Colman, née Cozens-Hardy, was born to William Hardy and Sarah Cozens of Letheringsett Hall on 9 May 1831.
Colman helped her father write and by the age of 20 she had produced her own articles for two separate Wesleyan magazines.
She also dedicated time to leading Bible studies, exchanging books with local villagers and reading to inmates of the workhouse.
Colman instructed that a calendar was to be published and issued to every worker at Christmas, containing religious passages for every day of the upcoming year.
Caroline and Jeremiah James had 6 children: Laura (who married the academic and MP James Stuart), Russell, Ethel (who was the first woman to be Lord Mayor of Norwich), Helen, Alan and Florence (who married the architect Edward Boardman, son of the architect Edward Boardman).
[16] Jeremiah James Colman's business was the first to employ an Industrial Nurse, Philippa Flowerday, in 1878.
[17] Flowerday was employed to assist the company's doctor in the dispensary as well as paying home visits to the sick.