has a Silver Lining; and five other little books
Exiles in Babylon, or Children of Light
Fairy Frisket; or, Peeps at Insect Life
Fairy in a Spider's Web (The)
Fairy Know-a-bit; or, A Nutshell of Knowledge
Falsely Accused; or, Christian Conquests
Father's Letter: A New Year Story
Flora; or, Self-Deception
Forlorn Hope (The)
Freedom: A Tale of Early Christians
Friend in Need (A) and Other Stories
Futteypore
Gain or Loss
Giant-Killer (The), or The Battle which All Must Fight
Gift Book for the New Year
Glimpses of the Unseen: Poems
Golden Fleece (The)
Good for Evil, and Other Stories
Grace Vernon; or, Christian Love and Loyalty
Grannie's Love Proof; or, Words without Deeds or Little Husks without Seeds
Harold Hartley
Harold's Bride
Harry Dangerfield, the Poacher
Hartley Brothers (The)
Hasty Blow (A)
Haunted Room (The)
Hebrew Heroes; A Tale founded on Jewish History
History of a Needle
Holiday Chaplet of Stories (The)
Hours with Orientals
House Beautiful; or, the Bible Museum Opened
Hymn My Mother Taught Me and other Stories (The)
Hymns and Poems - $7.95
Idols in the Heart
Illustrations of the Parables
Iron Chain and the Golden (The)
Is There a Hart in it? A New Year's Address 1871
Lady of Provence (The); or, Humbled and Healed. A Tale of the First French Revolution
Lake of the Woods (The)
Life in the Eagles Nest
Life in the White Bears Den
Light In the Robbers Cave (The)
Little Brother (The)
Little Bullets from Batala
Living Jewels: Diversities of Christian Character
Lost Jewel (The)
Mahala, the Jewish Slave. A Story of Early Christianity
Message of Hope (The) and Other Stories
Mine (The); or, Darkness and Light - $7.95
Miracles of Heavenly Love in Daily Life
My Neighbor's Shoes; or, Feeling for Others
Ned Franks; or, The Christian Panoply
Needle and the Rat (The)
New Stories
New Year's Address for 1857: As Ye Sow So Shall Ye Reap
New Year's Hymns
Nora's Trial
Nutshell of Knowledge (A)
Old Friends with New Faces
Olive-branch (The), and Other Stories
On the Way; or, Places Passed by Pilgrims
Only a Little, and Other Stories
Our Sympathizing High Priest: - $4.95 Meditations on the Daily Sorrows of the Saviour
Parliament in the Play-room
Pearl, and other stories (The)
Pearls of Wisdom
Percival's Picture Gallery
Picture Story-Book
Pictures of St. Paul Drawn in an English Home
Pictures of St. Peter in an English Home
Poetry by ALOE
Pomegranates from the Punjab. Indian Stories.
Precepts in Practice; or, Stories Illustrating the Proverbs
Pretty Present for Pets
Pride and His Prisoners
Rambles of a Rat (The)
Rescued From Egypt
Robbers Cave (The). A Story of Italy - $7.95
Roby Family (The); or, Battling with the World. A sequel to the Giant Killer; or, the battle which we all must fight
Rope Cable Cut (The) and Other Stories
Scripture Puzzles with Simple Descriptive Narratives and Bible Questions
Seven Perils Passed
Sheer Off: A Tale
Shepherd of Bethlehem (The), King of Israel
Silver Casket (The); or, Love Not the World
Silver Keys (The)
Sketch of History of the Jews
Sketches of the Life of Luther
Sophie Claymore
Spanish Cavalier (The)
Stories for the Young
Stories from History of the Jews
Stories from Jewish History: from the Babylonish Captivity to the Destruction of Jerusalem by Titus
Story of a Needle (The)
Straight Road Is Shortest and Surest (The)
Sunday Chaplet of Stories (The)
Sunday Picture Book: Illustrating the Life of the Lord Christ in a Series of Short Poems
Teacher Taught (The)
Thorn in the Conscience and Other Stories
Thoughtful Alice and Other Stories
Tiny Red Night-cap (The), and Other Stories
Tit, Tiny and Tittens, the Three White Kittens
Triumph over Midian (The)
Truant Kitten (The), and Other Stories
True Heroism
Try Again, and Other Stories
Two Crutches (The) and Other Stories
Two Dinners (The)and Other Stories
Upwards and Downwards and Other Stories
Victory (The), and Other Stories
Wanderer in Africa (The)
War and Peace. A Tale of Retreat from Cabul
What Is a Christian?
Whirlpool (The)
Whispering Unseen; or, Be Ye Doers of the Word, and Not Hearers Only
White Bear's Den (The)
Wings and Stings: a Tale for the Young. - $6.95
Wonderous Sickle (The) and other stories
Wreath of Indian Stories (A)
Wreath of Smoke (A)
Young Pilgrim (The); A Tale Illustrative of the Pilgrim's Progress.
Zaida's Nursery Note-Book for the Use of Mothers
Zenana Reader (The)

Booklist compiled from publishers' listings, Google Books searches, and Nancy Cutt's "Ministering Angels: A Study of Nineteenth-Century Evangelical Writing for Children."

ALOE small Booklet List:

African Child (The)
Bag of Treasure (The)
Black Cliff (The); Illustrations of the Parables
Brahmini Bull (The)
Brahmin's Story (A)
Child Marriage (The)
Conquerer (A) 39 pages - Included in "What Is a Christian?"
Eight Pearls of Blessing
Flower of Young India (The)
Flowers and Fruits
For Whom is This?
Fountain and the Cloud (The)
Gideon the Hero
Gift to the Caliph
India's People
Intercessor (The)
Jai Singh, the Brave Sikh; and other Stories
Let in the Daylight
Mirror and the Bracelet (The)
New Way of Eating Kelas (Plantains)
Oldest Language of All (The)
Ploughshare (The)
Precious Trust (The)
Prophet and the Leper (The)
Rainbow (The)
Rajah and his Servants (The)
Rebel (The)
Search after a Pearl (The)
Spiritual and Physical Analogies
Story of a Farmer
Story of Dr. Duff
Story of the Pink Chaddar
Trees to be Cut Down
Turban with a Border of Gold (The)
Twice-Born (The)
Two Pilgrims to Kashi (The) and other stories
Vessels of Gold.
Walayat Ali, the Martyr
Widows and the Bible.
Wonderful Medicine (The); and other stories
Wreath of Stories