Frances Fitzgerald Elmes (23 April 1867 – 1919) was a British-Australian feminist writer and columnist based in Melbourne and London."Frances Fitzgerald"
''AustLit'', University of Queensland.Peter Morton, ''Lusting for London: Australian Expatriate Writers at the Hub of Empire, 1870–1950'', Palgrave MacMillan, 2011, 84–85, 255, note 27.

Biography

Frances Fitzgerald Elmes was born in

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...

, England, 23 April 1867. She emigrated to Australia with her family and was raised in

Berwick, Victoria Berwick () is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, south-east of Melbourne's central business district, located within the City of Casey local government area. Berwick recorded a population of 50,298 at the 2021 census. It was named ...

, where her father was a medical practitioner. She became a journalist and wrote for ''

The Australasian The ''Australasian Post'', commonly called the ''Aussie Post'', was Australia's longest-running weekly picture magazine. History and profile Its origins are traceable to Saturday, 3 January 1857, when the first issue of ''Bell's Life in Victoria ...

'', '' The Argus'' and, after returning to England in 1905, the ''British Australasian''. Her columns, short stories, two books and a play appeared under a variety of pen names, including F. F. Elmes, Frances Fitzgerald, F. F., and Frances Fitzgerald Fawkner. In

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, Elmes established a relationship with the ''British Australasian''s editor, Charles Henry Chomley (who was married to her close friend Ethel Chomley), during which she is reported to have had two children, a son in 1906 and a daughter in 1908. The relationship was apparently accepted by Chomley's wife and mother.

Brenda Niall Dr Brenda Mary Niall (born 25 November 1930) is an Australian biographer, literary critic and journalist. She is particularly noted for her work on Australia's well-known Boyd family of artists and writers. Educated at Genazzano FCJ College, ...

, ''The Boyds'', Melbourne: Melbourne University Publishing, 2007, 150.Brenda Niall, ''Martin Boyd: A Life'', Carlton, Victoria: Melbourne University Press, 1990 988 74–76. Elmes died in London in 1919 during the

Spanish flu epidemic The 1918–1920 influenza pandemic, commonly known by the misnomer Spanish flu or as the Great Influenza epidemic, was an exceptionally deadly global influenza pandemic caused by the H1N1 influenza A virus. The earliest documented case was ...

. After her death, her children were brought up by their father and his wife.

Selected works

*Fitzgerald, Frances. ''The New Woman'', a play, performed but not published, 1895. *Elmes, F. F.
The Melbourne Cookery Book
compiled especially with the view of assisting the housewife in the cottage and villa home who must carefully study ways and means''. Melbourne: Fraser and Jenkinson, 1906. *Elmes, F. F
"Fashions in Whims: A London Sketch"
''The Argus'', 29 February 1908, 6. *F. F
"The 'Tail' of a Fish"
''The Age'', 24 April 1915, 18. *Fitzgerald, Frances. ''The Children at Kangaroo Creek'', London: ''British Australasian'', 1916. *Fitzgerald, Frances. "The Woman Pays", ''British Australasian'', 16 August 1917, 31.

Biography

Selected works

References

Further reading