Florence Warden (16 May 1857 – 11 May 1929) was an English actress and writer, who wrote many novels under her

stage name A stage name is a pseudonym used by performers and entertainers—such as actors, comedians, singers, and musicians. Such professional aliases are adopted for a wide variety of reasons and they may be similar, or nearly identical, to an individu ...

, her name at birth being Florence Alice Price and her married name Mrs G. E. James.

Life

Warden began life as Florence Alice Price, the daughter of a stockbroker. Born in

Hanworth Hanworth is a district of West London, England. Historically in Middlesex, it has been part of the London Borough of Hounslow since 1965. Hanworth adjoins Feltham to the northwest, Twickenham to the northeast and Hampton to the southeast, with S ...

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, historic county in South East England, southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the Ceremonial counties of ...

, she was educated in Brighton and France.Florence Warden
at xs4all.nl, accessed 21 March 2020 In 1877, her first novel, ''The Wolf at the Door'', was published anonymously in Boston, Massachusetts.''The Wolf at the Door''
at books.google.co.uk, accessed 24 March 2020 From 1880 to 1885, Warden pursued a career as an actress, while she also published stories and novels under her stage name. In 1885, her mystery novel '' The House on the Marsh'' (1884) was turned into a play, in which she played the lead. However, Augustus Moore later complained that he had done most of the work of writing the play, but had not been credited, while Charles Percy claimed the plot had been stolen from him. In 1887, at St Pancras, Warden married George Edward James, an actor.

1911 United Kingdom census The United Kingdom Census 1911 of 2 April 1911 was the 12th nationwide census conducted in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. The total population of the United Kingdom was approximately 45,221,000, with 36,070,000 recorded in England ...

for 46, Clifton Gardens, Maida Vale, from ancestry.co.uk, accessed 21 March 2020 She continued to write novels, but she gave up her acting career. One of her sisters also became a writer, adopting the name

Gertrude Warden Gertrude Warden (1859–1925) was an English actress and writer, who wrote over 30 novels under her stage name, her name at birth being Gertrude Isobel Price and her married name Mrs John Wilton Jones. Life Warden began life as Gertrude Isobel ...

. With her husband, Warden had two sons, Godfrey Warden James, born at St Pancras in 1888, and Rupert Warden, born at Ramsgate in 1893; and two daughters, Leslie Gertrude, born in London in 1890, and Olivia Mary, born in

Ramsgate Ramsgate is a seaside resort, seaside town in the district of Thanet District, Thanet in east Kent, England. It was one of the great English seaside towns of the 19th century. In 2001 it had a population of about 40,000. In 2011, according to t ...

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

, in 1891. She lived in Kent for many years, at Ramsgate and later Sandgate. Florence Warden became a writer of stories for ''

The Gentlewoman ''The Gentlewoman'' was a weekly illustrated paper for women founded in 1890 and published in London. For its first thirty-six years its full title was ''The Gentlewoman: An Illustrated Weekly Journal for Gentlewomen''.Nos. 1 to 1,853 dated bet ...

'', a new magazine established in 1890, and on 15 December 1891 ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

'' reported that the Christmas number had In 1911, Warden, her husband, and her two daughters were living together in three rooms in

Maida Vale Maida Vale ( ) is an affluent residential district consisting of the northern part of Paddington in West London, west of St John's Wood and south of Kilburn. It is also the name of its main road, on the continuous Edgware Road. Maida Vale is p ...

, when G. E. James was described as an actor, Warden as a writer, and their daughters as music students. Her attempts to reignite her career as a playwright were unsuccessful. In 1920, ''The House on the Marsh'' was turned into a

silent movie ''Silent Movie'' is a 1976 American satirical comedy film co-written, directed by and starring Mel Brooks, released by 20th Century Fox in the summer of 1976. The ensemble cast includes Dom DeLuise, Marty Feldman, Bernadette Peters, and Sid Cae ...

, '' The House on the Marsh''. After her death in 1929, Warden was buried as Florence James in the

Brompton Cemetery Brompton Cemetery (originally the West of London and Westminster Cemetery) is a London cemetery, managed by The Royal Parks, in West Brompton in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. It is one of the Magnificent Seven cemeteries. Estab ...

Children

Warden’s son Godfrey Warden James (1888–1963), was educated at Oxford, trained as a barrister, worked as a schoolmaster and tutor and as an Administrative Officer in

Sierre Leone Sierra Leone,)]. officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered by Liberia to the southeast and Guinea surrounds the northern half of the nation. Covering a total area of , Sierr ...

, and was also a novelist, using the name Adam Broome. When he died in 1963, he was living at

Woking Woking ( ) is a town and borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in northwest Surrey, England, around from central London. It appears in Domesday Book as ''Wochinges'' and its name probably derives from that of a Anglo-Saxon settlement o ...

and left a modest estate valued at £5,342, . Warden's son Rupert Warden James (1893-1965) was a sea cadet at the Thames Nautical Training College (HMS Worcester) in the 1911 census. He died at Gosport in 1965. Warden’s older daughter Leslie Gertrude died unmarried in Westminster in 1956. Her younger daughter Olivia Mary died, also unmarried, in

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

in 1982, aged ninety.”JAMES Olivia Mary”
of Thamesbrook 2 Dovehouse St London SW3 died 9 August 1982... £1265” in Probate Index for 1984 icat probatesearch.service.gov.uk

Novels

Plays

Notes

External links

* *
''Catalogue of books in the Great Lever Branch Lending Library''
online at HathiTrust, full text
''First supplement of the catalogue of books in the Central Lending Bolton''
online at HathiTrust, full text
''Modern English literature; a selection of the best-known works circulated, with which is embodied a guide to popular works of fiction''
online at HathiTrust, full text
''OCLC Author Florence Warden''
online at OCLC
''The Wolf at the Door''
online at books.google.co.uk, full text {{DEFAULTSORT:Warden, Florence 1857 births 1929 deaths English novelists English stage actresses