Frances Hodgson Burnett

Frances Hodgson Burnett (Townsend) (1849-1924)
Born in Manchester, England, November 24, 1849
as Frances Eliza Hodgson.

Frances Eliza Hodgson was born in Manchester, England, on November 24, 1849. Her mother moved to Knoxville, Tennessee in 1865 after the death of her husband. Miss Hodgson began writing for magazines soon after. Her first short stories "Hearts and Diamonds" and "Miss Caruther's Engagement" were published in Godey's Lady's Book in 1868. Her first widely known work was a dialect story "Surly Tim's Trouble" which appeared in Scribner's Magazine in 1872.

Her reputation as a novelist was made with her story of Lancashire life, That Lass o' Lowrie's. A number of other works followed, with Through One Administration (1883) and A Lady of Quality among the most notable.

In 1886 she published Little Lord Fauntleroy, Her children's books, including The Secret Garden(1911) and Sara Crewe 1888 (later rewritten to become: The Little Princess 1909) (links below) are what she is best known for today, but her romance novels were very popular during her lifetime.

The Secret Garden (1911) has become a classic, praised for the originality of the at first unlikeable Mary and Colin, the working class boy Dickon, and the psychological accuracy in their characterisation and fine attention to detail.

The Little Princess was made into a movie by 20th Century Fox in 1939 starring Shirley Temple and is considered by Temple's fans as the best of her films. The film lapsed into the public domain in 1967.

Frances married Dr. L. M. Burnett of Washington D.C. in 1873. In 1898 she divorced Dr. Burnett and married Mr. Stephen Townsend in 1900. This second marriage ended in 1902. Frances became a US citizen in 1905.

She died on October 29, 1924.