Harriet Anne Smart Callow (October 20, 1817 — June 30, 1883)[1] was a British artist and composer [2][3] who is best remembered for her hymns[4][5] and her paintings of the British countryside.[6][7] Her works were published under the names Harriet Smart and H. A. Callow.
Callow was born in London to the violinist Henry Smart and his wife Anne Stanton Bagnold Smart,[8] a music teacher.[9] Callow’s brother was the composer Henry Thomas Smart,[10][11] and her uncle was Sir George Smart, the Queen’s organist.[12] She studied painting with the artist William Callow, and married him in 1846.[6]
The couple lived in Buckingshamshire after their marriage. In his autobiography, William Callow described his wife as “an excellent pianist and vocalist and. . . a good linguist.” She started a school in Buckingshamshire during the 1850s to teach the local laborers how to read, and also raised money to rebuild a church nearby in the village of Great Missenden. Sir William Jenner treated her unsuccessfully during her final illness in 1883.[12] Her works include: