Frances Hodgson Burnett

Francis Eliza Hodgson Burnett (November 24, 1849 - October 29, 1924) was an Anglo-American writer and playwright. She is best known for her three children's novels, Little Lord Fountleroi (published in 1885-1886), Little Princess (1905), and The Secret Garden (1911). Francis Eliza Hodgson was born in Chitam, England. After her father died in 1852, the family fell into constrained circumstances and in 1865 immigrated to the United States, settling near Knoxville, Tennessee. There, Francis began writing to help earn money for the family, publishing stories in magazines since she was 19 years old. In 1870, her mother died, and in 1872, Francis married Swan Burnett, who became a doctor. Burnett lived for two years in Paris, where their two sons were born, and before returning to the United States to live in Washington, DC, Burnett began writing novels, the first of which (“The same Lass o” Lowry) was published. for good reviews. Little Lord Fauntleroy was published in 1886 and made her a popular writer of child science fiction, although her romantic adult novels written in the 1890s were also popular. She wrote and helped create scenic versions of Little Lord Fountleroy and Little Princess. Burnett loved to socialize and led a luxurious lifestyle. Starting in the 1880s, she often began traveling around England, and in the 1890s she bought a house there, where she wrote The Secret Garden. Her eldest son, Lionel, died of tuberculosis in 1890, which caused a relapse of depression, which she struggled with most of her life. She divorced Swan Burnett in 1898, married Stephen Townsend in 1900, and divorced him in 1902. A few years later, she settled in Long Island, Nassau County, where she died in 1924 and was buried in Roslyn Cemetery. In 1936, a memorial sculpture of Bessie Potter Wonno was erected in the garden of the Conservatory of Central Park in her honor. The statue depicts her two famous characters in the Secret Garden, Mary and the Deacon.