Lucy Bethia Walford

Mrs. Lucy Bethia (Colquhoun) Walford (17 Apr 1845 – 11 May 1915) was a Scottish author who wrote 45 books, the majority of them "light-hearted domestic comedies." [1]

Contents

Life and work

Lucy Colquhoun was born on April 17 1845 at Portobello, a beach resort near Edinburgh.[2] Her father was John Colquhoun, author of The Moor and the Loch; her mother was Frances Sarah Maitland.[3]

Lucy married Alfred Saunders Walford on June 23, 1869 at St John's, Edinburgh; the couple had seven children. Walford's children were said to be "never put aside for her work" and they were "constantly with their mother." [4]

When writing, she would seek to be as accurate as possible. Her brothers were sought out to answer any questions she had on military life. Her father was an expert on sports. Mr. Smith, the character in her first book, was taken from Walford's own life experience; the character was based on an actual man named Mr. Smith who was found dead, as described in her novel.[4] By age 65, Mrs. Walford had written 45 full-sized novels.[5]

Walford died May 11, 1915 in London.

Main works

Fiction:

  • Mr. Smith: A Part of His Life (1874)[1]
  • Nan and Other Tales (1875)
  • Pauline (1877)[2]
  • Cousins (1879)[3]
  • Troublesome Daughters (1880)
  • Dick Netherby (1881)[4]
  • The Baby's Grandmother (1885)[5]
  • The History of a Week (1886)
  • A Stiff-Necked Generation (1888)[6]
  • Her Great Idea (1888)[7]
  • A Mere Child (1889)[8]
  • A Sage of Sixteen (1889)[9]
  • Havoc of a Smile (1890)
  • The Mischief of Monica (1891)[10]
  • The One Good Guest (1891)[11]
  • For Grown-up Children (1892)
  • Twelve English Authoresses (1892)[12]
  • The Matchmaker (1893)[13]
  • A Question of Penmanship (1893)
  • Ploughed (1894)[14]
  • A Bubble (1895)[15]
  • Frederick (1895)[16]
  • Successors to the Title (1896)[17]
  • Iva Kildare (1897)[18]
  • Leddy Marget (1898)[19]
  • The Intruders (1898)
  • The Archdeacon (1899)[20]
  • Sir Patrick the Puddock (1900)
  • A Little Legacy and Other Stories (1900)[21]
  • One of Ourselves (1900)
  • Charlotte (1902)
  • A Dream's Fulfilment (1902)
  • David and Jonathan on the Riviera (1914)

Autobiographical & Nonfiction:

References

  1. ^ Short biography (Adam Mathew Publications)
  2. ^ Walford. Recollections, 1910, p16.
  3. ^ L B Walford - birth and death details (thepeerage.com)
  4. ^ a b Black, Notable women authors, 1906, p26 ff.
  5. ^ Krugman, Andrew. "A Scottish Novelist; Mrs. L.B. Walford's "Recollections" of a Lifetime of Sixty-five Years." (New York Times 19 Feb 1911).

Further reading

External links