Frances Mary Peard
English writer (1843-1923)
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.
Background
Born in Exminster in Devon, the daughter of Commander George Shuldham Peard (1793–1837), a naval officer who went to the Arctic regions in search of Sir John Franklin, 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. Her older brother George Shuldham Peard (1829–1918) was a veteran of the Crimean War 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, Devon, with her mother.
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.
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Biographical claims are most persuasive when dates, appointments and relationships can be traced to records created close to the events described. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 16, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q47537550. VIAF identifies the subject as 118189409. The Library of Congress control number is n83071244. 4 of 4 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1835, 1923, 1867 and 1909.
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This entry incorporates text from “Frances Mary Peard” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.