Frances Mary Peard (16 May 1835 – 5 October 1923) was an English author and traveller who wrote over 40 works of fiction for children or adults between 1867 and 1909. Most were domestic novels or short-story volumes, often historical in nature and set abroad.Frances Mary Peard – The Orlando Project: Women's Writing in the British Isles from the Beginnings to the Present
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Cambridge University Press Cambridge University Press is the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted letters patent by King Henry VIII in 1534, it is the oldest university press in the world. It is also the King's Printer. Cambridge University Pre ...

Background

Born in

Exminster Exminster is a village situated on the southern edge of the City of Exeter on the western side of the Exeter ship canal and River Exe in the county of Devon, England. It is around south of the centre of Exeter, and has a population of 3,084 (c ...

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devo ...

, the daughter of Commander George Shuldham Peard (1793–1837), a naval officer who went to the Arctic regions in search of Sir

John Franklin Sir John Franklin (16 April 1786 – 11 June 1847) was a British Royal Navy officer and Arctic explorer. After serving in wars against Napoleonic France and the United States, he led two expeditions into the Canadian Arctic and through t ...

, and Frances Cooke (née Ellicombe, 1805–1895), she was one of five siblings, of whom two died young. Her grandfather was Shuldham Peard and her uncle was

John Whitehead Peard John Whitehead Peard (1811–1880) was a British soldier, renowned as 'Giuseppe Garibaldi, Garibaldi's Englishman'. He was the second son of Vice-Admiral Shuldham Peard. At one point of his life he lived in Penquite, a manor house in rural Corn ...

. Her older brother George Shuldham Peard (1829–1918) was a veteran of the

Crimean War The Crimean War, , was fought from October 1853 to February 1856 between Russia and an ultimately victorious alliance of the Ottoman Empire, France, the United Kingdom and Piedmont-Sardinia. Geopolitical causes of the war included the ...

and likewise an author. With so many distinguished soldiers and sailors in her family it is not surprising that military themes and battles frequently appear in her stories. It appears that she was widely travelled, perhaps venturing as far as India, but in later life she lived in

Torquay Torquay ( ) is a seaside town in Devon, England, part of the unitary authority area of Torbay. It lies south of the county town of Exeter and east-north-east of Plymouth, on the north of Tor Bay, adjoining the neighbouring town of Paig ...

, with her mother.John Sutherland, ''The Longman Companion to Victorian Fiction'', Routledge (Second edition, 2009), p. 501.
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Fiction

Frances Peard wrote children's books for boys and girls and fiction for adults, all drawing on her travels abroad, especially in France and India. Her fiction for adults includes ''Unawares'' (1870); ''The Rose-Garden'' (1872); ''Thorpe Regis'' (1874); ''Cartouche'' (1878); ''Schloss and Town'' (1882); ''The Asheldon School-Room'' (1883); ''Prentice Hugh'' (1887); ''The Blue Dragon''; ''The Interloper''; ''The Abbot's Bridge''; ''Donna Teresa'' (1899) and ''Number One and Number Two'' (1900). Her novel ''The Ring from Jaipur'' (1904) is rather more sober than its title, which suggests jewels and Far Eastern promise. She also wrote for the

Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge The Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge (SPCK) is a UK-based Christian charity. Founded in 1698 by Thomas Bray, it has worked for over 300 years to increase awareness of the Christian faith in the UK and across the world. The SPCK is t ...

(SPCK) and was a friend of

Christabel Rose Coleridge Christabel Rose Coleridge (25 May 1843 – 14 November 1921) was an English novelist and an editor of girls' magazines, sometimes in collaboration with the novelist Charlotte Mary Yonge. Her views on the role of women in society were conservativ ...

Charlotte Mary Yonge Charlotte Mary Yonge (1823–1901) was an English novelist, who wrote in the service of the church. Her abundant books helped to spread the influence of the Oxford Movement and show her keen interest in matters of public health and sanitation. ...

and Edward Bulwer-Lytton, and in later life in

of fellow novelist Anna Harriett Drury.

Death

Peard died unmarried in

in 1923. She left her estate of £15,276 0s 4d to her sister Helen Charlotte Peard. She is buried with her parents in the Church of St Martin of Tours,

, Devon.Peard Family Monument - Maritime Memorials database
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External links

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Peard, Frances Mary 1835 births 1923 deaths Victorian novelists Victorian women writers 19th-century English novelists 20th-century English novelists English women novelists 19th-century English women writers