Caroline Rosetta Fraser ( Small; 10 February 1829 – 1908), better known by the

pen name A pen name, also called a ''nom de plume'' or a literary double, is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name. A pen na ...

Mrs. Alexander Fraser, was a romance writer of the

Victorian era In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the period of Queen Victoria's reign, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. The era followed the Georgian period and preceded the Edwardia ...

and the estranged wife of General Alexander Fraser (1824–1898).

Biography

Caroline Rosetta Small was born in British-occupied India on 10 February 1829 to English parents, Beaumont Dixie Small and Caroline Honora Pereira. Her birthplace was in the Lahore District of modern-day Pakistan. Her father, an assistant

surgeon In modern medicine, a surgeon is a medical professional who performs surgery. Although there are different traditions in different times and places, a modern surgeon usually is also a licensed physician or received the same medical training as ...

with the East India Company's Bengal Light Infantry, died unexpectedly in 1831. Caroline's mother later married James Frushard on 1 March 1834. With the exception of two years spent studying in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

, Fraser spent most of her youth in India. On 11 March 1847, she married Alexander Fraser, at the time a lieutenant in the Bengal Engineer Group. Alexander Fraser went on to have a long career as a

civil engineer A civil engineer is a person who practices civil engineering – the application of planning, designing, constructing, maintaining, and operating infrastructure while protecting the public and environmental health, as well as improving existing ...

building numerous railroads and

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s throughout India. The couple had two sons, Alexander Bruce Siddons Fraser (1848–1933) and Campbell Edward Fraser (1850–1926), both born in India. Fraser's writing career appears to have coincided with the breakdown of her marriage. By the 1871 British Census, Fraser was living alone with her widowed mother and sons in England. English civil records indicate that Fraser applied unsuccessfully for a

legal separation Legal separation (sometimes judicial separation, separate maintenance, divorce ', or divorce from bed-and-board) is a legal process by which a married couple may formalize a separation while remaining legally married. A legal separation is gra ...

in 1867 and again in 1885. General Fraser returned to England, living independently with a second family, which included son Bruce Austin Fraser (later 1st Baron Fraser of North Cape) (1888–1981). Although some sources say Fraser died in Steyning,

Sussex Sussex (), from the Old English (), is a historic county in South East England that was formerly an independent medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom. It is bounded to the west by Hampshire, north by Surrey, northeast by Kent, south by the English ...

, England in 1908, records connected with her burial in All Saints churchyard, Patcham place her death at

Withdean Withdean is a former village, now part of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex. Overview The area was originally named in the 12th century, when it was called Wictedene. The area was historically farm land but has been developed, mainly in the 1920s ...

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on 8 December 1908.

Selected works

* Faithless * Not While She Lives (1870) * Denison's Wife (1872) * Guardian and Lover (1876) * Her Plighted Troth (1876) * A Thing of Beauty (1877) * A Maddening Blow (1878) * A Fatal Passion (1879) * False Hearts and True (1879) * Her Deserts (1881) * A Professional Beauty (1882) * A Fashionable Marriage (1883) * Guardian and Lover (1883) * A Peeress of 1882, and Other Stories (1883) * Only A Face, and Other Tales (1883) * The Match of the Season (1885) * The Last Drawing Room (1886) * A Leader of Society (1887) * Daughters of Belgravia (1887) * She Came Between: A Love Story (1887) * A Leader in Society (1887) * Purple and Fine Linen (1889) * Lady Claud (1889) * The New Duchess (1890) * A Modern Bridegroom (1892) * A Mayfair Tragedy (1894)

References

External links

*
At the Circulating Library: A Database of Victorian Fiction, 1837–1901
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fraser, Mrs. Alexander 1829 births 1908 deaths English women novelists 19th-century English novelists 19th-century English women writers Victorian novelists Victorian women writers English Anglicans British people in colonial India Pseudonymous women writers English romantic fiction writers British women romantic fiction writers 19th-century pseudonymous writers