Summary
Bridgwater-born Aglen Artemas Dowty, (1846-1906), pen name ‘O.P.Q. Philander Smiff’ was a Civil Servant in the Paymaster General’s Office, but was also a prolific contributor to Victorian comic and political satirical magazines. He produced several humorous books and seems to have got his early start publishing poems in one of the Bridgwater newspapers.
His father, Flixton Golding Dowty (1812-1875) was a Quaker printer and bookseller, and is buried in the Quaker Burial Ground, in Bridgwater. His sister, Mary Aglen Dowty Peace (1843-1917) is buried in the Wembdon Road Cemetery. She was married to Alfred Peace, coal merchant and Mayor of Bridgwater in 1885.
Aglen Dowty married Alice Roberts in 1888, but they appear to have had no children. He died in 1906, and was buried in St Bartholomew’s churchyard, Horley, Ryegate, Surry.
Dowty wrote under the pen name O. P. Q. Philander Smiff. Smiff was a satirical character portrayed as a pompous, self-important man with exaggerated mannerisms and superficial refinement. He represents Victorian pretentiousness and social climbing, often speaking in affected language and seeking admiration. Dowty uses Smiff to humorously critique vanity, artificiality, and hollow respectability in society.
Tony Woolrich 6 May 2025