THE REMINDER. February 1925 No.49 vol. I.
PEOPLE WHO COUNT No. 4.
Mrs Elizabeth Marcia Knight, of the Old Rectory, Rushden, is the wife of Mr. Fred Knight, J.P., shoe manufacturer, of a firm well known in Northamptonshire.
Mrs Knight was born at Cambridge, and is the daughter of the late Rev. R. E. Bradfield, who, in her early childhood, accepted the pastorate of the Old Baptist Church, Rushden (now known as Park Road Baptist Church) of which, for many years, he was the highly esteemed and popular minister. He lectured on temperance, and as a keen politician, addressed meetings throughout the county.
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Marcia Knight
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Mrs. Knight is the sister of Mr. C. L. Bradfield, a strenuous worker in the cause of Liberalism, and a skilful writer of humorous verse.
She also is the mother of Mr. R. F. Knight, the well-known Northamptonshire cricketer.
Her son, the late 2nd Lieut. John Oswald Knight, who was a keen sportsman, was killed in the Great War, near to Ypres, on his first night of active service—in 1916. (Mrs. Knight’s recently published book “Moss from the Mill-wheel” is dedicated to her late soldier son.)
In giving a brief sketch of Mrs. Knight’s literary work which, she insists, is of a very modest character, we are asked to say, that any merit pertaining to it must be attributed to the teaching and influence of her father, a great lover of literature and of progressive thought. Mrs Knight recalls the self denial of Manse days, when the greatest desire was to “buy books”—when to do so was only possible by the excellent management and self-sacrifice of her mother—the minister’s wife! She remembers that “certain youthful pleasures has to be curtailed to allow the minister to buy Commentaries and Concordances!” And her greatest delight was to be entrusted with the task of selecting poetical quotations for her father’s sermons and lectures; also in helping in his correspondence. (This task, once, was summarily and temporarily suspended, as the young secretary added some original remarks, complaining that "everybody wanted Father, so that he had no time for his family!")
Mrs. Knight was, also, the organist at her father's church, from the age of fourteen, until the time of her marriage.
Doubtless, the atmosphere of early days helped to form her literary tastes, enabling her to appreciate with a keen judgment the value of language and literature. But for many years there occurred no opportunity of fulfilling her aspirations, and a busy life, as wife and mother, prevented serious study.
However, a few years ago, Mrs. Knight was persuaded by her friends to contribute to certain periodicals, with the result that her poems, essays and letters on current topics, were accepted by several leading journals The late Mr. J. S. Wood (for so many years editor of The Gentlewoman) awarded Mrs. Knight her first literary prize, for an article headed "Should Charity Children wear a Uniform?" Mrs. Knight said "No! unless it were one which no child in happier circumstances would object to wear." She condemned, most vigorously, the old-time custom of clothing workhouse children in grotesque and ugly garments, thus branding them as paupers. For many years Mrs. Knight was a regular contributor to The Gentlewoman, gaining many valuable prizes. Later her family and friends requested her to publish a selection of poems in book form, and Messrs. Constable published her first book, "Milestones," in 1911.
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