by Stephanie Chatfield
1848: Artist Ford Madox Brown was a widower with a young daughter, Lucy. Although not officially a member of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, he was closely involved with most of them, especially Rossetti.
Emma started posing for Ford Madox Brown the same year the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood was founded. Somewhere along the way, their working relationship turned into a romantic one, and though they didn’t marry right away, they ended up expecting a child together. Instead of going public, they chose to keep things quiet. Brown looked after Emma during her pregnancy, and on November 11, 1850, their daughter Catherine was born.
Since they weren’t married, they had to get a little creative when it came time for the baptism. Catherine was baptized under the names “Ford and Mathilda Hill”—Mathilda being Emma’s middle name, and Hill her last. A classic bit of Victorian-era truth-bending.
You can actually spot both Emma and baby Catherine in Brown’s painting The Pretty Baa Lambs. It’s a charming scene, but to me, they both look just a little uneasy in it. Emma’s cheeks are noticeably flushed, and—speaking as a mother—I can’t help but think how risky that outfit was for a baby. I wouldn’t have dressed one of mine like that for more than five minutes before expecting a major spit-up situation!
Ford and Emma finally tied the knot in 1853. As a wedding gift, Dante Gabriel Rossetti gave them a small sketch of Emma—a thoughtful, personal gesture. Around that time, Rossetti’s fiancée, Elizabeth Siddal, formed a close bond with Emma, and the two women became good friends.
Ford kept a diary throughout his life, and from his entries, it’s clear that while he and Emma loved each other deeply, their relationship wasn’t always smooth. They argued often, and Emma sometimes struggled with bouts of drinking.
They went on to have another child, a son named Oliver. Then in 1856, their second son, Arthur Gabriel, was born. His godparents were none other than Rossetti and Siddal—still unmarried at the time but clearly devoted to the family. Tragically, Arthur passed away in 1857. Not long after, Emma became pregnant again but suffered a miscarriage.
Despite her struggles with alcohol, Emma was often described as “kind and placid.” She was a loyal friend to many of the women in the Pre-Raphaelite circle, especially Georgiana Burne-Jones. Emma had a generous spirit, too—so much so that, even when times were tough for her and Ford, she once set up a soup kitchen in their living room to help others in need.
More about the Pre-Raphaelites
- Birth of the Brotherhood
- Dante Gabriel Rossetti: The Romantic Rebel of the Pre-Raphaelites
- John Everett Millais: The Prodigy Who Painted Emotion
- Pre-Raphaelite FAQs
- Pre-Raphaelite List of Immortals
- Pre-Raphaelite Luminosity
- The Diaries of William Allingham
- What is the ‘Pre-Raphaelite Woman?’
- William Holman Hunt: The Visionary of Pre-Raphaelite Symbolism